Meaning-Makers, How an Author Builds Theme
A writer’s or speaker’s attitude toward the subject, the audience, or him/herself; the emotional meaning of a work.
What is Tone?
Note: The foundation of all analysis; identifying the tone is usually the first step to a high-scoring thesis.
A character who reveals only one, maybe two, personality traits in the story and the character does not change or evolve throughout.
What is a Flat or Static Character?
Note: Often used as social commentary or to represent an unmoving obstacle in the protagonist's way.
A situation in which two alternative points of view are presented as the only options, when others are available.
What is False Dichotomy?
Note: Authors often use this to show how trapped a character feels by narrow societal expectations.
When the audience knows something that a character does not. Used to create tension, humor, or suspense.
What is Dramatic Irony?
Note: Dramatic Irony is key to creating suspense and highlighting a character’s tragic blindness.
An author’s choice of words (e.g. simple, sophisticated, colloquial, formal, etc.).
What is Diction?
Note: For analysis, don’t just identify diction as interesting, for example, describe the kind of diction to explain how it builds the world or character.
A brief reference to a well-known person, story, event, or idea that the writer expects the audience to recognize.
What is Allusion?
Note: A shorthand way for authors to add massive layers of meaning by borrowing from the Bible, Mythology, or History.
A narrative technique whereby the author allows the reader to ‘hear’ a character's inner thoughts and feelings. Typically well ordered and logical/linear.
What is Interior Monologue?
Note: Use this to show a character's conscious reasoning process and moral dilemmas.
An “Into the middle of things” story structure, when a story opens in the middle of the plot. Exposition is often bypassed and then filled in gradually.
What is In Medias Res?
Note: Be clear about how this style immediately drops the reader into the conflict, creating a sense of urgency.
The emotional release or cleansing that the audience experiences at the end of a tragedy.
What is Catharsis?
Note: Catharsis is the "emotional purge" a character experiences that provides a sense of closure after intense suffering.
Something that stands for or suggests something else by reason of relationship, association, convention, or accidental resemblance.
What is a Symbol?
Note: Look for objects that reappear in pivotal moments to represent a larger, abstract idea.
The reader’s attitude toward the subject or text; the feelings or atmosphere the writer creates for the reader to experience.
What is Mood?
Note: Use this to describe the environmental pressure or "vibe" acting upon the characters.
A character who provides a contrast to another character, thus emphasizing the other’s traits.
What is a Foil?
Note: Essential for analyzing complex protagonists (e.g., how Laertes’s action foils Hamlet’s inaction; Adèle Ratignolle as model house wife in comparison to Edna Pontellier exploration of self).
The running over of the sense and grammatical structure from one line of verse to the next without a punctuation pause.
What is Enjambment?
Note: Essential for FRQ 1 (Poetry). It controls the "breath" and pace, often mimicking a character's anxiety or excitement.
A mild or indirect word or expression that is substituted for one that is considered too harsh or blunt.
What is Euphemism?
Note: Euphemism is often used by authors to critique social hypocrisy or the way people avoid uncomfortable truths.
An awakening; a sudden understanding or burst of insight.
What is an Epiphany?
Note: The "aha!" moment. It is almost always the turning point in a character's development.
The emotional implications that a word may carry; implied or associated meanings for a particular word.
What is Connotation?
Note: Essential for explaining why a specific word choice matters beyond its dictionary definition.
A narration style and technique that is the written equivalent of a character’s thought process. Characterized by ‘leaps’ in thought and lack of some, or all, punctuation.
What is Stream-of-Consciousness narration?
Note: Use this to discuss a character’s raw, unfiltered, or even fractured mental state.
Grammatical or structural similarity between sentences or parts of speech within a sentence (e.g. “I came, I saw, I conquered.”).
What is Parallelism/Parallel Structure?
Note: Used to show balance, obsession, or rhetorical power; it makes an idea feel "inevitable."
Refers to a set of objects, a situation, or a chain of events which serve as the formula for a particular emotion.
What is Objective Correlative?
Note: This is a high-level term that shows mastery of how the author's use of physical imagery translates into specific moods.
The use of a single metaphor or analogy throughout the length of a piece of literature (also known as a conceit).
What is an Extended Metaphor?
Note: these are often the "unifying force" of a poem or passage.
A repeated image, idea, or symbol that helps develop themes over the course of the story.
What is Motif?
Note: This is the bridge between plot and theme. If it keeps appearing, it’s important.
The person who is understood to be speaking (or thinking or writing) a particular work. It is almost invariably distinct from the author himself or herself.
What is the Persona?
Note: Critical for poetry analysis. Never assume the speaker of the poem is the poet.
Makes sense only when the end of the sentence is reached. It is not grammatically correct until the end.
What is a Periodic Sentence?
Note: Periodic sentence structure is effective because it holds an idea in suspense, forcing the reader to wait for the resolution.
A common figure of speech by which something is referred to indirectly, by naming only some part or constituent of it (e.g. ‘hands’ for manual laborers).
What is Synecdoche?
Note: A sophisticated form of imagery that reduces a person or object to a specific function or status.
A genre which shows the moral growth and development of a central character from childhood to maturity.
What is the Bildungsroman genre?
Note: The "coming-of-age" lens. Almost every FRQ 3 prompt can be answered using this framework.