IB Literary Terms

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Dramatic Irony

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A situation in a play or story where a character thinks one thing is true, but the audience or reader knows better.

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Colloquialism

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A word or phrase in everyday use in conversation and informal writing but inappropriate for formal situations.

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Archetype

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A recurring symbol, character, landscape, or event found throughout myth and literature across different cultures and eras.

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Allusion

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Reference to someone or something known from history, literature, religion, politics, sports, science, or culture; an indirect reference.

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Tricolon

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A sentence of three parts of equal importance and length, usually three independent clauses.

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Metaphor

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A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things by stating one is the other.

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Simile

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A figure of speech that compares two different things using 'like' or 'as'.

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Personification

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A literary device where human qualities are attributed to animals, inanimate objects, or abstract concepts.

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Hyperbole

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An exaggerated statement or claim not meant to be taken literally, used for emphasis.

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Oxymoron

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A figure of speech in which contradictory terms appear in conjunction.