Literacy Terms Flashcards
Flashback
An interruption in a narrative that depicts events that have already occurred, either before the present time or before the time at which the narration takes place. This device is often used to give the reader more background information and details about specific characters, events, plot points, and so on.
Foreshadowing
When an author indirectly hints at—through things such as dialogue, description, or characters’ actions—what’s to come later on in the story. This device is often used to introduce tension to a narrative.
Imagery
When an author describes a scene, thing, or idea so that it appeals to our senses (taste, smell, sight, touch, or hearing). This device is often used to help the reader clearly visualize parts of the story by creating a strong mental picture.
Irony
When a statement is used to express an opposite meaning than the one literally expressed by it.
Tone
The writer’s attitude toward his or her audience and subject.
Mood
A literary element that evokes certain feelings or vibes in readers through words and descriptions. It is usually referred to as the atmosphere of a literary piece, as it creates an emotional setting that surrounds the readers.
Diction/Word Choice
The choice of words and style of expression that an author uses in a work of literature. It can have a great effect on the tone of a piece of literature, and how readers perceive the characters. One of the primary things that it does is establish whether a work is formal or informal.
Suspense
A literary device that authors use to keep their readers’ interest alive throughout the work. It is a feeling of anticipation that something risky or dangerous is about to happen. The purpose of using this type of anxiety in literature is to make readers more concerned about the characters.
Pacing
A stylistic device, which determines how fast or slow a story unfolds. Elements that can contribute to this device include action, cliffhanger, dialogue and word choice.
Theme
A central message or insight into life revealed through the literary work.
May be directly stated or implied.
There is often no single correct statement of a work’s theme. One key characteristic is their universality, which is to say that they are ideas that not only apply to the specific characters and events of the story, but also express broader truths about human experience that readers can apply to their own lives.
Structure
The organizational method of the written material. Different types include chronological, cause and effect, compare and contrast, inductive (specific to general), or deductive (general to specific).
Plot
The events that make up a story. These events relate to each other in a pattern or a sequence. Plot is known as the foundation(basics) of a novel or story, around which the characters and settings are built. It is meant to organize information and events in a logical (clear) manner.
Setting
The time(s) and place(s) in which a story takes place.
Order of events
The sequence of events in a story including the beginning, middle, and end. The order in which they are told.
Narrator
The person telling the story.
The narrator may or may not be a character within the story.
First person narrator/ First person point of view
The narrator uses the word “I,” and the story is told from his/her point of view only.
Second person narrator/ Second person point of view
The narrator tells the story to another character using the word ‘you.’ The author could be talking to the audience, which we could tell by the use of ‘you,’ ‘you’re,’ and ‘your.’
Third person limited narrator or
Third person limited point of view
A voice outside the story narrates - sees only one perspective (view) of the story.
Third Person Omniscient
An all knowing narrator.
Knows what all characters think and feel.
Exposition
The beginning of the story; introduces setting, characters, and plot.
May provide background information.
Rising action
Rising action is when events begin to get complicated. It is during this part of a story that excitement, tension, or crisis is encountered.
Climax
Often the major event or turning point in the plot. The moment of highest interest and emotion, leaving the reader wondering what is going to happen next.
Falling action
Occurs when events and complications begin to resolve or conclude
Resolution
when the characters problems are solved and/or the story ends
Manipulation of time
When the author changes the order of events of the story by using flashbacks or flash forward
Static character
A character who does not change much in the course of a story
Dynamic character
A character who changes as a result of the story’s events
Indirect characterization
revealing the personality of a character by words of a character, description of the character’s thoughts and feelings
Direct characterization
when the writer directly tells the reader a description of a character’s looks and clothing, or that the character is amusing brave, or lonesome, or specifically the build or height or age of a character
Onomatopoeia
the use of words whose sounds echo their sense (boom pow zap)
Onomatopoeia
the use of words whose sounds echo their sense (boom pow zap)
Simile
Simile
a comparison between two unlike things using a word such as like, as, then, or resembles
Metaphor
an imaginative comparison between two unlike things in which one thing is said to be another thing
Symbol
Person, place, thing, or event that stands for itself and for something beyond itself as well.
External conflict
character struggles against some outside force; types of external conflict include 1. person against nature, 2. person against self, 3. person against supernatural, 4. person against society, 5. person against person
Internal conflict
Conflict that takes place within a character’s mind
Protagonist
the main character in a work of literature
Antagonist
the character in a work of literature that opposes the protagonist
