Archetypes
This character archetype is the "good guy" who must overcome obstacles to achieve a goal.
Who is the Hero?
This device compares two unlike things using the words "like" or "as."
Simile
This Greek root means "small," as found in the words microscope or microwave.
What is Micro?
This term describes the main character of a story who faces the central conflict.
Who is the Protagonist?
This is the universal lesson or underlying message that an author wants the reader to learn.
What is the Theme?
This character archetype is the "bad guy" or antagonist who works against the hero, often representing a "shadow" side.
Who is the Villain?
This is an extreme exaggeration that couldn't possibly be true, such as "I have a million things to do."
Hyperbole
This Latin root means "to look," as found in the words spectacles, inspect, or spectator.
What is Spec?
This part of the plot is the "turning point" where the tension reaches its highest peak.
What is the Climax?
This is a brief of the main points of a text, written in the reader's own words.
What is an Objective Summary?
Roger fits this archetype at the start of the story—someone who is naive, youthful, and sees the world as a place that should provide for them.
Who is the Innocent?
This occurs when an author gives human-like qualities to an object, such as "the wind whistled through the trees.
What is Personification?
If the Latin root "dict" means "to speak," this word describes a book that tells you how to say words.
What is a Dictionary?
This is the struggle happening inside Roger's mind when he stands at the sink and has to decide whether to run out the open door or stay to wash his face.
What is an Internal Conflict?
Unlike a theme, this is specific to the text and tells what the entire passage is mostly about.
What is the Central Idea?
This archetype represents the common person who just wants to belong and be treated fairly, often lacking special powers.
Who is the Everyman?
This device is a reference to a famous person, place, event, or literary work, like calling someone a "Romeo.
What is an allusion?
This Latin root means "good" or "well," as found in benefit, beneficial, or benevolent.
What is Bene?
This is the event that sets the story in motion and introduces the main conflict. (Example: Roger grabbing the purse).
What is the rising action?
These are the specific facts, quotes, or examples that a writer uses to prove their central idea.
What is Supporting Evidence?
This symbol archetype, seen in "Mother to Son," represents a difficult journey, growth, or the transition from one stage of life to another.
What is the Staircase
This is a phrase that has a figurative meaning different from its literal one, such as "being in the same boat.
What is an Idiom?
This Greek root means "time," as found in chronological or synchronize.
What is Chron?
This literary element refers to the perspective from which the story is told, such as First-Person or Third-Person Omniscient.
What is Point of View?
On the FAST, if you are asked for the "development of a theme," you are looking for how the theme changes from this point to the end.
What is the Beginning?