Middle School Literary Terms

When the reader knows something the characters do not.

• Characterization

• Dramatic Irony

• Foreshadowing

• Allusion

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.3

CCSS.RL.6.3

CCSS.RL.7.3

CCSS.RL.8.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

A gross exaggeration; describing a situation or event by making it more than it really is; used to evoke feelings or make a point.

• Hyperbole

• Allusion

• Dramatic Irony

• Mood

Tags

CCSS.L.11-12.6

CCSS.L.8.6

CCSS.L.9-10.6

CCSS.W.11-12.2D

CCSS.W.9-10.2D

The use of hints or clues to suggest what will happen later in the story.

• Symbolism

• Foreshadowing

• Dramatic Irony

• Euphemism

Tags

CCSS.RL.9-10.5

A reference within a work to something famous outside it, such as a well-known person, place, event, story, or work of art, literature, music, pop culture.

• Mood

• Theme

• Personification

• Allusion

Tags

CCSS.RI.8.4

CCSS.L.7.5A

CCSS.RL.8.4

The climate of feeling in a literary work; a feeling that a literary work conveys to readers revealed through diction, setting, and character actions.

• Mood

• Conflict

• Onomatopoeia

• Simile

Tags

CCSS.L.3.3A

CCSS.L.4.3A

CCSS.L.5.3A

CCSS.L.6.3A

CCSS.L.6.3B

The main idea or underlying meaning of a literary work.

• Theme

• Symbolism

• Connotation

• Metaphor

Tags

CCSS.L.11-12.6

CCSS.L.8.6

CCSS.L.9-10.6

CCSS.W.11-12.2D

CCSS.W.9-10.2D

A person, place, object, or action that stands for something beyond itself.

• Mood

• Symbolism

• Diction

• Imagery

Tags

CCSS.L.4.5

CCSS.L.5.5

CCSS.L.6.5

CCSS.L.7.5

CCSS.L.8.5

The giving of human qualities to an animal or object.

• Hyperbole

• Simile

• Euphemism

• Personification

Tags

CCSS.RI.8.4

CCSS.RI.9-10.4

CCSS.RI.9-10.4

CCSS.RI.11-12.4

CCSS.RI.7.4

The implied or emotional response of a word.

• Metaphor

• Diction

• Alliteration

• Connotation

Tags

CCSS.L.11-12.6

CCSS.L.8.6

CCSS.L.9-10.6

CCSS.W.11-12.2D

CCSS.W.9-10.2D

When something happens that the reader wouldn’t have expected to happen.

• Situational Irony

• Allusion

• Theme

• Imagery

Tags

CCSS.L.8.5A