Elements of Literature

Allegory- A narrative that has 2 meanings one literal or surface

meaning and the other metaphorical (the characters and settings
represent abstract ideas or moral qualities.
Allusion- Any reference, direct or indirect, to a person, place,
event, or character in history, literature, mythology, etc.
Catastrophe- The concluding action of a tragedy, where the
principal character meets with death or other significant defeat.
Catharsis- Purgation or purification of the emotions of pity and
fear from the viewing of a tragic drama.
Characters- Living beings in a work of fiction.
Climax- A point of high emotional intensity often the protagonist
and antagonist clash for the last time.
Comic Relief- A humorous scene, incident or speech in the
course of a serious fiction or drama.
Complication- smaller actions or events which confound and
compound the original problem.
Conceit- An ingenious and fanciful notion or conception through
an elaborate analogy showing striking parallel between two
dissimilar things.
Connotation- The suggested or emotional meaning of a word as
compared with its dictionary definition.
Context- The setting or frame of reference in which an event
takes place.
Crisis- The turning point for better or worse in a play.
Denouement- Falling action, the conclusion of a plot, the
resolution.
Effect- The impression made by a literary work on a reader or
society.
Hamartia- The tragic flaw or error of judgment.

Invocation- An address to a god or muse whose aid is sought.

Socratic Irony- Pretending to be ignorant when in fact the
character is being cautious or tentative.
Verbal Irony- Contrast between what is stated and what is
suggested.
Mood- The atmosphere or emotional effect generated by the
words images situations in a literary work.
Plot- The action that which happens in a literary work.
Recognition- The moment at which a chief character recognizes
the happy or awful truth.
Reversal- The thrilling change of luck for the protagonist at the
last moment.
Setting- A combination of locale, historical period, season or
hour, and spiritual, ethnic and cultural background.
Tone- The writers or speakers attitude toward his subject,
audience, or himself.
Tragedy- A serious fiction involving the downfall of a hero or
heroine.
Tragic Flaw- In a tragedy, the defect in the hero that leads to a
downfall.
Tragic Irony- The most noble and most deserving person,
because of the very grounds of his or her excellence, dies in
defeat.