Final Exam Study Guide For Literary Terms Flashcards
Character
A person in a story, poem or play.
Protagonist
The main character
antagonist
The Main Character
Characterization
The process by which the writer reveals the personality of a character
direct characterization
When writer uses this method, we do not have to figure out what the characters personality is like the writer tells us
indirect characterization
When a writer uses this method we have to use our own judgment to infer what a character is like
theme
the central idea of a work of literature.
Plot
The series of related events in a story or play, sometimes called the story line./ The sequence of events or actions in a short story, novel,play, or narrative poem.
Conflict
the struggle between opposing forces or characters in a story
external conflict
this type of conflict can exist between two people, between a person and nature of a machine, or between a person and the whole society.
internal conflict
This type of conflict can involve opposing forces within a person’s mind
foreshadowing
The use of hints and clues to suggest what will happen later in plot
irony
in general, a discrepancy between appearances and reality.
verbal irony
this type of irony occurs when someone says one thing but really means something else
situational irony
this type of irony takes place when where is a discrepancy between what is expected to happen or what would be appropriate to happen and what really does happen.
dramatic irony
This type of irony is so called because it is often used on stage. in this kind of irony a character in the play or story thinks one thing is true, but the audience or reader knows better
Basic situation or exposition
this element of the plot tells us who the characters are and introduces their conflict.
complication
the second part of a plot where the main character takes some action to resolve the conflict and meets with more people
rising action
This element of the plot refers to all the actions that take place before the turning point.
Climax
This element of the plot is exciting or suspenseful moment when the outcome of the conflict is imminent.
Falling action
This element of the plot refers to all the actions that take place after the truing point or crisis
resolution/Denouement
This element of the plot refers to the story’s end when the story’s problems are all resolved
soliloquy
A long speech made by a character in a play while no other characters are on stage
metaphor
A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things without the use of such specific words or comparison as like as, then, or resemble.
simile
A Figure of speech that make an explicit comparison between two unlike things using a work such as like as than or resembles.
Tone
the attitude a writer takes toward the subject of a work, the character in it or the audience. Author’s or narrator attitude reflected in the style of the text.
mood
A feeling that the reader has when reading something
assonance
The repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds, especially in words close together.
alliteration
The repetition of the same or similar consonant sounds in words that are close together
Imagery
The use of language to evoke a picture or a concrete sensation of a person a thing a place or an experience.
archetype
A pattern that appears in literature across cultures and is repeated through the ages an archetype can be a character a plot an image or a setting
aside
private words that a character in a play speaks to the audience or to another character and that are not supposed to be overheard by others on stage
Setting
The time and place in which the events in a short story , novel play or narrative poem occur.
Blank verse
poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter.
Chivalry
The system of ideals and social codes governing the behavior of knights and gentlewomen in feudal times.
Couplet
Two Consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme
Courtly love
A conventional medieval code of behavior that informed a knight of the proper way to treat his lady
epic
A long narrative poem that relates the great deeds of a larger-than-life hero who embodies the values of a particular society
Epic hero
a hero who undertakes a quest to achieve something of tremendous value to themselves or their society
Feudalism
The economic, political, and social system of medieval eurpoe
frame story
an introductory narrative within which one or more of the characters proceed to tell individual stories
kenning
in a Anglo-Saxon poetry a metaphorical phrase or compound word used to name a person place thing or event indirectly
apostrophe
Directly speaking to a person or object that cannot respond
synecdoche
when part of something represents the whole
oxymoron
A two-word phrase that appears to be opposite but is not. A figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory ideas or terms
paradox
A statement that appears to be opposite in meaning but its true. A statement that seems to contradict itself but may nevertheless suggest an important truth
personification
Giving an object human characteristics
tragic flaws
A defect in character or an error in judgement that leads to the tragic hero or heroine’s downfall
tragedy
A dramatic work that present the downfall of a dignify character or character who are involved in historically or socially significant events
tragic hero/heroine
Is of high social rank/ king/queen/ prince/princess or general, has an error in judgment or a character defect that ultimately leads to his or her downfall.
