2. Literary Terms English 11

3. The narrative perspective from which a story is told.

4. Point of view

5. When a nonhuman thing is talked about as if it were human.

6. personification

7. The reason behind a character’s behavior

8. motivation

9. A struggle between opposing forces

10. conflict

11. The central point or message in a literary work

12. theme

13. The turning point in the action

14. climax

15. The character or force against which the main character is pitted

16. antagonist

17. Repeated word or phrase, used by writers to call attention to it

18. repetition

19. A character that undergoes a significant change throughout the story

20. Dynamic character

21. The use of a character’s appearance, words, or actions to reveal something about a character

22. characterization

23. A work of literature that is meant to be performed

24. Drama

25. A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things, using like or as

26. simile

27. When a writer uses hints or clues to indicate events that will occur

28. foreshadowing

29. Language that uses words or expressions with a meaning that is different from the literal interpretation; includes similes, metaphors, personification and symbols

30. Figurative language

31. When the same consonant is used at the beginning of a series of words, creating a regular sound pattern

32. alliteration

33. The attitude a writer takes toward the audience or his or her subject

34. tone

35. The use of language that appeals to the senses

36. imagery

37. A speech in a dramatic work in which a character speaks his or her feelings aloud; this is to reveal the character’s inner thoughts, feelings, and plans to the audience

38. soliloquy

39. The use of a person, place, thing, or event that stands for itself and for something beyond itself as well.

40. symbolism

41. The overall atmosphere of a literary work or the feeling the reader gets

42. mood

43. When a story is told by a voice outside of the action, not by one of the characters

44. Third person

45. The outcome of the conflict in a plot

46. resolution

47. A reference in a literary work to a person, place, or thing in history or another work of literature

48. allusion

49. The sequence of action and events in a story

50. plot

51. When the reader or audience is aware of something that the characters in the story are not aware of

52. Dramatic Irony

53. A character who provides a striking contrast to another character

54. foil

55. A literary work that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one

56. allegory

57. When the author lays the groundwork for the plot and introduces readers to the character and setting, and conflict

58. exposition

59. A character who remains essentially the same throughout the story

60. Static character

61. The central or main character in a story, novel, or play

62. protagonist

63. When a person uses words to convey the opposite of the literal meaning of those words

64. Verbal Irony

65. The point of view in which the narrator is a character telling the story

66. First person

67. The time and place in which a story takes place

68. setting

69. A written conversation between two or more people

70. dialogue

71. A comparison that does not use like or as

72. metaphor

73. A dramatic work that presents the downfall of a character of high status who has a flaw that leads to his or her destruction

74. tragedy

75. When the opposite of what is expected to happen is what happens

76. Situational irony