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Literary Terms

Literary Terms. Plot. The series of related events that make up a story. Exposition. The beginning of the story that tells us who the characters are and usually what their conflict is. Conflict. A struggle between opposing characters or opposing forces. Climax.

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Literary Terms

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  1. Literary Terms

  2. Plot • The series of related events that make up a story.

  3. Exposition • The beginning of the story that tells us who the characters are and usually what their conflict is.

  4. Conflict • A struggle between opposing characters or opposing forces.

  5. Climax • The point in a story that creates the most suspense or interest.

  6. Resolution • The final part of the story in which the conflict is resolved and the story is brought to a close.

  7. Parallel Episodes • Repeated elements in the plot

  8. Subplot • A minor plot that relates in some way to the main story

  9. Setting • The time and place of a story, poem, or a play.

  10. Internal Conflict • A struggle or problem within a character’s mind.

  11. Examples • Jason was so nervous about the Constitution test in U.S. History that he could barely sleep. • The boy Miranda has liked for two years finally asked her to Homecoming! But, another boy already asked her. Now Miranda has two dates for Homecoming and she doesn’t know what to do.

  12. External Conflict • A struggle between a person and an outside force

  13. Examples • Mark and his sister huddled together in a closet as the burglar ransacked their house. • The tornado swept through town leaving utter destruction in its wake.

  14. Direct Characterization • The writer makes direct statements about a character's personality and tells what the character is like.

  15. Example • Nona was mean-spirited and spiteful. • “He was tougher than the rest of us-- tougher, colder, meaner.” --Ponyboy describing Dally (from The Outsiders)

  16. Indirect Characterization • The writer reveals information about a character and his personality through the • character's thoughts • words • actions • looks and clothing • what other characters think and say about him.

  17. Example • Nona always made fun of the unpopular or younger kids in school. The sixth graders on her bus were so afraid of her they would change seats to avoid being the subject of her scathing remarks. • “One time, in a dime store, a guy told him to move over at the candy counter. Dally had turned around and belted him so hard it knocked a tooth loose.” --Ponyboy describing Dally (from The Outsiders)

  18. Protagonist • The leading character, hero, or heroine in a story

  19. Examples • Katniss in The Hunger Games • Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz • Harry Potter

  20. Antagonist • A person who struggles or competes against the main character; the hero’s adversary.

  21. Examples • The Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz is the antagonist. • Voldemort is the antagonist in the Harry Potter series.

  22. Static Character • A literary or dramatic character who undergoes little or no inner change over the course of the story or novel.

  23. Examples • Cinderella’s evil stepmother. (She’s mean in the beginning and mean at the end.) • Bart Simpson (He’s done the same things for almost 30 years! He never seems to learn from his mistakes.) • Phineas and Ferb

  24. Dynamic Character • a literary or dramatic character who encounters conflict and is changed by it. This is an important inner change, as a change in personality or attitude

  25. Example • Ebenezer Scrooge from A Christmas Carol is a dynamic character. • Jonas in The Giver is a dynamic character.

  26. Round Character • A character in fiction whose personality, background, motives, and other features are described in great detail by the author. The main character in a story is almost always round.

  27. Example • Katniss in The Hunger Games is an example of a round character. • Jonas in The Giver is an example of a round character.

  28. Flat Character • A character that is not described well and the reader is not given much information about. A flat character often lacks a complex and realistic personality.

  29. Examples • Mike and Jessica in Twilight are both flat characters. • The parents of Jonas in The Giver are flat characters.

  30. Character Trait • A person’s essential quality or personality

  31. Example • The following words are examples of character traits: Brave Calm Lonely Stubborn Witty

  32. Motivation • The reasons a character behaves a certain way

  33. Example • In The Hunger Games, Katniss’s motivation for not letting Primrose take tessarae was that she did not want her to be chosen at the reaping.

  34. Theme • A truth about life revealed in a work of literature

  35. Symbol • A person, a place, a thing, or an event that has its own meaning and stands for something beyond itself as well.

  36. Example • Red roses mean love • Cross is a religious symbol • Skull and cross bones means danger

  37. Foreshadow • The use of clues or hints to suggest events that will occur later in the plot.

  38. Example • In the movie Signs, a quick glimpse of an alien hidden among the corn fields is shown to build suspense and give the viewer clues as to what occur later in the movie.

  39. Irony • A contrast between what is expected and what really happens.

  40. Examples • A shoe maker wears shoes with holes in them. • An elephant is scared of a mouse. • Someone living in a desert keeps a boat in their yard. • The child of a police officer robs a bank.

  41. Verbal Irony • A contrast between what is said or written and what is really meant

  42. Example • While the teacher is giving instructions, two students are carrying on their own conversation. The teacher stops talking to the class and says to the students, “Oh, please continue. I didn’t mean to interrupt your conversation.”

  43. Dramatic Irony • This occurs when the audience or reader knows something a character does not know.

  44. Example • The Diary of Anne Frank is filled with dramatic irony. Anne often talks about all the things she will do when the war is over. However, the reader knows that she will not survive the war and will not live to do any of those things • In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo finds Juliet in a drugged sleep and assumes she is dead so he kills himself. The audience knows the truth.

  45. Imagery • Language that appeals to the senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell.

  46. Example In a Poem “The Storm” in fury and terror the tempest broke, it tore up the pine and shattered the oak, yet the hummingbird hovered within the hour sipping clear rain from the trumpet flower. -Elizabeth Coatsworth In a Single Sentence • The F-16 swooped down like an eagle after its prey. • The word spread like leaves in a storm. • The lake was left shivering by the touch of morning wind.

  47. Novel • A long fictional story that is usually more than one hundred pages in length

  48. Example • The Hunger Games • Touching Spirit Bear • The Giver • Walk Two Moons

  49. Allusion • A reference to a statement, a person, a place, or an event from literature, history, religion, mythology, politics, sports or science.

  50. Example • The movie Shrekis full of allusions. When Donkey is sprinkled with fairy dust he begins to fly and the other characters say “He can fly, he can fly, he can fly!” referring to, or making an allusion to the movie Peter Pan. • Shrek 2- Far Far Away Idol

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