A simple list of literary terms. Click on each for a definition and examples.

A learning module that includes ten links to videos, websites, and assessments that review literary terms such as poetic devices, figurative language, literary elements, literary terms, and more.

This is an introduction to the literary theme of appearance vs. reality using Hamlet, a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It features a list of key terms including literary devices and dramatic terms; essential questions including how the...

A glossary of literary terms, primarily dealing with poetry, with definitions.

This is a glossary entry for the literary term "Oxymoron" including a definition and a list of more that 50 oxymorons.

Rhetorical terms are defined on this site by the Kentucky Division of Classics. With sentence examples of each in English and Greek. Also related links to Perseus.

This is a glossary entry for the term "Theme" including a definition and an example.

Explains the role of repetition in poetry. Gives several examples of poems that use repetition as a literary device.

This is a glossary entry for the term "Chiasmus" including a definition and examples.

This is a glossary entry for the term "Syllepsis" including definitions and links to more information and examples.

Site defines the term ambiguity. Offers explanations of different types of ambiguity, quotes and examples.

This is a glossary entry for the term "Metaphor" including a definition and links to simile, personification, hyperbole, anology, and other figures of speech.

This is a glossary entry for the term "Personification" including a defintion and two literary examples.

This is a glossary entry for the term "Satire" including definitions and examples. Also offers links to more information and examples.

This is a glossary entry for the term "Archetype" including definitions, examples, the background of the term coined by Carl Jung, and links to more information.

This is a glossary entry for the term "Foreshadowing" including a definition, examples, and a link to more information.

This is a glossary entry for the term "Apostrophe" including a definition, examples, and a discussion of the differences between "apostrophe" and an "authorial instrusion."

This is a glossary entry defining the term "Flashback."

This is a glossary entry for the term "Doppelganger" which literally means "double-goer." It includes defintions and examples.

This matching game has students match examples of literary devices (yellow boxes) with the terms (blue boxes). There are multiples of each, but each set is matched to a specific box. Java is required.

A one-page chart listing figurative language terms used in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, along with definitions and examples.

The writer of this site tells about her experience with reading literature written in the "magical realism" style. It is a personal response to literature, rather than a scholarly analysis, but it is well-written and knowledgable. Many...

This is a glossary entry for the term "Anagram" including a definition and an example.

This is a glossary entry for the term Circumlocution meaning "a roundabout or indirect manner of writing or speaking."