Literary Terms

Question 1

Plot

Answer 1

The authors arrangement of incidents in a story, the organizing principal that controls the order of events

Question 2

In medias res

Answer 2

latin term for this common plot strategy, when a story begins in the middle of things

Question 3

Flashback

Answer 3

A common strategy, informs us about the events that happened before the opening scene of the word

Question 4

Character

Answer 4

an imagined person, they are typically influenced by the events of the story and confronted with a problem leading to a climatic struggle that is followed by a resolution

Question 5

characterzation

Answer 5

The methods by which a writer creates people in his story so that they seem actually to exist

Question 6

Showing and telling

Answer 6

The two major methods of presenting characters by an author. (showing: physical description) ( Telling: words and actions)

Question 7

Motivated

Answer 7

Reasons why characters behave the way they do

Question 8

Plausable

Answer 8

To accept or understand, when adequate motivation is offered we can understand the actions of a character

Question 9

Consistent

Answer 9

behavior of a character that is compatible of their temperament throughout the story

Question 10

Absurdist literature

Answer 10

A world where there is no heroic action, instead there is an anti hero with little control over events

Question 11

Dynamic character

Answer 11

A character that undergoes some kind of change because of the action of the plot

Question 12

static character

Answer 12

a character that does not change

Question 13

Foil

Answer 13

a foil helps to revel by contrast

Question 14

flat character

Answer 14

embodies one or two qualities ideas or traits that can be readily described in a brief summary

Question 15

Stock characters

Answer 15

a form of a flat character , stereotypes

Question 16

Round characters

Answer 16

More complex than flat or stock characters, they have more depth and require more attention

Question 17

Setting

Answer 17

the context in which the action of a story occurs the major elements of strings are time, place and social enviorments

Question 18

point of view

Answer 18

refers to who tells the story and how it is told. How we feel about the events in a story is shaped by the authors point of view

Question 19

Narrator

Answer 19

the teller of a story affects our understanding of a character and the actions by filtering what is told by telling it in their own perspective

Question 20

Third person narrator

Answer 20

non participant, not a character in the story

Question 21

omniscient narrator

Answer 21

all knowing

Question 22

limited character

Answer 22

this narrator takes us inside one or two characters

Question 23

editorial omniscient

Answer 23

this narrator evaluates the character for the Reader

Question 24

neutral omniscient

Answer 24

narration allows the scaracters actions and thoughts to speak for themselves

Question 25

First person narrator

Answer 25

this narrator is a a participant, they are a character in the story, “I “

Question 26

unreliable narrator

Answer 26

person whose opinion is different than the authors

Question 27

naive narrator

Answer 27

the character of youthful innocence

Question 28

symbol

Answer 28

object, person or event that is more significant than its literal meaning

Question 29

conventional symbols

Answer 29

symbols widely recognized

Question 30

literary symbol

Answer 30

can include traditional meanings but is also established internally within the text

Question 31

allegory

Answer 31

when a character or object indicates a single, fixed meaning

Question 32

theme

Answer 32

central idea/ meaning of a story

Question 33

style

Answer 33

distinctive manner in which the author writes

Question 34

diction

Answer 34

A writers choice of words

Question 35

tone

Answer 35

the writers attitude

Question 36

irony

Answer 36

appears a reality different than is whats known is to be true

Question 37

verbal irony

Answer 37

when a character says one thing but means the opposite

Question 38

sarcasm

Answer 38

hurting someone by falsely praising them

Question 39

situational irony

Answer 39

when you think one thing is going to happen, but something else does