A philologist must master literary terminology. To date, a large number of different dictionaries and reference books have been published. The terminological minimum offered to the student is convenient for everyday use due to its small volume and laconicism. The purpose of this publication is to briefly recall the main content of one or another literary concept studied in the theoretical courses “Introduction to Literary Studies” and “Literary Theory”. It is assumed that a reminder of the main thing in a particular concept will recall additional knowledge about it, once acquired in the learning process. The manual is written in accessible language, explains literary categories using examples known to the student from historical and literary courses. It includes itself a relatively small, but most necessary for the analysis of a literary work circle of terms. In the text, those that are covered in separate dictionary entries are highlighted in italics.