Literary Terms

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Exposition

Back 1

Exposition is where the characters and setting are introduced, and elements of the conflict will also be presented in this section.

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Inciting Incident

Back 2

The inciting incident is the introduction of the conflict.

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Rising Action

Back 3

The rising action of the story is the sum of all events that lead up to the climax.

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Climax

Back 4

The climax is the most intense moment of the story or the turning point.

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Falling Action

Back 5

The falling action in a story is the events that lead away from the climax.

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Resolution

Back 6

The resolution is the end of the story.

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Plot

Back 7

The series of events in a story, novel, poem, or play.

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Setting

Back 8

The time and place of the story.
Setting is usually introduced in the exposition.

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Character

Back 9

A person or animal in a story, poem, or play.

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Protagonist

Back 10

The main character in a story.

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Antagonist

Back 11

The antagonist is the character who opposes the main character.

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Genre

Back 12

Refers to the type of story or movie you are experiencing; classification.

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Characterize

Back 13

The process by which an author reveals a character’s personality in a story.

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Indirect Characterization

Back 14

When the author hints at a character’s personality, but lets the reader makeups their own mind.

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Direct Characterization

Back 15

When the author tells you they are good or bad.

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Static Character

Back 16

A static character is a character who does not change during a story.

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Dynamic Character

Back 17

A dynamic character is a character who changes throughout a story; much more true to life.

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Flat Character

Back 18

Flat characters display only two traits, such as anger and vengeance. Flat characters have no depth, and are more stereo typical than lifelike.

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Round Character

Back 19

Round characters have many different characteristics, and show a range of emotions and personality traits.

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Diction

Back 20

The writer’s choice of words. Diction affects every facet of the story, including mood and tone.

Front 21

Denotation

Back 21

The dictionary definition of a word.

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Connotation

Back 22

The emotional impact of a word. Connotations are less obvious than denotations, and change between cultures and regions.

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Dialog

Back 23

The spoken words between two characters which often reveal character.

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Dialect

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A way of speaking that is characteristic of a particular region or group of people.

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Fiction

Back 25

The branch of literature comprising works of imagination.

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Non-Fiction

Back 26

The branch of literature comprising works dealing with or offering opinions or conjectures upon facts and reality, including biography, history and the essay.

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Ambiguity

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An element of uncertainty in a text, in which something can be interpreted in a number of different ways.

Front 28

Narrator

Back 28

The person telling a story. Narrators can really affect the way we interpret a story, as their personalities will affect what they see, hear and do.

Front 29

Unreliable Narrator

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A narrator, who because of their age, their actions, or their motivations, cannot be fully trusted by the reader. Unreliable narrators are difficult, but fun to read. Narrators that are criminal or very young put an interesting spin on a story.

Front 30

Point of View

Back 30

The vantage point from which a writer tells a story. There are 3 types of point of view:
-First person
-Third person, limited
-Third person omniscient

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First Person Point of View

Back 31

When one of the characters, usually the main character, is the person telling the story. This point of view is usually identified by the use of “I” by the narrator. This is a limited point of view because the narrator can only tell about what he/she sees, hears, smells, tastes, and touches.

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3rd Person Limited

Back 32

When the narrator does not take part in the story, but is watching the story unfold. The narrator, much like the first person narrator, only reveals certain facts and cannot tell about characters are thinking.

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3rd Person Omniscient

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When the narrator does not take part in the story, but is watching the story unfold, and has the ability to tell us everything that is happening because they are “all-knowing”. Omniscient narrators reveal themselves by explaining what characters are thinking during the story or by “seeing” far away places away from the action of the story.

Front 34

First Person Point of View

Back 34

When one of the characters, usually the main character, is the person telling the story. This point of view is usually identified by the use of “I” by the narrator. This is a limited point of view because the narrator can only tell about what he/she sees, hears, smells, tastes, and touches.

Front 35

3rd Person Limited

Back 35

When the narrator does not take part in the story, but is watching the story unfold. The narrator, much like the first person narrator, only reveals certain facts and cannot tell about characters are thinking.

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3rd Person Omniscient

Back 36

When the narrator does not take part in the story, but is watching the story unfold, and has the ability to tell us everything that is happening because they are “all-knowing”. Omniscient narrators reveal themselves by explaining what characters are thinking during the story or by “seeing” far away places away from the action of the story.

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Conflict

Back 37

The struggle between two opposing forces. A story must have a conflict.

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Types of Conflict

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*Man versus Man *Man versus Nature *Man versus Society *Man versus Himself.

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External Conflict

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A conflict between a character and an outside force, such as another character or force of nature.

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Internal Conflict

Back 40

A conflict, which occurs within a character, and can be the result of a fear or difficult decision.

Front 41

Mood

Back 41

A story’s atmosphere or the feeling it evokes. Mood is determined by the words chosen by the author and the events of the story.

Front 42

Tone

Back 42

The attitude a writer takes toward a subject, a character, or the audience. A writer can treat his topic with kindness, anger, indifference, and so forth.

Front 43

Moral

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The message conveyed or the lesson learned through the telling of a story. A moral is usually a positive lesson to be derived from a story.

Front 44

Theme

Back 44

The central idea of a work of literature. A theme is different than a moral because it is present throughout a story, while moral can only be understood at the end.

Front 45

Motivation

Back 45

A character’s reason for doing something within a story.

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Irony

Back 46

The difference between what is expected to happen and what actually does or an intentional incongruity. A contrast between expectation and reality, what is said and what is meant, what is expected to happen and what really does happen, and what appears to be true and what is true.

Front 47

Verbal Irony

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The difference between what is said or written and what is meant.

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Situational Irony

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When there is a difference between what we expect to what and what actually happens or what should happen and what does happen.

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Dramatic Irony

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When the audience knows something the characters do not.

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Suspense

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The uncertainty or anxiety the reader feels about what is going to happen next in a story.

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Paradox

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A statement that seems to be a contradiction but reveals truth.

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Satire

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A type of writing that ridicules something in order to show a weakness. Subjects of satire include, but are not limited to, a person, a group of people, humanity at large, an attitude or failing, or a social institution.

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Allusion

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A reference to a statement, a person, a place, or an event from literature, history, religion, mythology politics, sports, science or pop culture with whom the reader should be familiar.

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Anti-Climax

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Where something which would appear to be difficult to solve in a plot is solved through something trivial.

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Suspense of Disbelief

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An act where the audience agrees to suspend judgment on the realism of a story in exchange for the promise of entertainment.

Front 56

Foreshadowing

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The use of clues to hint at events that will occur later in a plot.

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Symbolism

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The act of using an object to stand for something larger than itself.

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Symbol

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Something that stands for itself and something of greater meaning.

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Imagery

Back 59

A language that appeals to any of the five senses.