Literary Terms

Atmosphere The mood or emotional qualities of the scene Example: A stormy night creates a creepy, scary atmosphere.

Character Someone in the story The main character is sometimes also known as the protagonist.

Characterization How the author reveals the character How you know whether or not to like the character The story details that let you judge the character

Stages of a Story The typical process a story’s plot goes through as it progresses from beginning to end. Opening/Exposition Rising Action Climax Falling Action Resolution/Conclusion

Foreshadowing Clues or hints at what’s to come Example: The character may have a dream that someone dies. Later in the story, another character is killed.

Hyperbole Exaggeration Example: “It’s so hot in here that I think I’m melting.” or “I’m starving to death. When is lunch?”

Imagery “Word Pictures” Example: The softly rustling leaves gently moved in a caressing breeze along the banks of the happily bubbling stream in the quiet, shaded woods.

Irony When the opposite you expect happens. Example: It was ironic when the student with the worst eyesight turned out to have the smallest project.

Simile/Metaphor Both compare two things that don’t normally go together. Similes use “like” or “as” in the comparison as in, “My sister’s hair flows like a brown river.” Metaphors do not use “like” or “as;” for example, “My sister’s hair is a flowing river of brown.”

Personification Something not human is given human qualities Example: The sky wept sadly all week long.

Point of view The relationship of the narrator to the story. Types of point of view: –1 st person –3 rd person limited –3 rd person omniscient

Symbolism Something that represents a larger idea Example: A dove sometimes symbolizes or represents peace.

Theme The main idea or message of the story.

Onomatopoeic A word that is spelled to represent a sound. Example: buzz, fizz, whoosh

Alliteration A phrase where the initial (beginning) sound is repeated in most words. Example: The first fellow fell forward.

Analogy A comparison between two things that may have one aspect in common. Similar to a simile or metaphor, but it can be an entire story, passage, or just a phrase.

Rhyme Scheme The pattern of rhyming words in a poem. Example: Two roads diverged in a yellow wood And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the under growth