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Literary Elements
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| protagonist | the main character or the one most central to the action of the story |
| antagonist | the person, thing, or force working against the protagonist |
| author's purpose | the author's reason for creating a work |
| character | a person, animal, or imaginary creature that takes part in the action of a story |
| characterization | the techniques an author uses to develop the personality of a character in a literary work |
| direct characterization | the author tells you what to feel or think about a character |
| indirect characterization | the author gives you information about a character through actions, speech, thoughts, feelings, and interactions that allow the reader to form an opinion |
| main character | the most important characters |
| minor character | less important---they interact with the main characters and one another, but readers don't know much about them |
| static characters | characters that stay the same throughout the story |
| dynamic characters | characters that change from beginning to end---often they will learn something |
| dialogue | the words that characters speak---moves the plot along and reveals a lot about characters |
| dialect | a form of language that is spoken in a particular place by a particular group of people |
| mood | the feeling that the work gives to readers |
| plot | the sequence of events in a story |
| exposition | the first part of plot---setting, characters, and background information are all introduced |
| inciting incident | the event that introduces the central conflict |
| rising action | a series of conflicts or struggles that build the story towards its climax---tension rises |
| climax | the high point or turning point of the story---the last big event dealing with the conflict |
| falling action | the action that begins to settle the conflict |
| resolution | the ending---brings the story to a satisfactory close |
| conflict | the problem of the story---the action is centered around it |
| person vs. person | a problem with another character |
| person vs. society | a problem with the laws or beliefs of a group of people |
| person vs. nature | a problem with the environment |
| person vs. self | a problem deciding what to do or think |
| person vs. fate | a problem that seems to be uncontrollable |
| point of view | the perspective from which a story is told |
| first person point of view | the story is told by one of the characters |
| third person point of view | the story is told by a narrator who is not a character in the story |
| setting | the time and place in which the action of a story occurs |
| symbol | a person, place, thing, or event that is used to represent something else |
| theme | the statement or lesson about life that they author wants to convey to the reader |
| genre | the category or type of literature |
| foreshadowing | the author gives hints or clues about hat might happen in the future |
| flashback | the author interrupts the sequence of events in the story to tell about something in the past |
| hyperbole | extreme exaggeration for effect |
| metaphor | a comparison of two unlike things without using like or as |
| simile | a comparison of two unlike things using like or as |
| alliteration | words in a series that begin with the same sounds |
| onomatopoeia | words that imitate the sounds they describe |
| personification | when human characteristics are given to animals or objects |
| tone | the author's attitude toward the subject matter or the reader or audience |
Created by:
teamtriumph
Popular English Vocabulary sets