Literary Terms Flashcards
Understand academic vocabulary needed to comprehend the aspects of literature.
Protagonist
the leading character or one of the major characters in a drama, movie, novel, or other fictional text.
Antagonist
a person who actively opposes or is hostile to someone or something; an adversary.
Theme
Theme is an underlying message or the big idea of a story.
Genre
a distinctive type or category of literary composition, such as the epic, tragedy, comedy, novel, and short story.
Plot
the sequence of events where each affects the next one through the principle of cause-and-effectsequence
Conflict
literary device characterized by a struggle between two opposing forces.
Climax
he point at which the highest level of interest and emotional response is achieved
Dialogue
a conversation between characters. In poems, novels, and short stories, dialogue is usually set off by quotation marks to indicate a speaker’s exact words.
Exposition
In the plot of a story or a drama, the exposition, or introduction, is the part of the work that introduces the characters, setting, and basic situation.
Figurative language
figures of speech to be more effective, persuasive, and impactful. Figures of speech such as metaphors, similes, and allusions
Descriptive Language
a technique used in speaking and writing that involves a detailed description of a place or person. It’s intended to create a vivid picture in the reader’s mind to give them a better feel for the story
Foreshadowing
literary device used to give an indication or hint of what is to come later in the story
Idiom
figure of speech that means something different than a literal translation of the words would lead one to believe.
Metaphor
figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things
Simile
figure of speech and type of metaphor that compares two different things using the words “like” or “as.”
