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Literary terms 2

Terms

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Define: free verse
poetry that doesn not use regular rhyme, rhythm, or division into stanzas.
Define: 2nd person
point of view told from "you"
Define: Major character
Same as main character
Define:Dramatic irony
the audience knows something that the character does not.
Define: Haiku
a traditional Japanese three-line poem; five syllables in the first, seven in the second and five in the third line.
Define: 1st person
Point of view told from "I"
Define: Protagonist
Main character in a story.
Define: dead metaphor
an overused, figure of speech which compares two unlike things.
Define: Hero
A protagonist who exhibits extraordinary charcter or accomplished extraordinary feats.
Define: voice
The way a writer uses language to relect his/her unique personality and attitude toward topic, form, and audience.
Define: Foil
characters created in contrast to each other; good guy/bad guy.
Define: Round character
A well developed character, through description.
Define: Conflict
a struggle occurring as part of the plot chart.
Define: colloquialism
a dialect specific to a geographic region.
Define: tragedy
a type of drama in which the main characters suffer a downfall.
Define: Direct characterization
Character development in which the author tells the reader what he/she needs to know about the character.
Define: rhyme
the repetition of sounds at the ends of words.
Define: Limerick
a five-line light verse:the rhyme scheme is aabba
Define: Stereotype
A fixed idea of a person based on the characteristics of a group.
Define: diction
the proper pronounciation of words; properly spoken and stressed.
Define: irony
the contast between reality and appearance
Define: Minor character
not the most important,but necessary to the plot of the story.
Define: iambic pentameter
a line of poetry that contains 5 iambs; two syllables which are pronounced stressed/unstressed.
Define: legends
A story coming from the past, based on important real events or characters; may be based on a true historical figure but parts of the story are unrealistic.
Define: blank verse
poetry that is weritten in unrhymed, iambic pentameter.
Define: antagonist
Character in a story who struggles with the main character.
Define: Nonfiction/Nonfiction Essay
Writing about real people,places, things, and events.
Define: Novel
A longer fictional writing which includes involved plots, many characters, and numerous settings.
Define:Historical fiction
This tells a story that is partially based on actual historical events and is partly made up; writers use specific details to make the past come alive in the readers imagination.
Define: reports
Nonfiction account of a person, place or thing.
Define: Narrative Poetry
Poems which primary intention of the poet is to tell a story.
Define: Short Stories
Primary form of fiction, typically readable in its entirety in one setting.
Define: Narrative Fiction/fiction prose
(writing done in paragraphs and sentences) about imagined events or characters.
Define: Autobiography
Nonfiction story of a person's life told by that person.
Define: Informative or reference material.
Nonfiction publications which may include the following; atlas, dictionary, thesauraus, textbooks, enclyclopedia, newspapers,and magazines.
Define: Essay
Short nonfiction work that expresses that writer's thoughts about a single subject.
Define: Realistic fiction
Imaginary stories intended to present an accurate picture of life and events.
Define: Comedy
A type of drama typically characterized by humor and a happy ending.
Define: fable
Brief story that frequently includes animal characters and a moral.
Define: lyric
highly musical verse that expresses the emotions of the speaker and do not tell a story.
Define: Skits
A short dramatic production meant to illustrate a specific point.
Define: Bias
previously held beliefs that may influence an author or reader.
Define: sonnet
a 14-line poem usually written in iambic pentamenter with rhyme in a fixed scheme.
Define: hyperbole
an extreme exaggeration
Define: Character
people, animals, or objects in the story.
Define: figurative language
Writing or speaking that is meant to be understood imaginatively instead of literary; includes the literary techniques: apostrophe, hyperbole, irony, metaphor, oxymoron, paradox,personification, and simile.
Define: Exposition
The introduction of the plot.
Define: Plot
Organized pattern or sequence of events in a story.
Define: Main Character
Most important figure in a literary work.
Define: 3rd person
point of view told from "he, she or it"
Define: tone
The author's attitude as interpreted through word choice toward the subject or reader
Define:rhythm
pattern of beats in a line of poetry or prose.
Define: couplet
two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme.
Define: inciting incident
The event in the plot that introduces the central conflict.
Define: quatrain
a 4-line stanza with a rhyme scheme.
Define: Plays
another term for drama
Define: Mood
feeling or emotion the writer creates in a literary work.
Define: atmosphere
same as mood of a literary work.
Define: setting
Time and place in which a literary work happens; may be revealed through scenery, clothing, weather, or season.
Define: Prose
all writing that is not poetry or drama; includes fiction and nonfiction.
Define: imagery
language that creates a concrete representation of an object or an experience by using the five senses.
Define: Direct metaphor
a comparison of tow unlike things which uses the verbs;is, are, was, or were.
Define: motif
anything that appears repeatedly in one or more works of literature.
Define: Implied metaphor
a comparison of two unlike things in which the things being compared may not ever actually be stated.
Define:Archetype
a recurring reference to a universal theme; example, the archetype of good vs evil.
Define: Biography
Nonfiction story about a person's life told by another person.
Define: foreshadowing
the dropping of hints in a work of literture as to events that may occur later in the work.
Define Rhyme scheme
pattern of rhyming lines in a poem; usually represented with letters.
Define: Point of view
the vantage point or angle from which a story is told.
Define: 3rd person limited
point of view limited ot one particular charcter's vantage point.
Define: Indirect characterization
Character development in which the author tells the reader what he/she needs to know about the character.
Define: situational irony
an event that contradicts the expectations of the characters, the reader, or the audience of a literary work.
Define: repetition
more than one use of a sound, word, or gourp of words.
Define: 3rd person omniscient
the narrator knows and tells about what each character thinks and feels.
