1. That just might appear on your Ohio Academic Assessment
Literary Terms
That just might appear on your Ohio Academic Assessment

2. Character opposing the protagonist
Antagonist
Character opposing the protagonist

3. Climax
The point in a story that creates the greatest suspense or interest. At this point something happens that reveals how the conflict will turn out

4. Connotation
A meaning, association, or emotion suggested by a word, in addition to its dictionary definition, or denotation.
Example: You could describe someone who rarely changes plans as determined or pigheaded, but pigheaded has a negative connotation

5. Dictionary definition of a word
Denotation
Dictionary definition of a word

6. Flashback
Interruption in the present action of a plot to show events that happened at an earlier time. Breaks the normal forward movement of a narrative.
Example: Almost all of “The Diary of Anne Frank” is a flashback.

7. Foreshadowing
The use of clues or hints to suggest events that will occur later in the plot.

8. Imagery
Language that appeals to the senses. These include touch, hearing, taste, and smell, as well as sight.

9. The central thought or message of a passage, story, poem, etc.
Main Idea
The central thought or message of a passage, story, poem, etc.

10. Mood
Overall feeling of a work of literature. Often can be described in one or two adjectives, such as scary, happy, sad, or nostalgic. A writer produces this by creating images and using sounds that convey a particular feeling.
Example: “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe is noted for its eerie mood.

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

12. Plot Diagram
Illustrates the basic elements of a narrative, including introduction/exposition/basic situation, complications, climax, and resolution

13. The vantage point from which a story is told
Point of View
The vantage point from which a story is told

14. The main character in a work of literature
Protagonist
The main character in a work of literature

15. The time and place of a story, poem, or narrative poem
Setting
The time and place of a story, poem, or narrative poem

16. Example: a bald eagle is a symbol of America
A person, place, thing, or event that has meaning in itself and stands for something beyond itself as well.
Example: a bald eagle is a symbol of America

17. Symbolism
The practice of representing things by symbols, or of investing things with a symbolic meaning or character