Grade 9 Literary Terms

Front 1

Alliteration

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A poetic device where the first consonant sounds or vowel sounds or syllables are repeated.

Hint 1

"And in guise all of green, the gear and the man:"

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Allusion

Back 2

A reference to a familiar literary or historical person or event, used to make an idea more easily understood.

Hint 2

Describing someone as "Romeo" makes allusion to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

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Antagonist

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The major character in a narrative or drama who works against the hero or protagonist.

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Aside

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A device in which a character in a drama makes a short speech which is heard by the audience but not by other characters in the play.

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Blocking

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The process of roughing out the moves to be made by the actors especially as not to "block" another's performance.

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Characterization

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The process by which an author creates vivid, believable characters in a work of art. This may be done in a variety of ways

Hint 6

This may be done in a variety of ways:
1. Direct description of the character by the narrator.
2. The direct presentation of the speech, thoughts, or actions of the character.
3. The indirect responses of other characters to the character.

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Climax

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The turning point in a narrative, the moment when the conflict is at its most intense. Typically, the structure of stories, novels and plays is one of rising action, in which tension builds tot he climax, followed by falling action, in which tension lessens as the story moves to its conclusion.

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Character

Back 8

A person in a story. DYNAMIC - one who undergoes significant change in story. FLAT - with little depth or complexity. ROUND - Fully developed, complex personality. STATIC - unchanged throughout story.

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Close Reading

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You note specific uses of language such as imagery, symbols, repeated terms, patterns, tone, main ideas/themes the writer introduces.

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Comedy

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A literary work which is amusing and ends happily. Modern comedies tend to be funny, while Shakespearean comedies simply end well.

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Conflict

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The conflict in a work of fiction is the issue to be resolved in the story. Usually between two characters, the protagonist and antagonist. or between antagonist and society or the protagonist and himself.

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Connotation

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The impression that a word gives beyond its defined meaning. May be universally understood or significant to one group. Steed and horse are about the same animal, but steed has a different connotation.

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Denotation

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The definition of a word, apart from the impressions or feelings it creates in the reader. Apartheid denotes a political or economic policy of segregation by race, but connotations are oppression, slavery and inequality.

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Diction

Back 14

The selection and arrangement of words in a literary work. There are four types: FORMAL in scholarly writing, INFORMAL used in relaxed but educated conversation, COLLOQUIAL used in every day speech, and SLANG or newly coined words not accepted in formal usage.

Front 15

Dramatic Irony

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Irony built into the characters' actions and not just their words--depends upon a contradiction of expectations. Characters expect one thing and get another.

Front 16

Exposition

Back 16

Writing intended to explain the nature of an idea, thing, or theme. Often combined with description, narration, or argument.

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Foreshadowing

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A device used in literature to create expectation or to set up an explanation of later developments.

Front 18

Free Verse

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Also called open form poetry, free verse refers to poems characterized by their non-conformity to established patterns of meter, rhyme, and stanza.

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Imagery

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The array of images in a literary work. Also, figurative language.

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Irony

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In literary criticism, the effect of language in which the intended meaning is opposite of what is stated.

Front 21

Metaphor

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A figure of speech that expresses an idea through the image of another object. Metaphors suggest the essence of the first object by identifying it with certain qualities of the second.

Front 22

Mood

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The prevailing emotions of a work or of the author in his or her creation of the work. The mood of a work is not always what might be expected based on its subject matter.

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Monologue

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A composition written or oral, by a single individual. More specifically, a speech given by a single individual in a drama or other public entertainment.

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Motif

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Also motiv, or Lietmotiv. A theme, character type, image, metaphor, or other verbal element that recurs throughout the single work of literature or in a number of works over time.

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Narrative

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A verse or prose accounting of an event or sequence of events, real or invented. In literary criticism narrative technique usually refers to the way the author structures or presents.

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Onomatopoeia

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The use of words to imitate the sounds they describe. Words such as buzz or crack. "Murmur of innumerable bees" attempts to capture the sounds.

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Personification

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A figure of speech that gives human qualities to abstract ideas, animals and inanimate objects.

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Plot

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In literary criticism, this term refers to the pattern of events in a narrative or drama. In simplest sense the plot guides the author in composing the work and helps the reader follow the work. Beginning, middle, end.

