Mid-Term Terms Flashcards
Prepare for mid-term
protagonist
the main character in a story
antagonist
a character or force in conflict with the main character
flat character
character that has only one or two personality traits
static character
a character who only changes a little or not at all
round character
a fully developed, multi-dimensional character
exposition
a portion of a story that gives background information, setting, or introduction to characters
rising action
events in a story leading up to the climax
climax
the point of highest tension in a story
falling action
events in a story following the climax
resolution
the final outcomes of the conflicts in a story that make up the plot
person vs person
a type of external conflict in a story with outside forces or other characters (external conflict)
person vs self
a type of struggle or type of conflict between a character and their own mind (internal conflict) (e.g., when a protagonist’s own doubts or fears are the conflict)
person vs society
a type of struggle or conflict between a character and outside social forces (e.g., rebelling to social norms, when two people from feuding castes or religions or backgrounds or cultures love each other, such as Romeo & Juliet) (external conflict)
person vs nature
a struggle or conflict between a protagonist and an outside natural force (e.g., floods in Noah’s Arc, surviving in nature)
first-person point of view
the narrator of a story is also a character in the story (in writing, it refers to the use of “I,” “we,” and “our”)
third-person point of view
the narrator of a story is an outside observer and is not a character in a story (in writing, third-person refers to the use of “she,” “her,” “he,” “him,” “they,” “them”).
second-person point of view
the narrator refers to the reader as “you” which makes the reader a character in the story (in writing, second-person refers to the use of “you,” “your,” “yourself”
theme
the central message a story (e.g., “Family is more important than anything else.” or “All families are happy in the same way and unhappy in unique ways.” “Love requires work” or “Love is embarrassing.”)
mood
the feeling the writers creates for the reader
tone
the writer’s attitude toward the story, specific characters, a topic, or a situation
prose
written or spoken language in an ordinary form; the language people use
alliteration
the repetition of consonant sounds (e.g., Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.)
onomatopoeia
the use or creation of a word that phonetically imitates (i.e., sounds like), resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. (e.g., oink, moo, bang, plop, fizz
metaphor
a figure of speech in which the comparison between two unlike things that some quality in common (“Life is a highway.”)
simile
a figure of speech in which a direct comparison between two unlike things is made using “like” or “as” that some quality in common (e.g., cool as a cucumber)
personification
a figure of speech that gives non-human things human characteristics (“The sun smiled down on me.” “love is blind.” “The leaves danced in the wind.”)
foreshadowing
hints or clues leading up to something later in the story (e.g., a character mentions that bad things always happen to them in autumn. Several scenes later, leaves start falling. You the alert reader sense something bad is going to happen.) (very popular in mysteries)
hyperbole
extreme exaggeration that is not meant to be taken literally (e.g., my backpack weighs a ton, I died of laughter, These shoes are killing me)
symbol
Sasso: an object or living thing that has its own meaning. Actual definition: an object or thing that stands for or represents something else (a storm brewing on the horizon = emotional turmoil in a story; a red rose = love)
imagery
language that appeals to one or more senses
irony
Sasso: when a person says something or does something that departs from what they expect to do or say
Clarifying: verbal irony is when someone says something that do not mean, intend, or is unexpected for the situation
Clarifying: situational irony is when something happens that is the opposite of what is expected
