Literary Terms: Reading And Language Arts Terms Explained
Plain-language definitions of every literary terms term your child meets in school, each with kid-friendly explanations, worked examples, and common mistakes to watch for.
Biography
A biography is a true story of a real person's life, written by someone else, that explains important events, experiences, and achievements in that person's life.
Character
A character is a person, animal, or other figure in a story, play, or poem who takes part in the action and helps move the plot forward.
Character traits
Character traits are the qualities that describe what a person or story character is like on the inside, such as kind, brave, selfish, or honest, which stay mostly the same over time and help explain why the character thinks, feels, and acts in certain ways.
Characterization
Characterization is the way an author shows what a character is like through descriptions, actions, thoughts, dialogue, and how other characters react to them.
Climax
A climax is the most exciting and intense moment in a story, when the main problem reaches its peak and a big change or decision happens that leads toward the ending.
Comedy
Comedy is a type of story, play, or performance that uses humor, misunderstandings, and light conflict to entertain the audience and usually ends in a happy or hopeful way.
Conflict
Conflict is the struggle or problem in a story that a character faces, which creates tension and drives the plot forward as the character tries to solve it.
Dialect
Dialect is a way of speaking that belongs to a particular group of people, often from the same place, background, or community, with its own words, grammar, and pronunciation.
Dialogue
Dialogue is the exact words that characters say to each other in a story, play, or other writing, usually shown inside quotation marks and separated by speaker.
Drama
Drama is a type of writing that shows a story through characters speaking and acting, usually meant to be performed in front of an audience on a stage, on film, or in another live setting.
Dramatic irony
Dramatic irony is when the audience or reader knows something important that a character in a story does not know, so the character’s words or actions mean more to us than they realize.
Exposition
Exposition is the part of a story, play, or film that gives important background information, such as who the characters are, where and when the story happens, and what situation or conflict is starting.
External conflict
External conflict is a struggle between a character and an outside force, such as another character, society, nature, technology, or a physical obstacle, that creates problems and drives the plot forward.
Fable
A fable is a short story, often with talking animals or objects as characters, that is written to teach a clear lesson or moral about how people should think or behave.
Fairy tale
A fairy tale is a make-believe story, often with magic, talking animals, or imaginary creatures, where characters face a problem and usually learn a lesson or end with a happy ending.
Falling action
Falling action is the part of a story that comes right after the climax, when the main problem starts to get solved and events move toward the ending.
Fantasy
Fantasy is a type of story that includes impossible or magical elements, such as talking animals, wizards, or imaginary worlds, that could not happen in real life.
Fiction
Fiction is a type of writing in which the author creates an imagined story, characters, and events, even if some parts are inspired by real life.
Figurative meaning
Figurative meaning is the non-literal meaning of words or phrases, where the writer uses language in a creative way to suggest a feeling, idea, or comparison instead of saying exactly what is happening.
First person
First person is a way of telling a story or sharing information where the narrator speaks as "I" or "we," showing events from their own point of view and thoughts.
Flashback
A flashback is a scene in a story that takes the reader back to an earlier time, showing past events that help explain a character, setting, or situation in the present.
Folktale
A folktale is a simple story passed down by people in a culture, first told aloud and later written down, that teaches a lesson, explains something, or entertains using everyday characters, magic, or talking animals.
Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing is a storytelling technique where the author gives hints or clues early in the story about events that will happen later, helping build suspense and prepare the reader for what is coming.
Genre
Genre is a way of grouping stories, books, movies, and other texts by the kind of story they tell and the features they share, such as mystery, fantasy, science fiction, or biography.
Historical fiction
Historical fiction is a type of story that takes place in a real time and place from the past, but follows made-up characters or events that the author imagines.
Hyperbole
Hyperbole is a figure of speech that uses extreme exaggeration to make a point, create a strong feeling, or add humor, and it is not meant to be taken literally.
Imagery
Imagery is a type of descriptive language that uses words to create clear pictures and appeal to the senses of sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell so a reader can imagine a scene or feeling.
Internal conflict
Internal conflict is a struggle that happens inside a character's mind or heart, such as a tough decision, mixed feelings, or a battle between right and wrong.
Irony
Irony is a literary device where there is a clear difference between what is expected and what actually happens, or between what is said and what is really meant, often creating surprise, humor, or emphasis.
Legend
A legend is a traditional story, often based on a real person, place, or event, that has been retold over time and includes imaginative or exaggerated details.
Literal meaning
Literal meaning is the exact, basic meaning of a word or sentence, without any hidden ideas, exaggeration, or special comparisons.
Memoir
A memoir is a true story a person writes about specific memories or periods from their own life, focusing on personal experiences, feelings, and lessons rather than their entire life story.
Metaphor
A metaphor is a type of comparison in which a writer says one thing is another thing to show a strong connection between them, without using the words "like" or "as." Metaphors help readers picture ideas and feelings more clearly.
Mood
mood is the feeling or atmosphere a reader experiences while reading a story, poem, or other text, created by the author’s word choices, setting, and details.
Motif
A motif is a repeated image, word, idea, or pattern in a story that helps highlight a theme or important message.