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Point of View

Back 29

The vantage point or perspective from with the story is told. THIRD PERSON OMNISCIENT - narrator tells the story. Can move through time, across space and into minds of characters. THIRD PERSON LIMITED OMNISCIENT author still narrator, limits view and perception to only one character. FIRST PERSON the author selects one of the characters in the narrative to tell the story. OBJECTIVE - The author presents the external action as if it were being filmed by a movie camera.

Front 30

First Person Narrator

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The story is told from the point of view of "I". The I narrator may be part of the action or an observer. As readers, we cannot know or witness anything the narrator does not tell us.

Front 31

Second Person Narrator

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This narrator speaks directly to the reader. This point of view is rare primarily because it is artificial.

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Third Person Narrator

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The is the most common narrative style. Permits the author to be all knowing or omniscient when necessary but also to bring the focus to a central character.

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Protagonist

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The central character of a story who serves as a focus for its themes and incidents. Sometimes referred to as hero or anti-hero.

Front 34

Pun

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A pun is a figure of speech which consists of a deliberate confusion of similar words or phrases. "A bicycle can't stand alone because it is two-tired."

Front 35

Plot

Back 35

In literary criticism, this term refers to the pattern of events in a narrative or drama. In simplest sense the plot guides the author in composing the work and helps the reader follow the work. Beginning, middle, end.

Front 36

Point of View

Back 36

The vantage point or perspective from with the story is told. THIRD PERSON OMNISCIENT - narrator tells the story. Can move through time, across space and into minds of characters. THIRD PERSON LIMITED OMNISCIENT author still narrator, limits view and perception to only one character. FIRST PERSON the author selects one of the characters in the narrative to tell the story. OBJECTIVE - The author presents the external action as if it were being filmed by a movie camera.

Front 37

First Person Narrator

Back 37

The story is told from the point of view of "I". The I narrator may be part of the action or an observer. As readers, we cannot know or witness anything the narrator does not tell us.

Front 38

Second Person Narrator

Back 38

This narrator speaks directly to the reader. This point of view is rare primarily because it is artificial.

Front 39

Third Person Narrator

Back 39

The is the most common narrative style. Permits the author to be all knowing or omniscient when necessary but also to bring the focus to a central character.

Front 40

Protagonist

Back 40

The central character of a story who serves as a focus for its themes and incidents. Sometimes referred to as hero or anti-hero.

Front 41

Pun

Back 41

A pun is a figure of speech which consists of a deliberate confusion of similar words or phrases. "A bicycle can't stand alone because it is two-tired."

Front 42

Resolution

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The portion of the story following the climax, in which the conflict is resolved.

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Rising Action

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The part of a drama where the plot becomes increasingly complicated. Rising action leads up to the climax, or turning point, of a drama.

Front 44

Rhyme

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When used as a noun in literary criticism, this term generally refers to a poem in which words sound identical.

Front 45

Rhythm

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Recurrences of stressed and unstressed syllables at equal intervals, similar to meter.

Front 46

Setting

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The time, place, and culture in which the action of a narrative takes place. The elements of setting may include geographic location, characters' physical and mental environments, prevailing cultural attitudes, or the historical time in which the action takes place.

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Simile

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A comparison usually using "like" or "as" of two essentially dissimilar things, as in "coffee as cold as ice."

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Soliloquy

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A monologue in a drama used to give the audience information and to develop the speaker's character. Typically a projection of the speaker's innermost thoughts. Usually delivered when the speaker is alone on stage.

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Speaker

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The voice used by an author to tell a story or speak a poem. The speaker is often a created identity. See also narrator, persona, point of view.

Front 50

Stage Direction

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A playwright's descriptive or interpretive comments that provide readers and actors with information about the dialogue, setting and action of a play.

Front 51

Stanza

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A subdivision of a poem consisting of lines grouped together, often in recurring patterns of rhyme, line length and meter.

Front 52

Symbol

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Something that suggests or stands for something else without losing its original identity. In literature, symbols combine their literal meaning with the suggestion of an abstract concept. Sunshine might suggest happiness, rain suggests sorrow.

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Symbolism

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This term has two widely accepted meanings. One is a literary movement in the 19th century. It also refers to the use of one object to represent another.

Front 54

Theme

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The main point of a work of literature. The term is used interchangeably with thesis. Jealousy is a common one.

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Thesis

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A thesis is both an essay and the point argued in an essay.