L1.2 Flashcards
Is any tool used in literature to help the reader understand the story and its characters.
Literary device
Two types of literary devices used by authors
Literary elements and literary techniques
Literary Elements
setting, characters, point of view, plot, conflict, theme
is where and to some degree, how your story takes place. It’s also your character’s relationship with the world around them. It helps develop the overall theme of the story
Setting
Is a person, animal, being, creature, or thing in a story. Writers use them to perform the actions and speak dialogue, moving the story along a plot line
Character
Types of Major characters
Protagonist, antagonist
Types of minor characters
Foil, static, dynamic, flat
The main character, the good guy around which the whole story revolves. The decisions made by this character will be affected by a conflict from within
Protagonist
This character or group of characters, causes the conflict for the protagonist
Antagonist
Is a character that has **opposite* character traits from another, meant to help highlight or bring out another’s positive or negative side
Foil
Characters who do not change throughout the story. Their use may simply be to create or relieve tension, or they were not meant to change
Static
Characters that change throughout the story. They may learn a lesson, become bad, or change in complex ways
Dynamic
Has one or two main traits, usually only all positive or negative. They are the opposite of a round character
Flat
These characters have many different traits, good and bad, making them more interesting
Round
The narrative perspective from which a story is told. It’s the *angle** from which readers experience the plot
Point of View
Types of POV
First person, second person, third person limited, third person omniscient
From a character’s own perspective. The narrator interprets events in their own voice, giving the reader direct access to their thoughts, feelings, and opinions
First Person
Authors directly address the reader by using the pronoun you – usually to transform the reader into a character, and draw them closer to the story
Second person
POV in which the narrator tells the story from one character’s perspective at a time, using the pronouns he, she, and they to describe their thoughts and actions.
Third person limited
Is a narrative technique that provides a **panoramic and all-knowing perspective* in a story. By allowing readers to access the thoughts, emotions, and experiences of multiple characters in a story, it’s considered one of the most flexible but challenging POVs for authors to use
Third person omniscient
The sequence of events that happen in a story
Plot
Structure of Plot
Exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, denouement
Is the clash of opposing forces with a character’s own pursuit of a goal.
Conflict
Types of internal conflict
Man vs. Himself
External conflict
Man vs. Fate
Man vs. Man
Man vs. Nature
Man vs. Technology
character’s needs or wants are at odds with another’s
man vs. man
can include dealings with God or the gods and their prophecies
man vs. fate
This is a common trope in Greek tragedies
man vs. fate
can be defined as the underlying meaning of a story. It is the message the writer is trying to convey through the story, often the theme of a story is a broad message about life
Theme
Are used to produce a specific effect on the reader. Authors often use a variety of techniques throughout a piece of literature
Literary techniques
The use of clues or hints to suggest events that will occur later in the plot
Foreshadowing
Contrast between expectation and reality
Irony
Occurs when the audience or reader knows something a character does not know
Dramatic irony
Refers to when a word or object stands in for something of bigger significance.
Symbolism
Is the conversation between two or more characters
Dialogue
Is an interruption in the present action of a plot to show events that happened at an earlier time. The story returns or goes back in time to a past event
Flashback
Refers to a work in which almost all of the characters are intended as symbols
Allegory
The use of words in a way that deviates from the conventional order and meaning in order to convey a complicated meaning
Figurative language
Whenever you describe something by comparing it with something else
Figurative Language
Literary Techniques
Foreshadowing, Irony, Symbolism, Allegory, Flashback, Dialogue, Figurative Language
Literary Devices
Alliteration, Onomatopoeia, Personification, Imagery, Simile, Metaphor, Oxymoron, Paradox, Synecdoche, Euphemism, Pun, Sarcasm, Irony
Repetition
Alliteration
Use of words that imitate or suggest their meaning. It makes a sound
Onomatopoeia
Is when human qualities are given to an animal, an object, or an idea
Personification
Language that appeals to the senses. Are used to appeal to one or all of the five senses - sight, touch, taste, smell, sound
Imagery
Direct comparisons between two unlike things using the words like and as
Simile
Are implied comparisons between two unlike things without using the words like or as
Metaphor
Paradoxical phrase or pair of words that contradicts itself
Oxymoron
A seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true
Paradox
Literary device in which a part of something is substituted for the whole
Synecdoche
A mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh
Euphemism
plays with the words to have multiple meanings
Pun
Uses irony to mock someone or something
Sarcasm
Implies a distance between what is said and what is meant
Irony
Are powerful tools that must not be overlooked in storytelling
Literary devices
