Literary Terms #7 Character Terms

1. Literary Terms #7 Character Terms AP English Literature & Composition Mrs. Demangos Hilltop High School

2. Character • Any representation of an individual being presented in a dramatic or narrative work through extended dramatic or verbal representation. The reader can interpret characters as endowed with moral and dispositional qualities expressed in what they say (dialogue) and what they do (action).

3. Protagonist • Character around which the action is centered

4. Antagonist • Person or force working against the protagonist

5. Round Character • Complex, multi-faceted, not predictable • complex in temperament and motivation; drawn with subtlety; capable of growth and change during the course of the narrative • A round character is depicted with such psychological depth and detail that he or she seems like a "real" person.

6. Flat Character • Recognizable type; lacks complexity • built around a single idea or quality and unchanging over the course of the narrative • Also called a static character, a flat character is a simplified character who does not change or alter his or her personality over the course of a narrative, or one without extensive personality and characterization. The term is used in contrast with a round character

7. Confidant • The protagonist’s intimate

8. Foil • Character’s illuminator through contrast • A character that serves by contrast to highlight or emphasize opposing traits in another character. For instance, in Shakespeare's Hamlet, Laertes the unthinking man of action is a foil to the intelligent but reluctant Hamlet.

9. Omniscience • Teller knows all about everyone

10. Limited Omniscience • Teller knows all about one character

11. Dramatic Perspective • Teller presents just the facts

12. Doppelganger • Mysterious double