Here are some terms that you might come across in your reading. The definitions given below are not meant to be exhaustive. Indeed, whole books have been written to explain some of these terms, such as archetype, hero, realism, and symbolism.
These notes are meant to provide basic definitions of frequently used literary terms; I hope these definitions will establish common ground for book discussions. Most of the examples given are works reviewed on this Web site.
Index
—A—B—C—D—E—F—G—H—I—J—K—L—M—N—O—
—P—Q—R—S—T—U—V—W—X—Y—Z—
—A—
—B—
—C—
Carol Shields Prize for Fiction
Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction
—D—
—E—
—F—
—G—
—H—
Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction
—I—
International DUBLIN Literary Award
—J—
—K—
—L—
—M—
—N—
—O—
—P—
PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction