Literature Mid-term Vocabulary
Lit. Mid-term Dec. 18
Terms
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- mood
- feeling created in the reader by a literary work
- characterization
- process by which authors create memorable characters and give them characteristics of interesting people
- exposition
- introduces the settings, character, general storyline, and basic situation
- stereotype
- generalization about a character's traits
- climax
- high point of interest or purpose; turning point
- dialogue
- conversation between characters
- conflict
- struggle between opposing forces
- allusion
- reference to a well-known person,place,event, literary work, or work of art EX. Atticus says "let this cup pass from me." we relate this to Jesus in the garden before his crucifixion
- symbolism
- anything that represents something else
- minor character
- character with lesser role in the story but helps develop the main character
- protagonist
- main character
- implicit/implied theme
- author makes you figure this insight yourself; you must infer from the events and characters in the story;
- antagonist
- character or force in conflict with a main character
- falling action
- end of central conflict; after the high point and reveals what happens as a result of climax
- internal conflict
- struggle in the mind of the character; man vs. self
- setting
- time and place of the story or action; overall enviroment of story; influences plot development and character's actions
- explicit theme
- states the theme in the story directly
- main character
- most important character
- atmosphere
- same as mood - feeling created in the reader by a literary work
- round character
- fully developed and has many traits
- flat character
- one sided and stereotypical
- indirect characterization
- the character is revealed through their personality, appearance, words, actions, and effect on others
- rising action
- introduces and develops the central conflict; action builds towards the high point
- omniscient
- narrator knows and tells about what each character feels and thinks
- dynamic character
- one who changes or grows during a story
- plot
- sequence of events that makes up a story
- theme
- central message, concern, or purpose;"insight into/about life"; gift of meaning that the author gives you; underlying message
- static character
- one who does not change during the story
- flashback
- scene within a story showing past events during a present scene; scene within a story that interrupts the sequence of events to relate events that occur in the past and relate to the present
- motive
- reasons behind a character's actions
- character
- person or animal that takes part in the action of a literary work
- style
- typical way a writer writes, including word choice and sentence structure
- inference
- reasonable conclusion drawn from given facts or clues in the story
- external conflict
- outside force; may be between two characters caused by a difference in ideas or personalities; man vs. nature or man vs. society
- first person narrator
- told by a character who uses the first-person pronoun "I"; limited to what only the narrator knows
- third person limited
- told by a character who stands outside the action and speaks about it; uses third person pronouns "he" or "she"
- direct characterization
- author tells about the character
- narrator
- speaker or character who tells a story
- resolution
- event occurring during the falling action; conflict solved
- dialect
- form of language spoken by people in a certain region or group
- point of view
- perspective from which story is told
- irony
- a surprising, interesting, or amusing contradictions or problems; contradiction between what the character thinks will happen and what the reader knows to be true
- suspense
- feeling of anxious uncertainty about the outcome of events in a literary work; keeps the reader interested
- foreshadowing
- author's hinting about future events in the story
- tone
- writer's attitude toward reader or subject