Literary Terms and Elements of Fiction

Question 1

Atmosphere

Answer 1

The mood, emotional tone or feeling of a literary work.

Question 2

Empathy

Answer 2

The reader’s feels what the character feels.

Question 3

Flashback

Answer 3

The interruption of a story’s narrative in order to present an earlier scene or episode. It may come in the way of a memory recollection or a scene inserted into the piece of fiction. Flashback is NOT simply a character remembering something from the past.

Question 4

Foreshadowing

Answer 4

It is a device by means of which the author hints at something to follow. This helps make unexpected ending believable. It also serves to give readers just enough information to keep them interested.

Question 5

Irony

Answer 5

It is a term which refers to some contrast or discrepancy between appearance and reality.

Question 6

Verbal Irony

Answer 6

Words that are intended to mean the exact opposite of what is stated. There is a contrast between what is literally said and what is actually meant (ex. a forest is destroyed to create paper and that paper is used to criticize deforestation).

Question 7

Dramatic Irony

Answer 7

An awareness of information by the audience/reader and one character or more on stage not shared by another character. The state of affairs known to the reader is the reverse of what its participants suppose it to be.

Question 8

Situational Irony

Answer 8

An unexpected turn of events, the opposite of what would be a conventional or appropriate outcome. A set of circumstances turns out to be the reverse or what is expected or is appropriate.

Question 9

Pathos

Answer 9

The equality in a literary work that evokes a feeling of pity, tenderness and sympathy from the reader or audience. It makes us care about a character or situation.

Question 10

Suspense

Answer 10

The psychological tension or anxiety resulting from the reader’s uncertainty of just how a situation or conflict is likely to end.

Question 11

Symbol

Answer 11

Literally, something that stands for something else. In literature, it is any work, image, object, action, or character that embodies and evokes a range of additional meaning or significance (ex. lion represents bravery, limousine represents wealth).

Question 12

Tone

Answer 12

The attitude the write takes toward the subject he or she is writing about. Just as we reveal our attitude by our tone of voice when we are speaking, so writers show their attitude by the style in which they write (ex. humorous, sarcastic, critical, sentimental, cheerful).

Question 13

Turning Point

Answer 13

The point in a literary work at which the action turns for or against the main character.

Question 14

Alliteration

Answer 14

The repetition of similar or identical sounds found in the beginning of two or more words (ex. Peter picked a peck of pickled peppers).

Question 15

Allusion

Answer 15

A brief reference to a person, event or thing that the writer assumes the reader will recognize (ex. history, mythology, other literary works).

Question 16

Assonance

Answer 16

Repetition of vowel sounds (ex. Ode on a Grecian Urn).

Question 17

Anthropomorphism

Answer 17

The attribution of human form or behaviour to anything other than a human being.

Question 18

Consonance

Answer 18

Repetition of consonant sounds (ex. live-love, pitter-patter).

Question 19

Dialogue

Answer 19

The quoted conversation of two or more people providing details about the characters and their situation.

Question 20

Enjambment

Answer 20

In poetry, the continuation of a sentence from one line to the next.

Question 21

Euphemism

Answer 21

To say a harsh thing gently (ex. he passed away ‘instead of died’).

Question 22

Hyperbole

Answer 22

The deliberate exaggeration in order to emphasize a fact or feeling (ex. the movie bored me to death).

Question 23

Imagery

Answer 23

The references the author makes that related to our five senses (ex. the crisp wind sent a chill through her body).

Question 24

Metaphor

Answer 24

A figure of speech in which two things are compared without the use of like or as (ex. he swam in the sea of diamonds).

Question 25

Onomatopoeia

Answer 25

A figure of speech in which a word used closely resembles the sound to which it refers (ex. buzz, hiss, bang, pow, poof).

Question 26

Oxymoron

Answer 26

Involves a combination of two contradictory or conflicting words. It is different from a paradox in that it creates its effects more compactly, using a combination of two successive words (ex. bright darkness, loving hate, pleasing pain, cruel to be kind).

Question 27

Paradox

Answer 27

A statement that appears contradictory but upon closer examination reveals some truth (ex. nobody goes to that restaurant, it’s too crowded).

Question 28

Parallelism

Answer 28

Use of similar language, structures, events or ideas in different parts of a text for the purpose of emphasis or comparison and contrast.

Question 29

Personification

Answer 29

A special type of metaphor in which human characteristics are attributed to things or ideas (ex. the sun came out, smiled, and said ‘hello’).

Question 30

Repetition

Answer 30

The use of specific word, structure or phrase several times to emphasize a particular idea.

Question 31

Rhyme

Answer 31

The repetition of similar or duplicate sounds in two or more words at the end of or within a line of poetry.

