Literature Terms

Question 0

Protagonist

Answer 0

The main character in a work of literature, a film, or a play

Question 1

Antagonist

Answer 1

The character or force who opposes the protagonist

Question 2

Conflict

Answer 2

A struggle between two opposing characters or forces

Question 3

Internal- man vs. self

Answer 3

Takes place within the character’s mind

Question 4

External

Answer 4

Man vs. man, man vs. nature, man vs. society

Question 5

Plot

Answer 5

The series of related events that make up the story

Question 6

Complication

Answer 6

Arise when the characters take steps to resolve the conflict

Question 7

Climax

Answer 7

The point in a story that creates the greatest suspense or interest

Question 8

Resolution

Answer 8

In which the the conflict is resolved and the story is brought to a close

Question 9

Subplot

Answer 9

A minor plot that relates in some to the story

Question 10

Parallel episodes

Answer 10

Repeated elements of the plot

Question 11

Foreshadow

Answer 11

The use of clues or hints to suggest events that will occur later on in the story

Question 12

Inference

Answer 12

Conclusion based on information that was given

Question 13

Motivation

Answer 13

The reasons a character behaves a certain way

Question 14

Point of view

Answer 14

The vantage point from which a story is told

Question 15

Cautionary tales

Answer 15

A story that warns the audience about something wrong in society and its consequences

Question 16

Setting

Answer 16

The time and place of a story, play, or narrative poem

Question 17

Tone

Answer 17

The attitude a writer takes toward his or her subject, characters, and audiences

Question 18

Mood

Answer 18

(See atmosphere) the overall mood or feeling of a work of literature

Question 19

Personification

Answer 19

A figure of speech in which an object or animal is spoken of as if it had human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes

Question 20

Style

Answer 20

The way a writer uses language

Question 21

Figures of speech

Answer 21

A word or phrase that describes one thing in terms of another and is not meant to be understood as literally

Question 22

Metaphor

Answer 22

An imaginative comparison between two unlike things in which one thing is said to be another thing

Question 23

Symbol

Answer 23

A person, a pace, a thing, or an event that has meaning in itself and stands for something beyond itself as well

Question 24

Simile

Answer 24

A comparison between two unlike things, using a word such as like, as, than, or resembles

Question 25

Irony

Answer 25

A contrast between expedition and reality

Question 26

Exaggeration

Answer 26

Over standing something, usually for the purpose of creating a comic

Question 27

Understatement

Answer 27

A statement that says less than what is meant

Question 28

Verbal Irony

Answer 28

Involves a contrast between what is said or written and what is really meant

Question 29

Situational Irony

Answer 29

Occurs when what happens is very different from what we expected would happen