Terms Flashcards
Atmosphere/mood
Affects the way we feel about the setting
Antagonist
The character of force the protagonist struggles against and must over come
Autobiography
An account of the writers own life
Biography
An account of a person’s life, written or told by anyone
Connotation
All meanings, associations, or emotions that have come to be attached to some words, in addition to their literal dictionary definitions
Den oration
The strict dictionary definition
Dialogue
The conversation between characters in a story
Essay
Short piece of nonfiction that examines a single subject from a limited point of view
Narrator
Voice telling the story
Novel
Fictional prose narrative usually consisting of more than 50 thousand words
Protagonist
Main character in fiction or drama
Satire
Type of writing that ridicules something (a person, a group of people, humanity at large, an attitude or failing, a social institution ) in order to reveal a weakness
Setting
The time and place of a story or play
Short story
Short, concentrated, fictional prose narrative
Stereotype
A set form or convention
Symbol
Person, place, thing, or event that stands for itself and for something beyond itself as well
Theme
Central idea of a work of literature
Prose
Spoken or written language as in ordinary usage
Tone
Attitude a writer takes toward a subject, a character, or the audience
Plot
Can be told in: chronological order, flashback, in media res (If I Stay)
Intro./exposition
Establishes atmosphere, setting, main characters, central conflict, and point of view
Climax or turning point
Moment of choice for protagonist situation either gets better or gets worse
Rising action/suspense
Series of complications/related events for the protagonist, builds curiosity
Falling action or anticlimax
Decrease in emotional intensity
Resolution or denouement
Conclusion unraveling of the plot
- explicit or implicit
- thematic ideas become clear
Conflict
The struggle between two forces in a story, without conflict there is no plot
External conflict
Man vs man, man vs nature, mans vs society
Internal conflict
Man vs himself
Point of view
- first person (I I I)
- second person (Uncle Sam)
- third person limited (movie camera)
- third person omniscient (thoughts)
Characterization
Tells us what the character is like
- how they look or dress
- speech
- private thoughts and feelings
- their effect on others
- their actions
Verbal irony
A writer or speaker says one thing but really means another
Situational irony
A contrast between what we expect to happen and what actually happens
Dramatic irony
When the reader knows something important that a character does not know
