Literary Terms
1. A character is a person or animal that takes part in the action of a literary work.
2. The protagonist is the main character in a literary work.
3. The antagonist is a character or force in conflict with a main character, or protagonist.
4. Diction is the manner in which we express words. Diction = enunciation
5. Denotation of a word is its dictionary meaning.
6. Connotation of a word is the set of ideas associated with it in addition to its explicit meaning.
7. Imagery is words or phrases that appeal to one or more of the five senses.
8. Mood, or atmosphere, is the feeling created in the reader by a literary work or passage.
9. Plot is the sequence of events.
10. The plot usually begins with an exposition that introduces the setting, the characters, and the basic situation.
11. Rising action is the part of the plot that begins to occur as soon as the conflict is introduced. It adds complications to the conflict and increases reader interest.
12. The climax is the point of greatest emotional intensity, or suspense in the plot of a narrative. It typically comes at the turning point in a story or drama.
13. Falling action is the action that typically follows the climax and reveals its results.
14. The resolution is the part of the plot that concludes the falling action by revealing or suggesting the outcome of the conflict.
15. Conflict is the struggle between opposing forces in a story or play.
16. External conflicts exist when a character struggles against some outside force, such as another character, nature, society, or fate.
17. Internal conflict exists within the mind of a character who is torn between different courses of action.
18. Flashback is a literary device in which an earlier episode, conversation, or event is inserted into the sequence of events. They are often presented as a memory of the narrator or of another character.
19. Foreshadowing is the author’s use of clues to hint at what might happen later in the story. Writers use foreshadowing to build their reader’s expectations and to create suspense.
20. Suspense is the growing interest and excitement readers experience while awaiting a climax or resolution in a work of literature.
21. Point of view is the perspective, or vantage point from which a story is told. It is the relationship of the author to the story.
22. First-person is told by a character who uses the pronoun “I”.
23. Third-person limited point of view is where the narrator uses pronouns such as he and she to refer to the characters.
24. Setting is the time and place of the action.
25. Setting helps create mood.
26. Style is the distinctive way in which an author uses language.
27. Theme is the central message, concern, or purpose of a literary work.
28. tone is a reflection of a writer or speaker’s attitude toward a subject.
29. Figurative language is used for descriptive effect and is not meant to be taken literally.
30. A metaphor is a type of figurative language that compares two unlike things that have something in common.
31. A simile compares two unlike things using the words “like” or “as”.
32. an oxymoron is a figure of speech that is a combination of seemingly contradictory words.
33. Personification is a figure of speech in which an animal, object, force of nature, or idea is given human qualities or characteristics.
34. Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words.
2. The protagonist is the main character in a literary work.
3. The antagonist is a character or force in conflict with a main character, or protagonist.
4. Diction is the manner in which we express words. Diction = enunciation
5. Denotation of a word is its dictionary meaning.
6. Connotation of a word is the set of ideas associated with it in addition to its explicit meaning.
7. Imagery is words or phrases that appeal to one or more of the five senses.
8. Mood, or atmosphere, is the feeling created in the reader by a literary work or passage.
9. Plot is the sequence of events.
10. The plot usually begins with an exposition that introduces the setting, the characters, and the basic situation.
11. Rising action is the part of the plot that begins to occur as soon as the conflict is introduced. It adds complications to the conflict and increases reader interest.
12. The climax is the point of greatest emotional intensity, or suspense in the plot of a narrative. It typically comes at the turning point in a story or drama.
13. Falling action is the action that typically follows the climax and reveals its results.
14. The resolution is the part of the plot that concludes the falling action by revealing or suggesting the outcome of the conflict.
15. Conflict is the struggle between opposing forces in a story or play.
16. External conflicts exist when a character struggles against some outside force, such as another character, nature, society, or fate.
17. Internal conflict exists within the mind of a character who is torn between different courses of action.
18. Flashback is a literary device in which an earlier episode, conversation, or event is inserted into the sequence of events. They are often presented as a memory of the narrator or of another character.
19. Foreshadowing is the author’s use of clues to hint at what might happen later in the story. Writers use foreshadowing to build their reader’s expectations and to create suspense.
20. Suspense is the growing interest and excitement readers experience while awaiting a climax or resolution in a work of literature.
21. Point of view is the perspective, or vantage point from which a story is told. It is the relationship of the author to the story.
22. First-person is told by a character who uses the pronoun “I”.
23. Third-person limited point of view is where the narrator uses pronouns such as he and she to refer to the characters.
24. Setting is the time and place of the action.
25. Setting helps create mood.
26. Style is the distinctive way in which an author uses language.
27. Theme is the central message, concern, or purpose of a literary work.
28. tone is a reflection of a writer or speaker’s attitude toward a subject.
29. Figurative language is used for descriptive effect and is not meant to be taken literally.
30. A metaphor is a type of figurative language that compares two unlike things that have something in common.
31. A simile compares two unlike things using the words “like” or “as”.
32. an oxymoron is a figure of speech that is a combination of seemingly contradictory words.
33. Personification is a figure of speech in which an animal, object, force of nature, or idea is given human qualities or characteristics.
34. Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words.