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Literary Terms
PreAP English I Literary Terms/2011 fall semester exam
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| paradox | occurs when the elements of a statement contradict each other. Although the statement may appear illogical, impossible, or absurd, it turns out to have a coherent meaning that reveals a hidden truth |
| oxymoron | a form of paradox that combines a pair of opposite terms into a single unusual expression such as sweet sorrow, sanitary landfill, or cold fire |
| personification | a kind of metaphor that gives inanimate objects or abstract ideas human characteristics |
| imagery | the words or phrases a writer uses to represent persons, objects, actions, feelings, and ideas descriptively by appealing to the senses - sight, sound, smell, touch, taste |
| simile | comparison of two different things or ideas through the use of the words "like" or "as" |
| metaphor | comparison of two or more unlike things NOT using the words "like" or "as" |
| symbolism | the use of any object, person, place, or action that has both a meaning in itself and that stands for something larger than itself, such as a quality, attitude, belief, or value |
| verbal irony | saying one thing but meaning another |
| situational irony | when a situation turns out to be the opposite of what one would normally expect |
| dramatic irony | when the audience knows what is going to happen but the characters on stage or in the story do not |
| tone | the writer's or speaker's attitude toward a subject, character, or audience which is conveyed though the word choice |
| foreshadowing | use of hints or clues in a narrative to suggest future action |
| flashback | a scene that interrupts the action of a work to show a previous event |
| mood | the atmosphere or predominant emotion of a literary work as felt by the reader |
| plot | sequence of events or actions in a story, novel, play, or narrative poem |
| point of view | the perspective from which a story is told |
| suspense | quality of a literary piece that makes the reader uncertain or tense about the outcome of events |
| Setting | time and place in a literary work |
| characters | people or animals who take part in the action of a literary work |
| protagonist | the character with whom readers identify / the good guy |
| antagonist | the adversary / the bad guy |
| dynamic characters | they experience some change of personality or attitude as a results of the story's events |
| static characters | they do not experience change, but remain the same |
| characterization | the process of revealing the personality of a character in a story |
| climax | the point of the highest interest and greatest emotional involvement in a story; the turning point that determines the outcome of the story |
| conflict | the struggle between two opposing forces |
| internal conflict | a struggle that takes place within an individual; a moral dilemma |
| external conflict | a struggle against some outside force, such as another person, nature, society, or fate |
| dialogue | conversation between two or more characters |
| diction | style of speaking or writing as dependent upon choice of words |
| exposition | (in a play, novel, etc.) dialogue, description, etc., that gives the audience or reader the background of the characters and the present situation. |
| rising action | a related series of incidents in a literary plot that build toward the point of greatest interest. |
| Falling action | the part of a literary plot that occurs after the climax has been reached and the conflict has been resolved. |
| denouement | the resolution or conclusion to a story/play |
| internal conflict | in literature and drama, a struggle which takes place in the protagonist's mind and through which the character reaches a new understanding or dynamic change |
| external conflict | in literature, a struggle between the protagonist and another character against nature or some outside force |
| first person | when the narrator is the main character and tells the story |
| third person | when the narrator tells a story but is not a character in the story |
| thrid person omniscient | when the narrator tells the story and allows the reader to know what the characters are not only saying but thinking |
| omniscient | all-knowing |
| theme | the lesson learned from a story |
| figure of speech | any expressive use of language, as a metaphor, simile, personification, or antithesis, in which words are used in other than their literal sense, or in other than their ordinary locutions, in order to suggest a picture or image or for other special effect |
| hyperbole | an exaggeration |
| allusion | in literature, an implied or indirect reference to a person, event, or thing or to a part of another text. |
| connotation | the ideas, emotions, or associations a word suggests |
| denotation | the dictionary meaning of a word |
| denouement | the resolution to a story |
| idiom | an expression that means something different than its literal meaning |
| pun | a word or phrase that has a double meaning as intended by the writer; often the words sound the same but have different meanings |
Created by:
nwalker