Literacy Terms

Question 1

Flashback

Answer 1

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.

Question 2

Foreshadowing

Answer 2

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.

Question 3

Imagery

Answer 3

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.

Question 4

Irony

Answer 4

When a statement is used to express an opposite meaning than the one literally expressed by it.

Question 5

Tone

Answer 5

The writer’s attitude toward his or her audience and subject.

Question 6

Mood

Answer 6

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.

Question 7

Diction/Word Choice

Answer 7

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.

Question 8

Suspense

Answer 8

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.

Question 9

Pacing

Answer 9

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.

Question 10

Theme

Answer 10

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.

Question 11

Structure

Answer 11

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).

Question 12

Plot

Answer 12

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.

Question 13

Setting

Answer 13

The time(s) and place(s) in which a story takes place.

Question 14

Order of events

Answer 14

The sequence of events in a story including the beginning, middle, and end. The order in which they are told.

Question 15

Narrator

Answer 15

The person telling the story.

The narrator may or may not be a character within the story.

Question 16

First person narrator/ First person point of view

Answer 16

The narrator uses the word “I,” and the story is told from his/her point of view only.

Question 17

Second person narrator/ Second person point of view

Answer 17

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.’

Question 18

Third person limited narrator or

Third person limited point of view

Answer 18

A voice outside the story narrates - sees only one perspective (view) of the story.

Question 19

Third Person Omniscient

Answer 19

An all knowing narrator.

Knows what all characters think and feel.

Question 20

Exposition

Answer 20

The beginning of the story; introduces setting, characters, and plot.
May provide background information.

Question 21

Rising action

Answer 21

Rising action is when events begin to get complicated. It is during this part of a story that excitement, tension, or crisis is encountered.

Question 22

Climax

Answer 22

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.

Question 23

Falling action

Answer 23

Occurs when events and complications begin to resolve or conclude

Question 24

Resolution

Answer 24

when the characters problems are solved and/or the story ends

Question 25

Manipulation of time

Answer 25

When the author changes the order of events of the story by using flashbacks or flash forward

Question 26

Static character

Answer 26

A character who does not change much in the course of a story

Question 27

Dynamic character

Answer 27

A character who changes as a result of the story’s events

Question 28

Indirect characterization

Answer 28

revealing the personality of a character by words of a character, description of the character’s thoughts and feelings

Question 29

Direct characterization

Answer 29

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

Question 30

Onomatopoeia

Answer 30

the use of words whose sounds echo their sense (boom pow zap)

Question 31

Onomatopoeia

Answer 31

the use of words whose sounds echo their sense (boom pow zap)
Simile

Question 32

Simile

Answer 32

a comparison between two unlike things using a word such as like, as, then, or resembles

Question 33

Metaphor

Answer 33

an imaginative comparison between two unlike things in which one thing is said to be another thing

Question 34

Symbol

Answer 34

Person, place, thing, or event that stands for itself and for something beyond itself as well.

Question 35

External conflict

Answer 35

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

Question 36

Internal conflict

Answer 36

Conflict that takes place within a character’s mind

Question 37

Protagonist

Answer 37

the main character in a work of literature

Question 38

Antagonist

Answer 38

the character in a work of literature that opposes the protagonist