Literary Terms & Devices For Short Story Unit 2

Level 2

1.

• _________________________: rewarding the good and punishing the bad usually in an unexpected or ironic way

1. Poetic Justice

• Poetic Justice: rewarding the good and punishing the bad usually in an unexpected or ironic way

2.

• ________________: clues the author gives to portray future story events

2. Foreshadowing

• Foreshadowing: clues the author gives to portray future story events

3.

• _____________________: a feeling of uncertainty encouraging the reader to find out more about the story.

3. Suspense

• Suspense: a feeling of uncertainty encouraging the reader to find out more about the story.

4.

• ____________: the atmosphere or feeling created in a literary work—usually created through descriptive details

4. Mood

• Mood: the atmosphere or feeling created in a literary work—usually created through descriptive details

5 & 6

• __________________: literal meaning of a word or phrase

• __________________: suggestive meaning of a word or phrase; a subjective, cultural and/or emotional coloration in addition to the explicit or denotative meaning of any specific word or phrase in a language, i.e. emotional association with a word

5. Denotation 6. Connotation

• Denotation: literal meaning of a word or phrase

• Connotation: suggestive meaning of a word or phrase; a subjective, cultural and/or emotional coloration in addition to the explicit or denotative meaning of any specific word or phrase in a language, i.e. emotional association with a word

7.

• _________: a difference or contradiction between appearance and reality, or between what is expected and what actually happens

7. Irony

• Irony: a difference or contradiction between appearance and reality or between what is expected and what actually happens

8.

• __________________: an event or situation that contradicts the expectations of a character, reader or audience

8. Situational Irony

• Situational Irony: an event or situation that contradicts the expectations of a character, reader or audience

9.

• _________________: a character’s spoken words that present a contradiction between appearance and reality or between expectation and reality

9. Verbal Irony

• Verbal Irony: a character’s spoken words that present a contradiction between appearance and reality or between expectation and reality

10 & 11

• ________________: the first or main character in a story (usually associated with the hero); the character trying to accomplish something

• ________________: the character who is directly opposite or in conflict with the main character and acts as an obstacle for him/her– The ____________ is introduced after the

protagonist in the story.

10. Protagonist11. Antagonist

• Protagonist: the first or main character in a story (usually associated with the hero); the character trying to accomplish something

• Antagonist: the character who is directly opposite or in conflict with the main character and acts as an obstacle for him/her– The antagonist is introduced after the

protagonist in the story.

12.

• _________________: literature style characterized by haunted mansions, secret passageways, old and mysterious buildings, dark secrets and dark tales of vengeance, revenge, and intense passions.

12. Gothic Literature

• Gothic Literature: literature style characterized by haunted mansions, secret passageways, old and mysterious buildings, dark secrets and dark tales of vengeance, revenge, and intense passions.

13.

• ____________________: a method of getting another person to do what one wants by pretending not to want it or by pretending to want something else

13. Reverse Psychology

• Reverse Psychology: a method of getting another person to do what one wants by pretending not to want it or by pretending to want something else

14.

• ________________: the thesis that the great evils in history generally were not executed by fanatics or sociopaths but rather by ordinary people who accepted the practices and premises of their state and therefore participated in evil with the view that their actions were normal

14. Banality of Evil

• Banality of Evil: the thesis that the great evils in history generally were not executed by fanatics or sociopaths but rather by ordinary people who accepted the practices and premises of their state and therefore participated in evil with the view that their actions were normal

• banal : lacking originality, freshness, or novelty : trite

15-18: Review of Familiar Terms

• ___________: the voice of the story; the author’s choice of narrator for the story– _________ an actual character within the story tells

the story (a limited point of view)

• ___________: the time, place and general background information in a story

• ___________: something that stands for or represents something else

15, 16, 17, 18

• Point of view: the voice of the story; the author’s choice of narrator for the story

– First person: an actual character within the story tells the story (a limited point of view)

• Setting: the time, place and general background information in a story

• Symbol: something that stands for or represents something else

19, 20, 21

• ___________: a struggle between two opposing forces– _______________: a struggle against an

outside force• Person against person• Person against nature

– _______________: conflict that occurs when a character struggles with himself or experiences opposing ideas or feelings at the same time

19, 20, 21

• Conflict: a struggle between two opposing forces– External Conflict: a struggle against an

outside force• Person against person• Person against nature

– Internal Conflict: conflict that occurs when a character struggles with himself or experiences opposing ideas or feelings at the same time

Activity• In Pairs, identify an example of the term or terms

you have been assigned. Draw on your knowledge of books and stories you have read, films you have seen, myths, and history

• Be sure your example clearly illustrates the term; you will be sharing your example/s with your classmates to help them understand the term

• If you finish before your fellow classmates, move on to the other terms to identify your own examples

• When we finish this activity you should have a clear and helpful example for each term