Vocabulary Flashcards
Allegory
A story in which a moral principal or abstract truth is presented by means of fictional characters or events.
Ex. Animal Farm
Flat Character
A character with one or two traits.
Allusion
A brief reference to a person, event, or place, real, or fictional, or to a work of art.
An allusion may be drawn from history, geography, literature, or religion.
Ex. She was no “Scrooge”, but she seldom purchased anything except bare necessities.
Flashback
When the present action in a story is temporally interrupted so that the reader can witness past events.
Antagonist
The force(s) that works against the protagonist, such as other people, things, society, or themselves.
First Person Point of View
The narrator tells the story in the first person “I”. The reader sees and knows as much as the narrator.
Character
This term refers to both a fictional person in a story, and the moral, dispositional, and behavioral qualities of that fictional person.
The qualities of the character are generally revealed through dialogue, action, and description.
Characters may be classified as: flat or round, stereotyped or realistic, static or dynamic.
Falling Action
Part of the plot, which occurs after the climax.
Climax
The turning point in the story or the point when the conflict is resolved.
Dynamic Character
A character that changes during the story.
Conflict
Internal:
-man vs himself
External:
- man vs man/group of people
- man vs the environment/society
- man vs unknown
Dramatic or Objective Point of View
The opposite of the omniscient point of view. Like a moving camera on a fly on the wall where the events are recorded without judgement or comment.
Very little of the past or future is given; the story is set in present. The author does not show the feelings or thoughts of the characters. The reader must judge these things by themselves.
Dilemma
A situation in which a character must choose between the two different paths of action which are undesirable.
Direct Presentation
The narrator tells the reader everything about the character.
Foreshadowing
Hints or clues to help the reader anticipate the outcome of the story.
Rising Action
Part of the plot; a series of steps that develop the conflict as it builds to a climax. The rising action begins with an initial incident.
Indirect Presentation
When we know about a character by what he or she says, does, or think. Also, by how others react to the character.
Resolution
Also referred to as DENOUEMENT, if follows the climax of the story, and constitutes part or all of the falling action.
Irony
A mode of expression, through words (verbal irony) or events (irony of situation), conveying a reality different from and usually opposite to appearance or expectation.
What are the 3 different types of irony? Give an example for each.
Verbal- sarcasm
Situational- A professional pickpocket has his own pocket picked as he is picking someone else’s pocket.
Dramatic Irony- King Oedipus, unknowing kills his father, and says he will banish his father’s killer when he finds him.
Protagonist
The central character of the story.
Limited Omniscient Point of View
The author tells the story in third person, but he tells it from the viewpoint of one character in the story. In effect the author stands by the side of the character and presents the story through their eyes.
Point of View
Who is telling the story.
Metaphor
A comparison of two unlike things, without using ‘like’ or ‘as’.
Ex. The world’s a stage.
