Literary Terms Flashcards
Antonym
opposite
Synonym
Similar
Characterization
The way a writer creates and develops a characters’ personalities
Indirect characterization
The writer may present the character’s own thoughts, speech, and action
Direct characterization
The writer may make direct comments about a character’s personality or nature through the voice of the narrator
Static character
One who remains the same throughout a story
Dynamic character
One who undergoes important changes as the plot unfolds
Protagonist
Main character in a work of literature; the character who is involved in the central conflict of the story
Antagonist
Principal character or force in opposition to the protagonist
Subordinate character
Important role in story but is not actual protagonist
Motivation
Reason for behavior
Plot (plot hill)
Sequence of events in a story
Exposition
Provides background information, introduces setting and important characters
Inciting incident
The conflict is introduced
Rising action
The conflict develops and the story events build toward a climax
Conflict
Struggle between opposing forces
Internal conflict
One that occurs within a character
External conflict
Involves a character pitted against an outside force, such as nature, a physical object, or another character
Climax
The point of maximum interest or tension; the turning point in the story
Resolution
The conclusion of the story
Flashback
An account of a conversation, an episode, or an event that happened before the beginning of the story.
Connotation
Attitude or feeling associated with a word
Denotation
Literal, or dictionary, meaning
Diction
A writer’s choice of words and way of arranging the words in sentences
Foreshadowing
A writer’s use of hints or clues to suggest events that will occur later in a story
Irony
Special kind of contrast between appearance and reality
Verbal irony
Exists when someone knowingly exaggerates or says one thing and means another
Situational irony
A contrast between what a reader or character expects and what actually exists and happens
Dramatic irony
Where the reader knows something the character does not
Symbol
A person, a place, an object or an activity that stands for something beyond itself
Mood
Feeling or atmosphere that a writer creates for the reader
Narrator
Character or voice that relates the story’s events to the reader
Point of view
The method of narration used in a short story, novel, narrative poem, or work of nonfiction
First person
The narrator is a character to the story
Third person limited
The narrator tells what only one character thinks, feels, and observes
Third person omniscient
Story is told from an all-knowing, point of view; the narrator sees into the minds of all the characters
Setting
Time and place of the action of a story
Theme
Underlying message about life or human nature that a writer wants the reader to understand
Tone
The attitude a writer takes toward a subject
Chronological order
Arrangement of events in their order of occurrence
Allusion
An indirect reference to a famous person, place, or event, or literary work.
