A List of Literary Terms and Techniques Allegory This is a story where everything means something else.

. The idea is to capture abstract ideas by using characters, events, or any figure as an extended metaphor. Did you get to see Alice In Wonderland Yet (and my apologies, if you did)? The book Alices Adventures In Wonderland, by Lewis Caroll can be read as an allegory . Franz Kafkas book The Trial can definitely be read as an allegory, either for religion or for government. Whenever you get the feeling youre reading something that can be interpreted as meaning something else, look and see if you cant piece together an allegory and throw your teacher or professor for a total loop. Antagonist Thats the bad guy! Or the seemingly insurmountable circumstance that looms overhead, threatening to hold you down and keep you from your goals. Have you been keeping up with Batman? Speaking of the Joker, hes the antagonist in The Dark Knight. Connotation What something means based on what is around it. This sentence on its own is not great. When you put the previous sentence in context (connotation) you realize it is wonderful because it is a part of this great educational tome. Think of it this way: a fist, on its own, is nothing but your hand balled up. A fist in context is an angry symbol, meaning that you want to punch someone probably in the face, maybe the stomach, depends on the situation. Personification Giving human-like attributes to a non-human thing. If I say that prior to writing this, "the white screen of my word processor was smirking at me, sarcastically challenging me to complete an impossible task," I would be personifying my computer (and Microsoft Word). When you yell at your computer because it is not behaving the way you would like it to, youre personifying it. Theme The main idea of the book. Everything in the book, ideally, is to add to the theme. The author has written this book in such a way, structured the characters as such, and led you down this winding path of text all because of the theme.For fun, lets make sure you do not confuse theme with motif (teachers really love the word motif). A motif is a recurring idea, symbol, object (or anything else at all) in a book. In the Narnia series, the struggle between good and evil is the motif. (The theme is that good wins). By the way, the Narnia series is also an allegory. You see it is very easy to fit these in once you get the hang of them. Symbol Something that means something else. Hope you arent confused. Just to make sure you are staying on the well-beaten path, though, do not confuse symbol and metaphor (which is easy to do at first). A symbol is a substitute for something else. A metaphor is a comparison, so that you can understand better. Irony This word is used to point out that something is not what it seems. Im going to take a minute with Irony. (And I promise not to mention a certain song that one woman wrote many years ago, but I will say: Fail!) There are three kinds of irony:Verbal 1. Saying something false that is true. 2. The speaker says something he fails to realize is true (but the audience knows), or he means something different from what he says.Dramatic The characters do not know what is going on or what the result of their actions will be, but the audience knows. You see this frequently in classic tragedies. In Sophocles character Oedipus says, Your life is one long night so that you cannot / hurt me or any other who sees the light. (lines 422-423) inOedipus Rex. You may know in advance that Oedipus is not far from going blind himself. Literary Elements: Basic components of non-fiction literature Theme: The major ideas in a piece of literature, such as romantic love, political oppression, the struggle for survival, etc. You are focusing on one of these. Characterization: How the author has developed the personalities of the people (or non-human characters). Write about the techniques Remark uses to create her/his characters and relate that to Remarque's development of the theme. Setting: The location or context for the writing. Write about how Remarque describes the setting and the impact that has in his development of your theme. Point of View: The eyes through which the author tells the story. How does Remarque's choice to tell the story from Paul's point of view influence your theme? Plot: Most of you described plot or story line in writing about your theme, however few of you described how Remarque constructed the plot to develop your theme. Literary Techniques: specific techniques for crafting a story Simile: A comparison between two essentially unlike things, often in a phrase introduced by like or as, for example, "He was as strong as a bull."

Symbolism: Something in a piece of literature which is meant to represent something else. Jim suggested in his essay that Remarque used cigarettes to symbolize the soldiers need to escape from the harsh reality of the war. Metaphor: Like symbolism, an author uses a metaphor to give double meaning to something. A metaphor is often broader than symbolism. In both the book and the movie All Quiet, the butterfly is used as a metaphor for innocence. Imagery: Remarque often use sensory experiences in his writing. These include, sounds, smells, visual imagery, tactile experiences, tastes, movement, and internal experience (ie. nausea, fatigue, thirst, etc.). Paradox: An apparent contradiction that is nevertheless somehow true. It may be either a situation or a statement. Paul remained "sane" as long as he "simple ducked" the reality around him (a metaphor). In order to stay "sane" on the front one had to stay out of touch with reality. Irony: When something occurs that is the opposite of what we or a character would normally think would occur. How is the title of the book and the ending ironic? Foreshadowing: When the author includes hints at what is to come later. Overstatement or Hyperbole: Exaggeration in the service of the truth, such as: "I'm going to die if I don't pass the exam". Understatement: Sometimes playing down the truth has more impact. For example, Artemus Ward said that a man who holds his hand for half an hour in a lighted fire will experience "a sensation of excessive and disagreeable warmth."