Literary Terms Flashcards
Allegory
I symbolic narrative that has a second /hidden meaning, usually moral or political
Antagonist
A character or force against which another character struggles
Character
Imaginary person who inhabits a literary work
Characterisation
Means by which writers present and reveal characters
Climax
The turning point of action in the plot of the story or a play. The climax represents the point of greatest tension in the work
Complication
Intensification of conflict in the story or play
Denouement
Resolution of the plot of a literary work
Dialogue
Conversation of characters in a literary work
Fable
Brief story with an explicit moral provided by the author. They tend to include animals as characters
Falling action
In the plot of a story or play, the action following the climax of the work that moves towards its denouement/resolution
Fiction
And imagined story, whether in prose, poetry or drama
Flashback
Interruption of a work’s chronology to describe or present an incident that occurred prior to the main timeframe of the work’s action
Foil
A character who contrasts and parallels the main character in a play or story.
Foreshadowing
Hints of what is to come in the action of a play or story
Irony
The contrast between what is said and what is meant, or between what happens and what is expected to happen in life and in literature
Narrator
A voice and the implied speaker of a fictional work, to be distinguished from the actual living author
Parody
A humorous, mocking imitation of a literary work, sometimes sarcastic, but often playful and even respectful and it’s playful imitation
Plot
The unified structure of incidents in a literary work
Point of view
The angle of vision from which the story is narrated
First person (in a story, poem…)
The narrator is a character
Third person (in a story, poem…)
Where the narrator is an observer
What is an objective point of view?
Where do narrator knows or appears to know no more than the reader
What is an omniscient point of view?
Where the narrator knows everything about the characters
What is a limited omniscient point of view?
Where the narrator knows something is about the characters but not everything
Protagonist
The main character
Quatrain
Four line stanza
Resolution
The sorting out or unravelling of a plot at the end of a play, novel or story
Rising action
A set of conflict and crisis that constitute a part of the play’s or story’s plot leading up to the climax
Satire
Literary work that criticises human misconduct and ridicules vices, stupidities and follies
Setting
The time and place of a literary work that establish its context
Subplot
A lesser or parallel plot in a play or story that coexists with the main plot
Symbol
An object or action of literary work that means more than itself, that stands for something beyond itself
Syntax
Grammatical order of words in a sentence or line of a verse or dialogue
Tercet
Three line stanza
Theme
What the text is all about
Tone
The implied attitude of the writer towards the subject and characters of a work
Tragic flaw
A weakness (hamartia) or limitation of a character, resulting in the fall of the tragic hero
Tragic hero
Privileged, exalted character of a high repute who, by virtue of tragic flaw and fate, suffers a fall from glory into suffering
Conflict
A struggle between opposing forces in a story or play, usually resolved by the end of the work. Conflict may also occur within a character
Pathetic fallacy
When the weather reflects a particular mood or feeling. For example rain reflecting sadness
