Literary termsBy Emily Weber

Plot

• Is the framework of a story—the arrangement of related events that makes the story hang together.• The action in the story. https://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=WH5jlkK4aUI

Exposition

• Introduces the basic situation of the story and any information the reader needs (setting, background, characters) to get oriented to the story.

Rising action

• Is the dramatic events that move the plot along to its point of greatest emotional intensity.

complication

•Is the point in the story the main character encounters an obstacle.

Internal conflict

• Occurs when a character struggles with a personal trait.

External conflict• Occurs when a character struggles with forces outside of him

or herself.

Climax• Is the point of most emotional intensity in a

story and often the turning point.• The point at which the action in a story or play reaches its

emotional peak.• the moment in the story or play at which a crisis reaches its

highest intensity and a decisive turning point.

Conflict

• Conflict:The elements that create a plot. Traditionally, every plot is build from the most basic elements of a conflict and an eventual resolution. The conflict can be internal (within one character) or external (among or between characters, society, and/or nature).

Falling action• Is the resolution of dramatic action after the

climax

Resolution

• Is the part of the plot in which the problems are settled and everything is made clear or explained.

Suspense• Is a technique used to hold the reader’s

interest.

Foreshadowing• Is the technique of providing the readers wit hints, clues, or

indications about future action.• A technique in which an author gives clues about something

that will happen later in the story.• a device in which the author drops hints or otherwise

prepared the reader for an event to come later• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tooj33VgjaA

flashback• Is the technique of going to a previous time, not within the

time frame of the story to provide the reader with back ground information or to relate the story as if it is being remembered.

Indirect characterization• Occurs when the writer reveals the nature of his characters

through their appearance, speech, actions, thoughts, and responses of other characters

protagonist• Is a story’s main character• Is the good guy in the story• Is the hero of the story

antagonist• Is the character or force that comes into conflict with the

main character.• Is the bad guy or villain in the story• A major character who opposes the protagonist in a story or

play. • the major character in opposition to the hero or protagonist of

a narrative or drama

Characters• The people, animals, or creatures in a story.

Dynamic character• Change significantly during the course of a story.

Static character • Characters remain the same throughout a story.

Flat characters• Have only one or two key personality traits

Round character• Are three-dimensional characters

Stock characters• Fit a preconceived notion about a specific type, much like a

stereotype.

Omniscient • Is a narrator that is godlike observer who knows everything

thing that is going on and who can see into every character’s heart and mind

First-person• Is a narrator that relates events of the story, and takes part

in the action using “I.”• The point of view of writing which the narrator refers to

himself as “I.” • narrator is a character in the story; uses “I,” “we,” etc.

Third Person• narrator outside the story; uses “he,” “she,” “they”

Limited third-person • Is a narrator that speaks form the vantage point of a single

character.• narrator tells only what one character perceives

Third-person objective.• Is when the narrator is not a character in the story and

reports only what can be seen and heard. Unspoken thoughts and feelings are not revealed.

Figurative language• Is a language that goes beyond its usual literal meaning to achieve emphasis or to

express a relationship between unlike things. A figurative expression usually contains a stated or implied comparison.

• Examples: The redcoats are coming!,• Language that does not mean exactly what it says. For example, you can call someone

who is very angry “steaming.” Unless steam was actually coming out of your ears, you were using figurative language.

Simile• Is a figure of speech in which two essentially unlike things are directly compared, usually with

words like or as.• Examples: As busy as a bee, As cold as ice, Our soldiers are as brave as lions, Her cheeks are red

like a rose, She swims like a fish, The world is like a stage, The night was as black as coal, “Do you ever feel like a plastic bag?”, as busy as a bee, as snug as a bug in a rug, as black as coal, as blind as a bat, as smooth as glass, as gentle as a lamb, as clear as a crystal, as hard as rock, as flat as a pancake, as white as snow, as clean as a whistle, as free as a bird, as hot as hell, as mad as a hatter, as pretty as a picture, as sharp as a knife, as wise as an owl, as fat as a pig, as brave as a lion, as gentle as a lamb,

Metaphor• Is an implied comparison between things essentially• A comparison that doesn’t use “like” or “as”—such as “He’s a rock” or “I am an island.” unlike.• Examples: Her voice is music to his ears, you are my sunshine, she froze with fear, I’m the king of

the world, love is a battlefield, food for thought,

Extended metaphor• Is a metaphor, an implied comparison that runs through an entire work or portion of a work.

Most often found in poetry.

personification• Is a figure of speech in which human characteristics are assigned to non-human things, or life is

attributed to inanimate objects.• Giving inanimate object human characteristics. For example, “The flames reached for the child

hovering in the corner.” • Examples: The flowers danced in the gentle breeze, Time creeps up on you, The news took me by

surprise, The fire ran wild, this city never sleeps, the city that never sleeps, the grease jumped out of the pan,

onomatopoeia• Is use of words having sounds that suggest their meaning or which imitate the sound associated

with them.• A word that makes a sound• The use of words that sound like what they mean such as “buzz.” • Examples: the buzzing bee flew away, The sack fell into the river with a splash, bang, hop, pluck,

clap, crack, meow, honk, crunch, pop,

hyperbole• Is a figure of speech involving great exaggeration. The effect may be satirical, sentimental, or

comic.• For entertainment or amusement.• Examples: I have a ton of homework, I’m so hungry, I could eat a horse, Hit the lights, My mom

is going to kill me, I’ve told a million times, It was so cold, I saw polar bears wearing jackets, I can smell pizza from a mile away, The lesson was taking forever, I could listen to that song on repeat forever,

imagery• Is language that appeals to what can be seen, heard, touch, taste, smell, as well as what can be

felt internally (to senses) in order to re-create the experience being communicated and the emotional response appropriate to the experience.

