Literary Terms
Terms
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- Dialogue
- The words that characters speak aloud are called dialogue.
- Dennotaion
- A word's dictionary definition.
- Dynamic Characters
- Characters who change significantly are called dynamic characters.
- External Conflict
- In an external conflict, a character struggles against another character or against some outside force.
- Characterization
- Characterization includes all the techniques writers use to create and develop characters. (1) Presenting the character's words and actions.(2)Presenting the character's thoughts.(3) Describing the character's appearance.(4)Showing what others think about the characters.
- Imagery
- Consists of words and phrases that appeal to readers' senses.
- Internal Conflict
- Internal conflict is a struggle that is within a character.
- 3rd Person
- The narrantor isn't a character.
- Genre
- A type or category of literature.
- Short Story
- Brief work of fiction that can usually be read in a single setting.
- Metaphor
- A comparison of two things that have some quality in common.
- Limited Point-of-View
- Story is told from the viewpoint of one character who can see only a part of the whole story.
- Flashback
- In a literaryworki, a flashback is an interruption of the action to present a scene that took place at an earlier time.
- Free Verse
- Poetry without regular patterns of rhyme and rythm.
- Irony
- A contrast between what is expected to happen and what actually exists or happens
- Stanza
- A group of lines in a poem.
- Legend
- A story handed down from the past about a specific person- usually someone of heroic accomplishments.
- Suspense
- A feeling of growing tensionand excitement.
- Character
- A character ia a person, an animal, or an imaginary creature that takes part in the action of a literary work.
- Mood
- A feeling that a literary work conveysto readers.
- Folktale
- A story htat has been passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth.
- Climax
- In the plotof the story or play, the climax(or turning point) is the point of maximum interest. At the climax, the conflict is resolved and the outcome of the plot becomes clear.
- Stereotype
- Generalization about a group of people.
- Chronological Order
- Chronological order is the order in which events happen in time.
- Jargon
- A specialized vocabulary used by memberof a particular profession.
- Novel
- A work of fiction that is longer and more complex then a short story.
- Essay
- An essay is a short work of nonfiction htat deals with a single subject.
- Onomaopeia
- The use of words whose sounds suggest their meaning. Like pop, buzz, whiz, crackle, etc.
- Antagonist
- Cahracter we are against.
- Drama
- A drama,or play, is a form of literature meant to be performed by actors in front of an audience.In drama, the characters' dialogues and actions tell the story.
- Inferance
- A logical guess or coclucion based on evidence.
- Exposition
- Exposition, which is usually found at the beginning of a story or play, serves to introduce the main characters, to describe the setting, and sometimesto estabilsh the conflict.
- Folklore
- The traditions, customs, and stories that are passed down within a cultureare known as its folklore.
- Resolution
- The final stage of the plot.
- Fantasy
- A story that takes place in an unreal, inmaginary world. Fantasies often involve magic or characters with super human powers.
- Visualizing
- The process of forming a mental picture based on a written desription.
- Figurative Language
- Authors use figurative language to create fresh and original descriptions.
- Fable
- A brief story that teaches a lesson about human nature.
- Tone
- Writer's attitude toward his or her subject.
- Act
- An act is a major section or a play.
- Protagonist
- Character we are for.
- Foreshadowing
- Foreshadowing occurs when a writer provides hints that suggest future events in a story.
- Narrator
- Teller of the story.
- Repetition
- use of any element of language more than once.
- Symbol
- A person, a place, an object, or an action that stands for something beyond itself.
- Exaggeration
- An extreme overstating of an idea.
- Cannontaion
- A word's cannotaion are the ideas and feelings associated with the word as opposed to its dictionary definiton.
- Scene
- a section presenting events that occur in one place at one time.
- Science Fiction
- Fiction based on real or imagined scientific developments often set on imaginary places such as the future.
- Narrative Poetry
- Poetry that tells a story.
- Dialect
- A dialect is a form of language that is spoken in a certain place or by a certain class of people.
- Setting
- The time and place of the action.
- Static Characters
- Characters who change little, if at all, are static characters.
- Biography
- A biography is the story of someone's life, written by someone else.
- Personification
- The giving of human qualities to an animal, object,or idea.
- 1st Person
- The narrator is a characterand establishes the mainconflict.
- Moral
- A moral is a lesson that a story teaches.
- Autobiography
- An autobiography is a form of nonfiction in which a person tells the story of his or her own life.
- Prose
- Ordinary form of spoken and written language.
- Rhyme
- Repetition of sounds at the end of words.
- Foil
- A character who provides a striking contrast to a main character.
- Alliteration
- Alliteration is the repitition of a sound or letter at the beginning of words.
- Simile
- A comparison of two things that have some quality alike.
- Myth
- A traditional story, usually of unknown authorship, that deals with basic questions about the universe.
- Conflict
- Conflict is a struggle between opposing forces.
- Narrative
- Writing that tells a story.
- Main Idea
- A writers principle message.
- Hyperbole
- Exaggeration
- Theme
- The message about life or human nature that is conveyed by a literary work
- Plot
- The sequenceof related eventsthat make up the story.
- Fiction
- Fiction is prose writting that tells an imaginary story.
- Ombiscient Point-of-View
- Author is outside the storyand presents the thoughts of all the characters.
- Nonfiction
- Writing that tells aboutreal people, places, and events.