Short Story Literary Terms

Alliteration

• Repetition of internal or end consonant sounds

• Words that imitate sounds associated with objects or actions

• Introduction of characters, setting, and atmosphere

• Repetition of initial consonant sounds

Assonance

• • Repetition of internal or end consonant sounds

• • Direct comparison between two unlike things

• • Repetition of internal vowels in neighboring words

• • Part of the plot after the climax

Consonance

• • Contradictory terms together or describing something by its opposite

• • Repetition of initial consonant sounds

• • Repetition of internal or end consonant sounds

• • Emotional atmosphere of the story

Hyperbole

• • Use of exaggerated terms for emphasis or effect

• • Contradictory terms together or describing something by its opposite

• • Story told from the perspective of a character

• • Repetition of initial consonant sounds

Metaphor

• • Story told from an outside perspective

• • Direct comparison between two unlike things

• • Repetition of internal vowels in neighboring words

• • Introduction of characters, setting, and atmosphere

Onomatopoeia

• • Use of exaggerated terms for emphasis or effect

• • Words that imitate sounds associated with objects or actions

• • Repetition of initial consonant sounds

• • Contradictory terms together or describing something by its opposite

Oxymoron

• • Indirect reference to something

• • Repetition of internal or end consonant sounds

• • Use of exaggerated terms for emphasis or effect

• • Contradictory terms together or describing something by its opposite

Personification

• • Inanimate object given human qualities or abilities

• • Play on words, sometimes on different senses of the same word

• • Contradictory terms together or describing something by its opposite

• • Direct comparison between two unlike things

Pun

• • Direct comparison between two unlike things

• • Repetition of initial consonant sounds

• • Inanimate object given human qualities or abilities

• • Play on words, sometimes on different senses of the same word

Simile

• • Use of exaggerated terms for emphasis or effect

• • Stated comparison between two dissimilar things using 'like' or 'as'

• • Repetition of initial consonant sounds

• • Repetition of internal vowels in neighboring words