Educated - Literary Terminology Flashcards
voice
unique personality with which a storyteller retells events directly to us (as if looking over storyteller’s shoulder)
hindsight wisdom
authors look back on their life once they’re wiser
dialogue
direct speech between characters to bring the story to life
anecdotal
memoirs retell several larger anecdotes that are entertaining, memorable, or provide valuable lessons
character arc
memoirist goes deep into a single event, concept, passion, or personal struggle, emerging changed at the end of the memoir
engraph
quotation set at the beginning of a literary work to suggest its theme
direct characterization
author tells us directly what the character is like (sneaky, generous, tall…)
indirect characterization
author reveals what the character is like through how they look and dress, letting the reader hear what the character says, revealing the character’s private thoughts and feelings, showing their effect on other people, or showing the character in action
theme
lesson, message, or insight about human life revealed through a literary work
unreliable narrator
narrator who misleads readers deliberately or unwittingly and cannot be trusted to tell or know the truth
foreshadowing
the use of hints and clues to suggest what will happen later in a plot
flashback
a scene that interrupts chronological sequence of events in a story to depict something that happened earlier
mood
atmosphere created by a writer’s diction and the details selected
tone
attitude a writer takes toward the subject of a work, the characters, or the audience, revealed through diction, figurative language, and organization
imagery
use of language to evoke a picture or concrete sensation of a person, thing, place, or experience
symbolism
using symbols to represent ideas, concepts, or events that go beyond their literal meaning