Mystery
A mystery is a story built around a puzzling problem, secret, or crime that characters try to solve using clues and logical thinking.
Myth
A myth is a traditional story, often from ancient cultures, that uses gods, heroes, and magical events to explain how the world works or to teach a lesson about life.
Narrator
A narrator is the voice that tells the story, describing what happens and often what characters see, think, or feel.
Novel
A novel is a long, written story in book form that follows characters through a series of connected events, usually with a clear beginning, middle, and end.
Onomatopoeia
Onomatopoeia is a kind of word that imitates a real sound, like "buzz," "bang," or "splash," so that reading the word makes you almost hear the sound it describes.
Oxymoron
An oxymoron is a figure of speech that puts together two words with opposite or very different meanings, such as "jumbo shrimp" or "deafening silence," to create a surprising or meaningful effect.
Paradox
A paradox is a statement, situation, or idea that seems to contradict itself or sound impossible at first, but that reveals a deeper truth or meaning when you think about it more carefully.
Personification
Personification is a type of figurative language where a writer gives human qualities, feelings, or actions to an animal, object, or idea to make writing more vivid and relatable.
Playwright
A playwright is a writer who creates scripts for plays, including the dialogue, stage directions, and structure of the story that actors perform in a theater.
Plot
Plot is the organized sequence of events in a story, showing how the situation begins, what problems or conflicts arise, how they are faced, and how everything is resolved at the end.
Point of view
Point of view is the way a story is told, based on who is telling it and how much that narrator knows and feels about the events and characters.
Prose
Prose is writing that sounds like natural speech, using sentences and paragraphs instead of lines and verses, and it is the style used in most stories, articles, and everyday writing.
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character in a story, the one the plot follows most closely and whose goals, choices, and struggles drive what happens.
Pun
A pun is a joke or clever phrase that plays with words that sound alike or have more than one meaning, creating a funny or surprising effect.
Realistic fiction
Realistic fiction is a type of story that is made up but could actually happen in real life, with believable characters, settings, and events that follow real-world rules.
Resolution
A resolution is the part of a story where the main problem is worked out and the story comes to a satisfying end, showing what happens to the characters after the conflict is settled.
Rising action
Rising action is the series of events in a story that build tension and problems after the beginning, leading up to the most exciting or important moment called the climax.
Satire
Satire is a type of writing or art that uses humor, exaggeration, or irony to point out problems or flaws in people, groups, or society, usually to make readers think and encourage change.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a type of story that imagines how science, technology, or space travel could change people’s lives, often in the future or in different worlds.
Second person
Second person is a way of writing or speaking that talks directly to the reader or listener using pronouns like "you," "your," and "yours." It makes the audience part of the action or message, as if the writer is speaking straight to them.
Setting
A setting is the time and place where a story happens, including details like location, time period, weather, and the environment that surround the characters and events.
Short story
A short story is a brief work of fiction that focuses on a small number of characters, a single main problem, and a complete plot that can usually be read in one sitting.
Simile
A simile is a comparison between two different things using the words "like" or "as" to show how they are similar in one clear way.
Situational irony
Situational irony is when what actually happens in a story is very different from what the reader or characters reasonably expect to happen, often in a surprising or meaningful way.
Soliloquy
A soliloquy is a speech in a play where a character speaks alone on stage, sharing their inner thoughts and feelings directly with the audience.
Stage directions
Stage directions are the written instructions in a play script that tell actors and directors how characters move, speak, and behave, and how the stage should look.
Story elements
Story elements are the basic building blocks of a story, such as characters, setting, plot, conflict, and theme, that work together to create a complete narrative.
Style
Style is the special way a writer uses words, sentences, and literary techniques so that their writing sounds and feels uniquely like them.
Subplot
A subplot is a smaller, secondary storyline in a book, play, or movie that runs alongside the main plot and connects to it in some meaningful way.
Suspense
Suspense is the feeling of tense curiosity or anxious waiting a reader has when they are not sure what will happen next in a story, and they want to keep reading to find out.
Symbol
A symbol is a person, object, place, or event in a story that stands for a bigger idea or feeling beyond its basic meaning.
Symbolism
Symbolism is a writing technique where an object, color, action, or person stands for a deeper idea or feeling beyond its basic meaning.
Tall tale
A tall tale is a funny, exaggerated story about a larger-than-life character who does impossible things, often told as if it were true.
Third person
Third person is a way of telling a story where the narrator uses words like "he," "she," "they," or characters' names instead of "I" or "you," and describes events from outside the characters.
Third person omniscient
Third person omniscient is a point of view in which a story is told by a narrator outside the story who knows the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of all the characters.
Tone
Tone is the author's attitude or feelings toward the subject, characters, or reader, shown through word choice, details, and style.
Tragedy
A tragedy is a serious story, usually ending sadly, in which a main character is brought down by a mix of personal flaws, difficult choices, and powerful forces like fate or society.
Understatement
Understatement is a literary device in which a writer or speaker makes something seem less important, serious, or intense than it really is, often to create humor, irony, or emphasis.
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