Question 32

Simile

Answer 32

A comparison between two essentially unlike things using the words ‘like’ or ‘as’ (ex. my love is like a red rose).

Question 33

Symbolism

Answer 33

The use of concrete objects to represent an abstract idea or concept.

Question 34

Zoomorphism

Answer 34

The shaping of something in animal form or terms (ex. furries).

Question 35

Characterization

Answer 35

The process by which an author creates, develops and presents a fictional character.

Question 36

What are the 5 methods of characterization?

Answer 36

1. What the character does or does not do (actions).
2. What the character says, thinks and feels.
3. What the character looks like (physical appearance).
4. How others react to the character and what others say about the character.
5. Direct statements about what the characters are like.

Question 37

Setting

Answer 37

The time and place of a story. Setting is first established in the introduction.

Question 38

What are the 5 components of a setting?

Answer 38

1. Weather conditions: it is rainy, sunny, stormy, etc.?
2. Time: when is the story taking place (historical period, time of day, year)?
3. Place: Geographical location. Where is the story taking place?
4. Social conditions: what is going on in society at the time of the story (ex. the great depression, world war, etc.)? What is the daily life of the characters like? Does the story contain local colour (writing that focuses on the speech, dress, mannerisms, customs, etc.)?
5. Mood or atmosphere: What feeling is created at the beginning of the story? Is it bright and cheerful or dark and frightening?

Question 39

What are the five essential parts of the plot (excluding the denouement)?

Answer 39

1. Introduction/Exposition
2. Initial Incident/Complicated Point
3. Rising Action/Crises
4. Climax
5. Falling Action and Conclusion

Question 40

Introduction/Exposition

Answer 40

The beginning of the story where the characters and the setting are first revealed.

Question 41

Initial Incident/Complicated Point

Answer 41

This triggers the events of change in the story. The problem that needs to be solved is first introduced.

Question 42

Rising Action/Crises

Answer 42

The events that occur while a solution is being sought. Obstacles (events between the introduction and the climax).

Question 43

Climax

Answer 43

This is the highest point of interest and the turning point of the story. The reader wonders what will happen next; will the conflict be resolved or not?

Question 44

Falling Action and Conclusion

Answer 44

The events and the complications begin to resolve themselves. The end of the short story is usually abrupt. This is where the solution has been discovered.

Question 45

Conflict

Answer 45

It is the opposition of forces; any form of opposition that faces the main character. Within a short story there may be only one central struggle, or there may be one dominant struggle with many minor ones.

Question 46

What are the two major categories of conflict?

Answer 46

1. External: a struggle with a force outside oneself.
2. Internal: a struggle within oneself; a person must make some decision, overcome pain, quiet their temper, resist an urge, etc.

Question 47

What are the four kinds of conflict within the external and internal categories?

Answer 47

1. Man vs. Man: the leading character struggles against another whether it is physically or mentally.
2. Man vs. Circumstances (classical): the leading character struggles against fate, or the circumstances of life.
3. Man vs. Society (social): the leading character struggles against ideas, practices, or customs of other people. Other possibilities of external conflict: man vs. nature, man vs, technology, man vs. supernatural.
4. Man vs. Himself/Herself (psychological): the leading character struggles with themselves; with their own souls, ideas of right and wrong, physical limitations, choices, etc.

Question 48

Point of View

Answer 48

It is defined as the angle from which the story is told.

Question 49

First Person (POV)

Answer 49

The story is told by the protagonist or one of the characters who closely interacts with the protagonist or other characters (using pronouns, I, we, me, etc.).

Question 50

Third Person (POV)

Answer 50

The author tells the story in third person (using pronouns they, she, he, it).

Question 51

What are the 3 third person POVs?

Answer 51

1. Omniscient: The author narrates the story through this all–seeing point of view.We are in the minds of all characters. The author allows the reader to know what all characters are thinking doing, etc.
2. Omniscient Limited: We only know what the character knows and what the author allows them to tell us.
3. Omniscient Objective: The author tells the story in the third person. It appears as though a camera is following the characters, going anywhere, and recording only what is seen and heard. There is no comment of the characters or their thoughts. The reader is the spectator.

Question 52

Theme

Answer 52

It is the controlling idea or belief as to what is important and unimportant in life. It gives a basic meaning to a literary work. The deeper meaning, moral, message of a literary work.

Question 53

Static

Answer 53

Character does not change.

Question 54

Dynamic

Answer 54

Characters change.

Question 55

Protagonist

Answer 55

The main character of a literary work.

Question 56

Antagonist

Answer 56

Opposing force who stands in the protagonist’s goals.