1. Literary Terms
Freshman

2. Conflict
Struggle between two opposing forces or characters in a short story, play, or novel.

3. Exposition
The kind of writing that is intended to give background information; introduction to the story

4. Rising Action
The events in a literary work that lead to the turning point
Action in the story before the climax

5. Crisis/ Climax
A point of great tension in a narrative that determines how the action will come out

6. Denouement/ Resolution
The outcome of the conflict in a play or story

7. Plot
The sequence of events in a literary work

8. Theme
The main idea or the basic meaning of a literary work

9. Verbal Irony
A contrast or incongruity between what is stated and what is meant

10. Dramatic Irony
A device whereby the audience (or reader) understands more of a situation or of what is being said than the character is aware of

11. Soliloquy
A speech usually lengthy in which a character alone on stage expresses his thoughts aloud

12. Protagonist
The main character who strives against an opposing force.

13. Antagonist
A person or force opposing the protagonist in a narrative: a rival of the hero.

14. Dynamic Character
A character that experiences some change in personality or attitude

15. Static Character
This character remains the same throughout the narrative

16. Characterization
The personality a character displays; also the means by which an author reveals that personality

17. Foreshadowing
The use of hints or clues in a narrative to suggest what action is to come

18. Flashback
A scene in a short story, novel, or play that interrupts the action to show an event that happened earlier
For example, “Back in the day when Sarah was a young girl…”

19. Suspense
The quality of a literary work that makes the reader or audience uncertain or tense about the outcome of events

20. Personification
A figure of speech in which an animal, an object or the natural force of an idea is given personality or described as if it were human

21. Autobiography
A person’s account of his own life

22. Simile
A Comparison made between two dissimilar things through the use of specific words of comparison such using “like” or “as”

23. Metaphor
A comparison between two unlike things with the intent of giving added meaning to one of them

24. Imagery
Language that appeals to any sense or any combination of senses

25. Allusion
An indirect reference in one work of literature to a person, place, or event in another work of literature or in history, art or music

26. Rhyme
The repetition of sounds two or more words that usually appear close to each other in a poem