English 2 Final Literary Terms

Front 1

the introduction early in a story of verbal and dramatic hints that suggest what is to come later

Back 1

Foreshadowing

Front 2

the incidents, actions, and events that make up a story or play

Back 2

Plot

Front 3

The main idea of a story, novel, play, etc. a Theme provides a unifying point around which the plot, characters, settings, point of view, symbols, and other elements of a work are organized. The message about life the author is sending to the reader or the audience.

Back 3

Theme

Front 4

The practice of representing things by means of symbols or of attributing symbolic meanings or significance to objects, events, or relationships.

Back 4

Symbolism

Front 5

Irony

Back 5

a device by which a writer expresses a meaning contradictory to the one stated

Front 6

the struggle within the plot between opposing forces. The protagonist engages in the conflict with the antagonist, which may take the form of a character, society, nature, or an aspect of the protagonist’s personality.

Back 6

Conflict

Front 7

(setting) A dominant intellectual or emotional environment or attitude, the emotional response of a reader to a work, it reflects the feelings of the writer

Back 7

Atmosphere (mood)

Front 8

a recurring object or idea that appears repeatedly throughout a literary work

Back 8

Motif

Front 9

a scene that happened before that relates to what is happening in the present

Back 9

Flashback

Front 10

the set up of incidents, actions, and events that make up a story or play

Back 10

Plot Structure

Front 11

a narrative device, often used at the beginning of a work, which provides necessary background information about the characters and their circumstances. Exposition explains what has gone on before, the relationships between characters, the development of a theme, and the introduction of a conflict.

Back 11

Exposition

Front 12

Rising Action

Back 12

The events of a dramatic or narrative plot preceding the climax

Front 13

Occurs when the forces of the protagonist and the antagonist meet head-on.

Back 13

Climax

Front 14

the problems that must be solved of the trials that must be faced

Back 14

Falling Action

Front 15

when the conflict is resolved in the story

Back 15

Resolution

Front 16

the writer's attitude toward his or her subject

Back 16

the emotional response of a reader to a work

Front 17

Mood

Back 17

the emotional response of a reader to a work, it reflects the feelings of the writer