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Literary terms to know for the CLEP Analyzing & Interpreting Literature exam

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Question
Answer
show plays are broken down into smaller units of action. Sometimes broken down further into scenes. Is similar to a chapter in a book.  
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Antagonist—   show
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show words spoken by one character in a play, either directly to the audience or to another character, that the other characters supposedly do not hear.  
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show the group of readers to whom a piece of literature is directed. It might be a specific age group or sex or might share similar interests (e.g. soccer or skateboarding).  
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show the reason the author has written a piece of literature. The writer may try to inform, persuade, entertain, or express an opinion. The writer’s primary goal influences how the writer presents the information.  
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Catharsis–   show
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Character–   show
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Characterization–   show
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show a phrase or expression that has been repeated so often it has lost its significance.  
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show a humorous moment in a serious drama that temporarily relieves the mounting tension.  
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show a struggle or clash between opposing characters, forces, or emotions. Without it, most plots would never go anywhere. It spurs the action of most fiction and nonfiction.  
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show the emotion or feeling a word creates.  
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show the literal meaning (or dictionary definition) of a word.  
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show the way people speak in various parts of the country or around the world. It involves pronunciation, word choice, and sentence structure, and is used in literature to help develop character and setting.  
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show a conversation between two or more characters in a literary work. It is set off by quotation marks, and a new paragraph begins each time a different character speaks.  
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show a writer’s choice of words and sentence structure; may be formal or informal, literal or figurative.  
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Fiction–   show
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Figurative Language–   show
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Flashback—   show
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Folklore–   show
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Foreshadowing–   show
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Imagery—   show
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Irony–   show
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show the difference between what the character or the reader expects and what actually happens.  
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Verbal Irony–   show
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Dramatic Irony—   show
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show a story passed down over generations that is believed to be based on real events and real people (even though magic and supernatural events are often incorporated into the story).  
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Metaphor–   show
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Mood–   show
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show a recurring pattern found in a work or works of literature; the pattern is usually representative of something else.  
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Myth–   show
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show the person who “tells” the story.  
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Narrative–   show
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Nonfiction–   show
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show before the advent of education for the masses, most people did not learn how to read or write. In order to preserve their traditions, people passed their traditions (usually in the form of songs or stories) by word of mouth from generation to generation.  
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show a short story that teaches a moral or a religious lesson.  
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show a figure of speech in which an inanimate object, animal, or idea is given human qualities or characteristics.  
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Plot–   show
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Exposition—   show
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Rising Action—   show
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Climax—   show
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Falling Action—   show
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show the loose ends are tied up. Does not necessarily indicate a “happy ending.”  
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Point of View–   show
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show the narrator is a character in the story and tells the reader his/her story using the pronoun "I." The narrator can comment only on what he/she sees and hears, and cannot comment on other characters' thoughts and feelings.  
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3rd Person Limited–   show
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show the narrator is outside of the story and is all-knowing or Godlike because he/she knows everything that occurs and everything that each character thinks and feels. This does not mean that the narrator shares everything with the reader.  
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show the main character in fiction or drama whose conflict starts the plot in motion.  
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Setting–   show
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Simile–   show
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Soliloquy–   show
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Stereotype–   show
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Structure–   show
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show refers to how a piece of literature is written rather than to what is actually said; involves the use of literary techniques, word choice, and sentence structure, and sets one writer apart from another.  
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show a tension created as the reader becomes involved in a story and when the author leaves the reader in doubt about what is coming next.  
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show a person, place, thing or event that has meaning in itself and also stands for something more than itself.  
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Symbolism—   show
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show the central idea or insight of a work of literature. This is the idea the writer wishes to convey about the subject. Most are implied rather than stated directly.  
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Tone–   show
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