Video Dictionary of Literary Terms

Welcome to the Video Dictionary of Literary Terms! 

This is a series of bite-size (~3 minutes each) videos designed for introductory literature classes introducing literary terms with examples from renowned literary classics.  

Teachers and students can utilize these videos by specific terms or by literary works, through in-class, pre-class, or self-study activities. Students managing demanding schedules can grasp essential ideas of the works/terms through the videos as well. 

Unlike similar resources available online, our videos provide contextualized and dramatic illustrations of the literary terms. For example, J.D. Salinger would be counselling Holden Caulfield to explain “Plot and Bildungsroman”; and Odysseus from Homer’s Odyssey would walk through the narrative to explain “Epic”. These imaginary dialogues between the author, characters, and viewers establish vivid settings and scenes that enrich students’ understanding of the literary terms.  

Nonetheless, it is helpful for teachers to remind students that the literary terms are just tools for analytical and descriptive purposes, and do not necessarily reflect writers’ explicit intentions. Such awareness can empower students to develop their own analytical perspectives as they advance through their literary studies.


The Video Dictionary of Literary Terms is a project of the Department of Literature and Cultural Studies at the Education University of Hong Kong. 

 Table of Contents

1. William Shakespeare, “My Mistress’ Eyes Are Nothing like the Sun” (Sonnet 130) (Alliteration and Assonance)        

2. Henrik Ibsen, A Doll’s House (Monologue (soliloquy) and dialogue))

3. Susan Glaspell, Trifles (Setting)                                           

4. Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray (Theme)      

5. Jerome David Salinger, Catcher in the Rye (Plot and Bildungsroman)

6. Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist (Character and Characterisation)

7. William Shakespeare, Hamlet (Metonymy and Synecdoche)       

8. William Wordsworth, “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”  (Metre and Rhyme)

9. Charlotte Bronte, Nora Keita Jemisin, Jane Austen, William Shakespeare (Point of View)                              

10. (1) Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden (2) Philip Pullman, The Golden Compass (Personification and Zoomorphism)

11. Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman (Foreshadowing and Flashback)

12. Homer, The Odyssey (Epic)

13. (1) James Joyce, "Araby" (2) William Wordsworth, "The Solitary Reaper" (3) Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, The Big Bang Theory (Epiphany) 

14. (1) Christopher Smart, "Jubilate Agno" (2) William Carlos Williams, "This is Just To Say" (Free Verse)

15. Emily Dickinson, "'Hope' is the thing with feathers" (Imagery)

16. William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet (Irony)

17. (1) Edgar Allan Poe, "The Bells" (2) Spike Milligan, "On the Ning Nang Nong" (Onomatopoeia) 

18. (1) George Orwell, Animal Farm (2) William Blake, "The Chimney Sweeper" (Satire)

19. William Shakespeare, "That time of year thou mayst in me behold" (Sonnet 73) (Sonnet) 

20. Robert Frost, "Fire and Ice" (Symbol)

21. William Wordsworth, "The World is Too Much With Us" (Tone)

22. Virginia Woolf, "The Mark on the Wall" (Stream of Consciousness)