• The use of description that helps the reader imagine how something looks, sounds, feels, smells, or taste. Most of the time, it refers to appearance. For example, “The young bird’s white, feathered wings flutter as he made his way across the nighttime sky.”

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0ymDfJge8c&index=4&list=PLndfEMRm03EVKXV5FsHwmH6-fDs1J_fkB

irony• Is a figure of speech in which the author implies what is meant, or what has occurred, is

different from what was thought or expected.• Examples: “Oh great! Now you have broken my new camera.”

Language that conveys a certain ideas by saying just he opposite.• Can be verbal, situational, or dramatic and has the result of the meaning, situation or action

being one thing but meaning something different.• https://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgV4Bj8U0Mo&index=5&list=PLndfEMRm03EVKXV5FsHwmH6-fDs1J_fkB

tone• Is a writer’s attitude and what he or she wants the reader to feel.

theme• Is the main idea or underlying of a literary work. A theme may be directly stated, but more

often it is implied by the author.• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kN6Ug_HYZYc

inference• Is a reasonable guess based on evidence found in the text.

stanza• Is a group of lines in a poem.

prose• Is any non-metrical language, novels, short stories, letters, emails, ect. In other words, all

writing except poetry and drama (scripted plays).

symbol• Something concrete that means to represent an abstract idea or notion. For example, the heart

shape which is concrete represents the abstract notion of love.

Suspense• A sense of excitement, tension, dread or fear about what will

happen next

Narrator• Character who tells the story; can be the author or a fictional

character.

Dramatic Irony• When the reader or viewer knows something the character

does not know

Situational Irony• Contrast between what a reader or character expects and

what actually exists or happens.

Verbal Irony• When someone knowingly exaggerates or says one thing and

means another

Dialect• The form of language spoken in a particular area by particular

people.

Word choice• Can make a work sound formal or informal, serious, or

humorous; words must be chosen carefully depending on the goal of the piece of writing

Third-person Limited Point of View

• Tells only what one character thinks, feels, and observes

Third-person Omniscient Point of View

• also called "all knowing point of view"; the narrator sees into the mind of all of the characters

Allusion• A reference to another literary figure or time period.

Prologue • The opening line od a drama that gives background

information

Pun• A play on words when a word has more than one meaning.• Examples: I find this humerus, Hurray for math puns,

Foil Character• Created to highlight traits of other characters.

Types of conflict.• Man vs. Man• Man vs. Inner self.• Man vs. Outside force

Plot diagram

Conflict Videos• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rM5cp_YL77k• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4JxmGe1iGI• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rg_10OfdEss

Videos• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p50_yNQLj5c• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMSLgxj2dxk• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9uKwQ4VzHM

Alliteration• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbClrV6Ifgs

Symbolism• Symbolism is the use of symbols to signify ideas and qualities

by giving them symbolic meanings that are different from their literal sense.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26-Q_QUG6bA

Analogy• An analogy is a literary device that helps to establish a relationship based on similarities between

two concepts or ideas. By using an analogy we can convey a new idea by using the blueprint of an old one as a basis for understanding. With a mental linkage between the two, one can create understanding regarding the new concept in a simple and succinct manner.

Biography• A biography is simply a bio that gives an account or detailed description about the life

of a person. It entails basic facts such as childhood, education, career, relationships, family and death. Biography is a literary genre that portrays the experiences of all these events occurred in the life of a person mostly in a chronological order. Unlike a resume or profile, biography

Flashback• Flashbacks are interruptions that writers do to insert past events in order to provide

background or context to the current events of a narrative. By using flashbacks, writers allow their readers to gain insight into a character’s motivation and provide a background to a current conflict. Dream sequences and memories are methods used to present flashbacks.

• Is a literary device that allows writers to show their audience specific events that happened before the current action of the story.

Inference• Flashbacks are interruptions that writers do to insert past events in order to provide

background or context to the current events of a narrative. By using flashbacks, writers allow their readers to gain insight into a character’s motivation and provide a background to a current conflict. Dream sequences and memories are methods used to present flashbacks.

Genre • Is a category system that literature falls into based on specific

conventions that develop to characterize the differences.

Parody• a satirical imitation of the style of another written work.

Satire• the literary art of belittling a subject by making it seem

ridiculous and evoking towards it attitudes of amusement, contempt, or scorn; satire frequently attempts to correct human vices and follies.

• Any form of literature that blends ironic humor with criticism for the purpose of ridiculing vice and stupidity in individuals and institutions.

Setting

sonnet

Subplot

symbol

tone• the attitude of the writer toward his subject and his audience,

revealed through his diction and his choice of emphasis; the tone of a work might be formal, or intimate, solemn or playful, serious, ironic, humorous.

mood• the atmosphere or feeling developed in a literary work; light-

hearted, romantic, eerie, somber, tragic.

theme• the central idea or thesis of a literary work.

narrator

climax

allusion

foreshadowing

onomatopoeia

metaphor

personification

refrain

imagery• language that evokes one or all of the five senses: seeing,

hearing, tasting, smelling, touching