Term | Definition |
Plot | Sequence of events in a literary work |
Exposition | Introduces the setting, characters, and basic situation |
Rising Action | All events leading up to the climax |
Climax | High point of interest or suspense |
Falling Action | Events occurring after the climax |
Resolution | A general insight or change is conveyed |
Narrator | A speaker or character who tells the story |
Point of View | Directs the type and amount of information the writer reveals. |
First Person | Readers see only what this character sees, hear only what this character hears, and so on. |
Omniscient | Can tell readers what all characters think and feel. |
Third Person Limited | Sees the world through one character’s eyes and reveals only that character’s thoughts. |
Setting | Time and place of the action. Includes historical period – past, present, and future – and also year, season, and time of day. Place may include geographical location and also social, economic, or cultural environment. |
Character | A person or animal that takes part in the action of a literary work. |
Static | Does not change |
Dynamic | Develops and grows throughout the course of the story |
Flat | Shows only one trait |
Round | Shows many different traits – faults as well as virtues |
Motivation | A reason that explains why a character thinks, feels, acts, or behaves in a certain way. |
Conflict | A struggle between opposing forces |
Internal Conflict | A character who struggles with him or herself. |
External Conflict | Main character struggles against an outside force |
Protagonist | The main character of a literary work |
Antagonist | Character or force in conflict with a main character, or protagonist |
Direct Characterization | The author directly states the character’s traits. |
Indirect Characterization | The author provides clues about a character by describing what a character looks like, does, and says as well as how others react to him or her. |
Figurative Language | Writing or speech not meant to be interpreted literally. |
Alliteration | Repetition of initial consonant sounds |
Allusion | Reference to a well-known person, place, event, literary work, or work of art |
Flashback | A means by which the authors present material that occurred earlier than the present tense of the narrative |
Foreshadowing | The use in a literary work of clues that suggest events that have yet to occur |
Imagery | Descriptive or figurative language used in literature to create word pictures for the reader often using the five senses |
Irony | Differences between appearance and reality, or expectation and result |
Verbal Irony | Words are used to suggest the opposite of what is meant |
Dramatic Irony | A contradiction between what the character thinks and what the reader knows to be true |
Situational Irony | An event occurs that directly contradicts the expectations of the characters, the reader, or the audience |
Metaphor | A figure of speech in which one thing is spoken of as though it were something else. |
Simile | A figure of speech in which the words like, as or than are used to compare two apparently dissimilar items. |
Symbolism | Anything that stands for something else. |
Theme | Central message or insight into life revealed through a literary work |
Tone | The writer’s attitude toward his or her audience and subject often described by a single adjective |
Mood | A feeling created in the reader by a literary work |
Onomatopoeia | The use of words that imitate sounds |
Personification | A type of figurative language in which a nonhuman object is given human characteristics |