English 9 Literary Terms

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Character

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Individuals who participate in the action of a literary work

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Theme

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Underlying message about life or human nature that the author wants the reader to understand

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Setting

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Time and place of the action of the story

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Plot

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Sequence of events in a story

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Exposition

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First stage of a plot in a typical story

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Resolution

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Outcome of events that occur in the falling action

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Rising Action

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Stage in a plot in which the conflict develops and story events build toward a climax

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Conflict

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Struggle between opposing forces

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Suspense

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Excitement that readers feel as they wait to find out how a story ends or a conflict is resolved

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Style

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Particular way in which literature is written...not what is said but how it is said

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Flashback

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Account of a conversation, episode, or event that happened before the beginning of a story

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Mood

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Feeling or atmosphere that a writer creates for the reader

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Dialect

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Form of language that is spoken in a particular geographic area or by a particular social or ethnic group

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Irony

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Special kind of contrast between appearance and reality...usually one in which reality is opposite of what it sems

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Description

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Spoken or written representation or account of a person, object, or event

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Cause-Effect

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Relationship in which one event makes another happen

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Symbol

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Something representing something else

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Point of View

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Specified manner of consideration or appraisal

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Protagonist

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The leading character of a literary work

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Antagonist

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A character who competes with another

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Motivation

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Providing a reason to act in a certain way

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Characterization

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Describing the individual quality of a person or thing

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Simile

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A comparison using like or as

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Motif

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A recurring theme in a literary work

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Dialogue

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Conversation between two or more people

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Imagery

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Formation of mental images

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Alliteration

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Commencement of two or more stretched symbols with the same sound group

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Style

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A particular type in reference with character

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Biography

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A written account of another person's life

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Narrator

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A person who tells the story of events

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Tone

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Any sound considered with reference to its quality

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Memoir

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Record of events written by a person having intimate knowledge of them and based on personal obsevation

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Anecdote

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A short account of a particular event

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Author's Purpose

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Reason an author decides to write about a specific topic

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Genre

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Category of artistic endeavor

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Nonfiction

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Branch of literature comprising works of narrative prose dealing with facts and reality

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Fiction

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Branch of literature comprising works of imaginative narration

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Foreshadowing

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To indicate beforehand

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Historical Narrative

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Practice of writing history in a story-based form

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Idiom

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An expression whose meaning is unpredictable from that of its constituent elements

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Thesis

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A proposition stated for consideration

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Synonyms

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A word having the same or nearly the same meaning as another

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Analogies

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Similarity of like features between two things

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Persuasive Essay

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Essay in which you attempt to get the reader to agree with your point of view