150+ Words Related to Literature

October 15, 2023

You might already be familiar with some words related to literature in a general sense. But a deeper understanding of these terms is necessary, especially if you want to become an expert. Here are literary words that you should master:

Table of Contents

Fiction

Anytime that you read a book and the narrative and the characters are fictional or fake, then you call it fiction, a literary work in which the author invented the story.

There are numerous genres of fiction. You’ll come across romance, science fiction, fantasy, and dystopian, to name a few. Regardless of what fictional genre you prefer, as long as its story is not an actual account of events and people, then it would fall under fiction. If the story happened in real life, then they are nonfiction.

Genre

Speaking of genre, what is it? Much like music, movies, and television shows, literature works are grouped into categories called genres, such as historical fiction, romantic comedy, true crime, revenge tragedy, and so forth.

Each genre is defined by a specific set of conventions, rules, or expectations that govern the world within the narrative and how the story is told. However, a work of literature can belong to more than one genre.

Biography

Biography is categorized under nonfiction since it is a factual account of a real person’s life. The person might be an important historical figure, such as an artist, an athlete, or a leader, but biographies can also be written by everyday people—even you! If you write your own life story, though, that’s a specific kind of biography known as “autobiography.”

Plot

The plot is the sequence and structure of a story. Both fiction and non-fiction stories can have plots. It is a critical part of any work of literature because the order of events—their sequence and their pacing—influences what the reader knows about the story and how they might feel about it.

Protagonist

The protagonist in a work of literature is the primary character whose arc forms the main plotline. They are the characters whom we journey with throughout the narrative. Keep in mind that not all protagonists are good.

Rhetoric

Rhetoric is the deliberate and strategic use of language to create an effect on the reader. This includes decisions about word choice and connotation, sentence structure, specific devices and figures of speech, and turns of phrase. Typically, rhetorical language aims to move the reader or listener to think, feel, or do something by appealing to their logic or their emotion.

Point of View

The perspective used to tell a story is its point of view. There are four kinds of points of view in storytelling – first-person, second-person, third-person, and fourth-person.

A story’s point of view can affect the reader’s experience by controlling your access to information, allowing, for example, for surprises and revelations.

Metaphor

Authors frequently use figurative language to tell a story. Figurative language is any word or phrase that you can interpret beyond just its literal meaning.

The most common form of figurative language is metaphor. Authors will use metaphors as a way to make abstract or big ideas more concrete and relatable.

Antagonist

Every protagonist needs an opponent. In literature, the person or people opposed to the protagonist is the antagonist. Just like a protagonist, an antagonist has an objective and can experience a character arc as they journey through the story.

The most interesting works of literature have antagonists who are compelling reflections of the protagonists against whom they struggle.