Analysis Of Literature: Fiction

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A language that is not obviously musical in beat or rhyme and that is printed from the left to right margin

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Prose

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Person/people in a literary work, sometimes referred to as a flat or round

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Characters

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the place where a story occurs (may refer to the time as well as the place of the story)

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Setting

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In a story, the person speaking to the reader or telling the reader the story

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Narrator

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From the latin for "Mirror"- this refers to the author's means of representing or mirroring reality in fiction

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Mimesis

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The way an author represents a chain of events within a literary work. The plot might be tightly structured with a chain of cause and effect that leads to a certain conclusion, or it may be used to surprise readers with unexpected or unforeseen twists and turns

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Plot

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The perspective or vantage pointby which the reader is able to or experience certain events within a story or poem. Can 1st, 2nd, or 3rd person objective

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Point of view

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A type or mode of writing

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Genre

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Anything that represents more than itself or is invested with meaning. An object, action, or person may serve as a symbol. May be contextual, deriving from certain events within the story or poem, or they may be public symbols that refer to objects, actions, or persons that history, religion, myth, or legend has infused with meaning

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Symbol

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A unifying, central subject or icon that provides a literary work with its stance or approach. Can be a thoery, or an answer provided by the story based on the questions it raises

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Theme

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The emotional approach or attitiude that the writer chooses to use to color the work- (anger, bitterness, sorrow, irony joy)

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Tone

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The central tension and point of suspense in a literary work.

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Conflict

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The point in a story at which things change irrevecobly for the characters

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Turning Point

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The culmination of events in the stroy, novel, or play. The highest point of interest or intensity. The point at which the events take an important and irrevocable turn

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Climax

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That part of a play, story, or novel in which the author establishes setting, situation, and often central characters and themes.

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Expositions

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A term that refers to predictive events, hints, or clues that point towards some later developement or situation

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Foreshadowing

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The central character in a piece of drama or fiction. The root of this word, "agon", is greek and means "contest".
The "hero", the main character in conflict/contest with his/her situation or another character

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Protagonist

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The counterforce or opponent who provides conflict in the play or story, confronting or attempting to complicate the life of the central character, or protagonist

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Antagonist

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The conclusion, or untying and unraveling of events in a story

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Denouement

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A moment of sudden realization or understanding in which the true meaning of certain events in revealed

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Epiphany

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Action that is usually composed of the characters' immediate reactions and responses to the climatic events of a story. The characters have not yet resolved their conflicts, but the events are heading towards a conclusion

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Falling Action

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The increasing conflict or struggle with in the story, the culmination of which results in the climax. This is also the means by which the suspense in a story is established

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Rising Action

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All knowing or able to see everything at once. Usually used in reference to an omniscient narative voice

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Omniscient

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A disparity between what is said and what is meant, what is expected and the actual outcome, or what a character understands and what the reader or audience understands

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Irony

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The writer focuses on the actions and thoughts of only some of the characters; can only evaluate the thoughts, actions and motivations of one particular character

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Third Person Limited Narrative

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The narrator will act as an impartial observer, providing very little comment on the events of te story or behavior of the characters

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Third Person Objective Narrative

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The writer uses an all seeing or all knowing narrator who is aware of all the private thoughts, emotions, and behaviors of each character

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Third Person Omniscient Narrative

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A narrative technique that attempts to simulate the complete flow of a characters thoughts. In this form of writing, ideas, thoughts, memories, and conversations may combine or intermingle withoutclear transition or conventions

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Stream of Consciousness

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A reversion back to events that have previously taken place. This allows the writer to interrupt normal chronological order in the narrative

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Flashback

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The way in which an author represents or portrays a character for the reader. This can be revealed through the author's description of the character or through the characters speech, actions, and thoughts

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Characterization

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A verbal exchange between two or more characters

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Dialogue

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Regional variations in the speech of a common language; can help place characters by race, place of birth, gender, or background

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Dialect

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A work in which related symbols work together to produce a moral lesson or indication of progress. Usually, characters, events, and settings, will represent certain moral qualities or will personify certain abstractions

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Allegory

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A recurrent image that emerges from deep seated associations that are anchored in universal patterns or structures of experiences. Usually a common universal role assumed by a character- prodigal son, damsel in distress

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Archetype

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A character who is easily describable or represented with a one track personality or who is a representative of a stereotype

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Flat Character

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A character who is more developed or complicated, exhibiting a range of responses, emotions and loyalties

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Round Character

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The use of humor, wit, and novelle, to criticize, attack, or hold for scorn- used to expose some folly in human behavior for the purpose of social change, reform, or awareness

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Satire

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From the italian meaning "exaggeration"- Term used to describe characters who are comically distorted by the exaggeration of key traits that make them seem ridiculous or worthy of parody

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Caricatures

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Any association or attitude that is embedded in a words meaning or is brought to mind by the mention of a word or phrase

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Connotation

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The literal definition of a word, deviod of contextual or emotional issues or connotations

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Denotation

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The overriding, dominant emotional quality present in a literary work, created by the author's description of theme, setting, or character

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Mood

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Fiction that insists upon our recognizing it as a creation rather tha reality

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Reflexive

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The writers choice or use of words

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Diction