Literary Terms

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protagonist

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the main character in a work

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Antagonist

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the character or force whose opposition to the protagonist is the main source of conflict.

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Static character

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a character that remains unchanged throughout a work

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Dynamic Character

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a character that undergoes personal development and change, whether through a gradual process or a crisis

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Indirect Characterization

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the writer lets you learn about the characters through the dialogue and action. You may also learn about characters through their thoughts or through what other chatacters think about them.

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Direct Characterization

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the writer tellls you directly about the character.

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Setting

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the place and time in which a poem, play or narrative fiction takes place (as well as details such as time of day, weather, etc.)

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Mood

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the atmosphere created for the reader by a text

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Confilct

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the opposition of persons or forces that gives rise to the dramatic action in a drama or fiction; it causes the plot

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Internal Conflict

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occurs when the protagonist struggles within himself or herself. The protagonist is pulled by two courses of action or by differing emotions, which frequently leads to a dynamic change in the character.

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External Conflict

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dispute between the protagonist and another character or nature

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Theme

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the central idea, concern, or view that a literary work explores

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Irony

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two separate and contrasting levels of meaning embedded in one message

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Metaphor

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a concise comparison equating two things that may at first seem unrelated

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Simile

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a direct comparison between two things essentially unlike each other, but resembling each other in at least one way, usually using the words like or as.

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Personification

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a figure of speech in which human traits are given to non-human things or abstractions

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Symbolism

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where somthing represents something else using symbols

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Allegory

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The representation of abstract ideas or principles by characters, figures, or events in narrative, dramatic, or pictorial form.
A story, picture, or play employing such representation.

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Imagery

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the elements in a literary work used to evoke mental images, not only of the visual sense, but of sensation and emotion as well

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Allusion

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an implied or indirect reference to something assumed to be known, especially in literature

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Point of view

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the perspective from which a story is told

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1st person

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a literary technique in which the story is narrated by one character, who explicitly refers to him or herself in the first-person, that is, using words and phrases involving "I" and "we".

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2nd person

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When the narrator speaks directly to the reader.

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3rd person objective

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it’s a case of giving just the facts. narrator reports only what can be seen and heard; no thoughts of characters are given except as spoken.

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3rd person omniscent

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in all the characters' heads all the time, and we know what they're all thinking at any given time.

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3rd person limited

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there's a disembodied narrator, never identified, who's telling the story.