Major Terms

Question 1

Setting

Answer 1

The time, place, and atmosphere of the novel, short story or drama

Question 2

Atmosphere

Answer 2

Overall feeling of a work, which encompasses tone and mood

Question 3

Tone

Answer 3

Author’s attitude toward his/her subject (optimistic, pessimistic, angry etc.)

Question 4

Mood

Answer 4

General feeling of a given piece of writing as felt by the reader

Question 5

Plot

Answer 5

The action of the story: the series of events that tell the story

Question 6

Climax

Answer 6

The point at which the story or play reaches its emotional peak: the turning point

Question 7

Conflict

Answer 7

A struggle between two opposing forces or characters in the plot. (person vs person) (person vs self) (person vs nature or circumstance) (sometimes vs supernatural)

Question 8

Suspense

Answer 8

A feeling of anxious uncertainty set up in the reader about the character/situation - element of atmosphere.

Question 9

Theme

Answer 9

The central idea of a work… what the author wishes to convey to his/her reader. (shouldn’t be just one word).

Question 10

Characters

Answer 10

The entities or individuals that enact the plot.

Question 11

Protagonist

Answer 11

Character of the work (not always hero) (can be more than one)

Question 12

Antagonist

Answer 12

A major character who opposes the protagonist in a story or play.

Question 13

Dynamic (round) character

Answer 13

A character that is fully fleshed-out as human in the story having multiple traits and who undergoes a significant change during the course of the story.

Question 14

Stock Character

Answer 14

Normally a minor character that is rather two-dimensional (defined by only a trait or two or by a role in the story) who does not change over the course of the plot

Question 15

Foil

Answer 15

A character used by the author to compare and contrast to the protagonist in order to highlight characteristics of that protagonist

Question 16

Point of View

Answer 16

The Narrative perspective from which a story is conveyed to its readers

Question 17

1st person

Answer 17

Narrator refers to himself or herself as “I”. (reliable-true, unreliable-lying or mentally unstable)

Question 18

3rd person omniscient

Answer 18

All seeing, all knowing (God-like) perspective for the story

Question 19

3rd person limited

Answer 19

The story is told from the perspective of a character but that character does not directly tell the story. It is as if the reader is a shadow following the character’s story

Question 20

3rd person objective

Answer 20

The camera view point. The reader is given nothing but what is observed, nothing but straight facts. How the news should be told.

Question 21

Verbal Irony

Answer 21

Saying something but meaning the opposite, thus there is an inconsistency between what is said and what is meant

Question 22

Sarcasm

Answer 22

Verbal irony that is bitter, meant to insult

Question 23

Dramatic Irony

Answer 23

Occurs when a character demonstrates less knowledge than the audience and says or does something ridiculous or foolish as a result

Question 24

Situational Irony

Answer 24

In a literary work, the reader expects a certain outcome, but is surprised by a twist in the plot where something like the opposite occurs. Expectations are inconsistent with reality

Question 25

Symbolism

Answer 25

The use of one thing (character, event, place, objective) to represent another. Example: Dove is a symbol of peace

Question 26

Public symbols

Answer 26

Symbols that are familiar to the general population because their used as symbols has become commonplace in culture / society (peace sign)

Question 27

Private symbol

Answer 27

Symbols that are created specifically by a writer for his / her own uses in a literary work