Fiction/Non-Fiction Terms

Kelly Road English Department – English 10 Fiction/Non-Fiction Terms

Allusion Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • A quick reference in a literary work to something that is well known in the society • Eg.: referring to the Bible, Shakespeare, Lady Gaga, etc.

Antagonist Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • The characters or forces arrayed against the protagonist(s)

Anti-Climax Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • An effect which works against the climax • Often acts to bring a lofty tone “down to earth”

Aside Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • A short dramatic speech, said by a character to him/herself, but out loud, so the audience can overhear

Audience Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • Obviously, the person/people experiencing the play/book/song/film, etc., but also the “type” of person the author had in mind when creating the work

Conflict Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • General term for negative interactions between characters

Conflict: Internal Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • Internal – struggle inside a character’s mind or self – person vs. self

Conflict: External Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • Person vs. Person – conflict between 2 or more characters • Person vs. Environment – conflicts between a person and their situation – Nature, society, group, etc.

Character Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • General name for someone in a story • Can also refer to a person’s overall personality and sense of morality

Characterization Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • The way in which a character is “drawn” by the author – the way in which we are introduced to the character’s traits

Characterization Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • Presentation – how the author tells the reader about a character: • Direct – the author actually tells the reader about a character’s traits, motivations, etc. • Indirect – the author has other characters tell the reader about another a particular character, or shows us through the character’s actions

Character - Traits Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • Round – character has many traits • Flat – character has few traits

Character - Traits Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • Dynamic – character’s traits change over time • Static – character’s traits do not change over time

Character - Types Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • Stereotype/Stock – character with clichéd or familiar traits which appears often in especially escapist-type literature • Eg. James Bond, Robin Hood, Wicked Stepmother, etc. • Realistic – A character who is NOT based on a stereotypical cliché, but on “real life”

Character - Types Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • Foil – a secondary character whose traits or actions contrast with those of the main character in order to draw attention to them

Cliché Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • An idea or part of a artistic work which has been used so much that it has lost its original meaning or effect

Climax Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • The point at which the action and/or tension is at its height

Colloquial Language Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • Words and phrases that are used in informal settings, but are not appropriate for formal ones; “everyday” language

Comedy Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • A literary or dramatic work that is not serious, and usually has a happy ending

Compare Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • Looking at how 2 things are similar

Complication Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • A challenge or hurdle placed in the way of the protagonist

Connotation Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • The ideas, thoughts, or feelings associated with a particular word or phrase

Contrast Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • Looking at how 2 things are different

Crisis Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • The main problem or troubling event that sets the action going

Denotation Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • The thing or situation that a word refers to, its definition, or actual meaning

Denouement Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • French for “unknotting” • Loose ends of the plot tied up, either after the climax, or (more commonly) in the very final scenes of the story

Dialogue Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • The words spoken, usually in conversation, by characters in a story or play

Dilemma Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • A choice that a character must make between 2 unpleasant outcomes, in response to a plot challenge • Dilemmas are often hard choices that involve moral or ethical issues

Drama Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • A work meant to be represented onstage by actors speaking dialogue, but also refers to any plot that has many ups and downs

Epiphany Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • A term for a character’s sudden realization about something • Think “lightbulb moment” – a thought or idea that occurs to a character that changes his or her outlook

Episode Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • A particular incident or event within the main plot of a story

Exposition Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • Tells background information • Sets up plot events

Falling Action Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • Events following the climax • Crisis resolved; character conflicts dealt with • Aka: the Resolution

Figurative Language Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • Language which uses various sorts of comparisons to talk about multiple layers of meaning at once, often using similes, metaphors, etc.

Flashback Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • A scene inserted into the plot that shows events that occurred at an earlier time

Foreshadowing Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • Hints given in the plot as to its outcome

Genre Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • A particular category of literature, such as Drama, Romance, Comedy, Tragedy, etc.

Hyperbole Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • “hy-PER-bo-lee” • When something is emphasized using deliberate exaggeration

Image Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • A visual picture, described in words

Imagery Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • The use of visual pictures to add meaning to literature

Indeterminate Ending Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • An ending in which the reader cannot be certain of the outcome

Irony Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • A literary device in which the writer expresses a meaning that is different than the words used

Jargon Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • Specific words or language used by a certain technical or professional group

Metaphor Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • A direct comparison of one thing to another

Mood Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • Also called atmosphere or ambience • The “feeling” presented in the story through the way the author describes scenes or plot events • Eg.: It was a dark and stormy night…

Moral Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • A message the author is trying to give through the story • Also, a term that indicates whether or not the actions of the characters are good or just, from a societal perspective

Narration Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • Story as told by a narrator

Narrative Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • A story told by a narrator

Narrator Kelly Road English Department – English 10 • The person telling a story

Fiction/Non-Fiction Terms