Define: internal conflict
a struggle that takes place within the character.
Define: Static Character
A character who remains the same in a literary work.
Define: Fairy tales
Type of European folk tale containing supernatural events and often imaginary creatures such as elves and giants.
Define:idiom
a group of words that when placed together takes on an entirely different meaning than the individual words.
Define: Complications
The problems that arise within the plot of a story that keep the charcter from solving the conflict.
Define: theme
The underlying meaning of a story; unstated, typically inferred; common examples include: rite of passage, role of woman, intolerance, tragedy, and survival.
Define: Dynamic character
A character who makes a significant change in a literary work.
Define: slant rhyme/aprox. rhyme.
words that have similar sounds, but are not pure examples of rhyme.
Define: Drama
A story told through characters played by actors.
Define: Mythology
These are stories that explain objects or events in the natural world; explained as being caused by some supernatural force or being, often a god.
Define: Symbolism
the usage of something that stands for or represents both itself and something else.
Define: meter
a poem's overall rhythm, or pattern of beats.
Define: external conflict
A struggle that takes place between a charcter and something outside that character; man vs man, man vs nature, man vs society.
Define: Verbal irony
the character says one thing, but intends another.
Define: Villain
the bad guy or antagonist who opposes the protagonist.
Define: Folklore
Tales or songs passed by word of mouth from generation to generation of commonly shared ideas or feelings;anonymous.
Define: apostrophe
a poem that addresses an object or a person directly.
Define: suspense
The quality in literature that keeps a reader eager to know what will happen next.
Define: falling action
events in the plot that occur between the climax and resolution.
Define: Cliche'
an overused figure of speech.
Define: allegory
a work in which each element symbolizes or represents, something beyond itself.
Define: Tall Tales
Lighthearted or humorous story with many exaggerated lelments; depict the adventures of American folk heros of the wild west and offer explanations as to how certain mountains, lakes, or other geographical features came to exist.
Define: script
written format of a drama or play.
Define: actor
characters in a play
Define: simile
a comparison of two unlike things which uses the words;like, as, or resembles, to make the comparison.
Define: expository
writing or speech that explains a process or presents information.
Define: Flat character
A one-sided character who often represents a stereotype.
Define: Primary character
same as main character
Define: Epic
a long, narrative poem depicting the adventures of a hero.
Define: declining action
same as falling action
Define: Fantasy
very unrealistic or imaginary story; often contrasted with science fiction.
Define: Dialect
a version of language spoken by people of a particular place,time or group.
Define: tragic flaw
the characteristic that leads the hero to his downfall.
Define: flashback
part of a story, poem, or play that presents events that happened at an earlier time.
Define: epic conventions
include a hero, epic similes, in medias res
Define: moral
a practical lesson, usually relating to the principals of right and wrongto be drawn from a story or other works of literature.
Define: epic hero
the protagonist of an epic.
Define: In medias res
in the middle of; all epics begin here usually through the literary usage of a flashback.
Define: Epistolary
writing that tells a story through letters written by one or more characters.
Define: allusion
a reference in literature to something famous whether it be person, place or event or anything else that is well known.
Define: extended metaphor
a comparison of two unlike things that may take an entire stanza or poem to develop the meaning or understanding of.
Define: Ballad
a narrative poem written in song form.
Define: Rising action
events in the plot that lead to the climax.
Define: refrain
the repeating section of a ballad
Define: act
major divisions in a play.
Define:style
an author's chosen method for writing literature.
Define: Pun
a play on the multiple meanings or spellings of a word.
Define: tragic hero
main character of a tragedy who inevitably suffers a downfall.
Define: Climax
The moment in the plot of highest intensity.
Define: parable
story told to communicate a moral
Define: set
the backdrop of a play
Define:Paradox
a statement that seems to go against common sense but is actually true.
Define: Connotation
emotional association attached to a word or statement.
Define: Science fiction
imaginative literature based on scientific principals, discoveries or laws.
Define: Cinquain
Poems that are five lines in length; syllable sinquains give each line a certain number of syllables: first-2, second-4, third-6, fourth-8, and fifth-2.
Define: stanza
a group of lines in a poem; usually separated by spaces from other groups of lines.
Define: costumes
clothing worn by charcters often reveals important settings or character traits.
Define: aside
a statement during a play directed to the audience and not heard by players on stage.
Define: denouement
any material that follows the resolution and that ties up loose ends.
Define: resolution
The point in the plot at which the central conflict is ended.
Define: Personification
giving human characteristics to non-human things.
Define: Turning Point
same as crisis
Define: objectivity
a style of writing nonfiction based on factual information only.
Define: Crisis
The point in the plot when something happens to determine the future course of events and the eventual fate of the main character.
define: Metaphor
a comparison of two unlike things.
Define: dialogue
conversation involving two or more characters.
Define: stage directions
information in parentheses giving necessary information to the players.
Define: subjectivity
a style of writing nonfiction based on the opinions of the author.
Define: Denotation
basic meaning or dictionary definition of a word.
Define: monologue
a speech performed by one character.
Define: alliteration
the repetition of like consonant sounds in a line of poetry.
Define: Onomatopoeia
a poetic device through which the words in a line of poetry are used to make that particular sound.
Define: Lyric Poetry
Highly musical verse that expresses the emotions of a speaker and does not tell a story.
Define: Assonance
the repetition of like vowel sounds in a line of poetry.
Define: scene
major divisions within the act of a play.
Define: soliloquy
a long speech performed by a character alone on stage.
Define: props
objects used in a play by characters.

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