1. Literary Terms Review
Part I

2. Protagonist
Main Character
The “Good Guy”

3. Antagonist
Characters / Forces that work against the main character

4. Plot / Plot Development
Sequence of Events

5. Exposition The beginning of the story
Setting, characters, etc. introduced

6. Narrative Hook
Introduces the central conflict

7. Rising Action After the central conflict is introduced,
this is a series of events
and conflicts that lead to
the climax

8. Climax Most exciting/tensest part Sometimes called the “Turning Point”
This is when the central conflict comes to a head; similar to ‘right before the commercial break’ moment

9. Falling Action
When you find out how the central conflict is resolved; similar to ‘right after the commercial break’
All of the events from the Climax to the Resolution

10. Resolution How the story concludes; loose ends are tied up
Denouement – an extension after the resolution; “The end of it all”; many times seen in an epilogue; the ‘long-term’ ending

11. Setting
Time & Place of a Story

12. Suspense
A feeling of tense excitement about how something will end; the I need to know NOW! feeling
Example: a mystery
novel or movie

13. Conflict
A struggle between two opposing forces

14. Internal Conflict
Happens within the character
Type: Man vs Himself

15. External Conflict Happens outside the character 5 Types: Man vs. Man
Man vs. Society
Man vs. Nature
Man vs. Technology
Man vs. Supernatural

16. Literal Language Meant to be understood as is No “deeper meaning”
Example:
She was ugly.

17. Figurative Language NOT meant to be understood on a literal level
Example:
She was as big as a house.

18. Literary Terms Review
Part 2

19. Foreshadowing
Hints of what will happen later in the story

20. Flashback
Returning to previous events

21. There are four types of characters

22. Static Character
Character stays the same

23. Dynamic Character
Character grows, changes, or matures over the course of the story

24. Flat Character Not Fully Developed
Shows One Character Trait or very few overall
Usually minor character

25. Round Character Fully Developed Character
Shows a Range of Character Traits
Usually Major Characters

26. Characterization
The way the author presents the character / reveals character traits
How the author lets “you” know how a character is
Two main methods of characterization

27. Direct Characterization
The author tells you

28. Indirect Characterization
The author shows you how a character is through
What the character says
What the character does
What other characters have to say about that character

29. Imagery
A Picture Painted with Words

30. Irony The Difference between Appearance and Reality
3 Types: Verbal, Situational, & Dramatic

31. Verbal Irony When a character says one thing and means another
Ex) “Relaxed like
a coiled rattlesnake”

32. Situational Irony
Difference between what the reader or character expects & what actually exists or happens
Someone goes into the
kitchen for a knife but can
only find spoons.

33. Dramatic Irony
The reader or viewer knows something the character does not know
Ex) In scary movies,
When the victim does
Not know the killer is
Around the corner.

34. Literary Terms Review
Part 3

35. Symbolism
When something stands for / represents something else

36. Theme The main idea / message of a story
The perception about life or human nature that the writer shares with the reader; an insight
Is not a lesson or moral

37. A good way to find theme is …
…to pay attention to the main character.
Does the person go through some sort of change?
What does he or she learn?

38. Point of View The perspective from which the story is told
Ask: Who is telling the story?
Two main types

39. First Person Point of View
The “I” Point of View - the character is in the story and ‘telling’ it to the reader

40. Third Person POV Told by a narrative voice outside the action
Uses third person pronouns such as “he” “she” “they”
Two Types

41. Limited POV
A third person POV; has a ‘limited’ perspective - We only learn what the character tells us and do not get information about others

42. Omniscient POV
A third person POV; the “All Knowing” point of view; tells what multiple characters are doing
and thinking

43. Speaker Used In Poetry - The “Voice that talks to the reader”
Not the Poet

44. Narrator
Used in prose - The character or voice from whose point of view events are told

45. Dialect
A form of language as it is spoken in a particular area or by a certain group

46. Literary Terms Review
Part 4

47. Literal Language Meant to be understood as is No “deeper meaning”
Example:
The flower is pretty.

48. Figurative Language NOT meant to be understood on a literal level
Example:
She was as big as a house.

49. 8 Main Forms of Figurative Language
Simile
Metaphor
Personification
Alliteration
Onomatopoeia
Hyperbole
Idioms
Clichés

50. Hyperbole A figure of speech in which the truth is exaggerated
Ex) He’s as strong
as a horse.

51. Cliché
An overused expression or idea
Example:
“tip of the iceberg”

52. Rhetorical Question
A question to which no answer is expected or to which only one answer may be made

53. Analogy
A comparison between two things that are alike in some way

54. Stereotype
Simplified or stock characters who conform to a fixed pattern or are defined by a single trait
Example:
Dumb blonde, absent-minded professor, slimy lawyer

55. Diction
Choice of words used by the author

56. The author’s attitude toward his/her subject
Tone
The author’s attitude toward his/her subject

57. Mood
The emotions an audience feels from a given passage

58. Narrative Nonfiction
Tells a true story that includes a real setting, all elements of plot, actual people, a point of view, and frequently has a theme

59. Forms of narrative nonfiction
The eight major categories:
Biography
Autobiography
Essay
Memoir
Newspapers
Informative articles
True-life adventure
Personal Diaries & Letters