Literary Terms 3

81. Tragedy - any story in which the main character comes to an unhappy ending
82. Understatement - a statement that says less than what is meant
83. Oxymoron - using contradiction in a manner that oddly makes sense on a deeper lever
84. Paradox - statement or situation that seems to be a contradiction but reveals a truth
85. Comic Relief - comic scene or event that breaks up a serious play or narrative
86. Argument - form of persuasion that uses reason to try to lead a reader or listener to think or act in a certain way
87. Haiku - Japanese verse form consisting of three lines, usually seventeen syllables, lines of 5-7-5
88. Couplet - two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme
89. Epic - long story told in elevated language which relates the great deeds of a larger-than-life hero who embodies that values of a particular society
90. Soliloquy - an unusually long speech in which a character who is onstage alone expresses his or her thoughts aloud
91. Acronym - a word formed from the initial letters in a phrase
92. Resolution - rounds out and concludes the action
93. Antagonist - the principal character in opposition to the main character of a narrative or dram; an antagonist is not always a character, it can come in the form of a force of nature, and aspect of society, or even an internal force within the main character
94. Euphemism - the substitution of a mild or less negative word or phrase for a harsh or blunt one, as in the use of "pass away" instead of "die"
95. Sarcasm - a form of sneering criticism in which disapproval is often expressed as ironic praise
96. Allegory - figurative work in which a surface narrative carries a secondary, symbolic, or metaphorical meaning
97. Parody - satiric imitation of a work or of an author with the idea of ridiculing the author, his ideas or work. The parodist exploits the peculiarities of an author's expression in his literary work
98. Sequel - a novel incorporating the same characters and often the same setting as a previous novel. Sometimes the events and situations involve a continuation of the previous novel and sometimes only the characters are the same and the events are entirely unrelated to the previous novel
99. Travesty - any work that treats a serious subject frivolously-- ridiculing the dignified. Often the tone is mock serious and heavy handed
100. Genre - a type of literature

Credit: P'New P'Pim P'Cherry