Literary Terms
Literary works that are based on imagination, not necessarily facts
What is Fiction?
A struggle (the problem in the story)
What is Conflict?
The person or character telling the story
Who is the Narrator?
The most exciting part of the story when the protagonist makes a decision or his/her fate is decided
What is a climax or turning point?
What happens in the story
What is Plot?
A return to an earlier time
What is a Flashback?
The central or main character
What is the Protagonist?
Literary works that are fact-based
What is Non-fiction?
the beginning of the story when characters, setting, and conflict are revealed
What is exposition?
One of the characters in the story is telling the story. (I, me, etc.)
What is First-Person Point of View?
The feeling a piece of literature creates in a reader.
What is Mood?
This introduces characters and settings while supplying background information
What is Exposition?
Hints or clues to future events in the story
What is Foreshadowing?
Character(s) in opposition to the main character
What is the Antagonist?
The time and place of the story
What is a Setting?
A character who adds flavor or moves the story forward but does not affect the plot much
What is a minor character?
~Outside narrator
~Not a character in the story
~Can only report what s/he hears and/or sees
What is Third-Person Objective Point of View?
A reference to something else in literature
What is an Allusion?
Complications/crisis/problems begin to take place (conflicts arise and tension builds)
What is Rising Action?
A person, place or and object that stands for something else
What is a Symbol?
A character that changes over the course of the story
What is a Dynamic Character?
~shorter than a novel
~fictional (based on imagination)
~one or more characters
~one or more conflict
What is a Short Story?
the writing in short stories or novels
What is a prose?
~Outside narrator
~Not a character in the story
~Knows the thoughts and feelings of two or more characters (all, everything)
What is Third-Person Omniscient?
The attitude of the author towards the topic
What is tone?
High point in the story where the tension breaks (usually the highest point of interest)
What is the Climax?
Words or phrases that create a mental picture
Appeals to the five senses
What is imagery?
A character that does not change over the course of the story
What is Static Character
The overall meaning (central message) of the story
What is the Theme?
A nervousness or extreme curiosity about what will happen next
What is a suspense?
using the word 'you' in the prose; can have the result of engaging the reader more
What is second person?
Tools the writer uses to create a character
~Description
~Character's speeches/actions
~Character's thoughts/feelings
~Reactions/Opinions of other characters
What is Characterization?
The events in the story which follow the climax (a decision needs to be made)
What is the Falling Action?
A side by side contrast; place two characters, concepts, ideas or places near or next to each other so that the reader will compare and contrast them
What is foil?
A character that is three dimensional, but not the main character
What is Round Character?
In the movie, Jaws, the audience knows a shark is lurking in the water but the swimmers do not know the shark is there
What is Dramatic Irony?
the conversation between characters
What is a dialogue?
It was almost December, and Jonas was beginning to be frightened. No wrong word Jonas thought. Frightened meant that deep, sickening feelings of something terrible about to happen.
- THE GIVER
What is Third Person Limited?
When that opposite of what you expect to happen occurs
What is Irony?
The outcome of the story/the conclusion
What is the Resolution?
When one student tells the other student, "I love learning literary elements and I cannot wait to take the test on Tuesday!"
What is Verbal Irony?
A character that is there to highlight what the protagonist is going through
What is Flat Character?