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Literary Terms
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Resolution | the outcome of the events or the solving of the problem |
| Falling action | all the events which occur after the climax |
| Exposition | the part of the story which introduces the main characters , the plot and the setting |
| Rising action | all the events that create suspense and lead up to the climax |
| Climax | the high point of emotional intensity in a literary work sometimes called the turning point |
| Foreshadowing | when an author provides clues to help the reader guess or predict future events in a story. |
| Setting | the time and place of a literary work. |
| Internal conflict | a problem in a story which involves a character who must struggle with something inside themselves. |
| Mood | the feeling a reader gets from a story |
| External conflict | a struggle between two characters in a story or between a character and nature, or society or the supernatural |
| Flashback | a technique used to show events that have already happened. |
| Theme | the lesson or insight into life which the author wishes to share |
| onomatopoeia | the use of words whose sounds imitate the sounds of what they describe, like hiss or growl |
| plot | the sequence of events in a literary work |
| tone | the author’s attitude toward the subject or toward the reader |
| Dynamic | a character who is well developed and dynamic and changes or grows during the story |
| Antagonist | often referred to as “the bad guy” because he or she is trying to stop the main character from achieving his or her goal |
| Protagonist | the character with whom we sympathize and who we support |
| Static | characters who don’t really change much throughout a story |
| Point of view | the perspective from which a story is told such as first person or third person |
| Aside | words spoken by a character in a drama that are not meant to be heard by the other characters onstage |
| Dialogue | the conversation between characters in a work of literature |
| Alliteration | when two or more words in a group of words begins with the same sound and usually same letter |
| Direct characterization | the writer or narrator gives an actual description of the character |
| Indirect characterization | the reader must figure out what the character is like by how he looks, what he says, what he does, what he thinks, or what other characters say about him. |
| Anachronism | an event or item that is out of its proper chronological time, such as a cell phone during the time of WWII |
| Turning Point | a pivotal moment in a story when the fate of the main character is made clear |
| Willing Suspension of Disbelief | Voluntarily accepting parts of a story that seem unreal for the sake of enjoyment |
| Surprise Ending | a conclusion that violates or goes against what the reader expects to happen |
| Irony | a name given to amusing, surprising or contradictory events or coincidences in a story |
Created by:
Sharon Smolen
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