Elements Of Literature

Front 1

understatement

Back 1

opposite of exaggeration

Front 2

primary theme

Back 2

is the most important theme in the story

Front 3

puns

Back 3

play on words

Front 4

backdrop setting

Back 4

unimportant to the plot

Front 5

sentimentality

Back 5

dwells on cute and precious

Front 6

closed ending

Back 6

an ending that is complete and the reader feels he/she knows how the story ends

Front 7

rhyme

Back 7

repetition of a stressed sound

Front 8

resolution

Back 8

the conclusion of the story and end of the struggle

Front 9

complications

Back 9

things that happen in the story that the character must overcome

Front 10

character

Back 10

people or things in the story

Front 11

narrative order

Back 11

the sequence of events

Front 12

cliffhanger

Back 12

an abrupt or sudden ending at an exciting and often dangerous time in the plot

Front 13

open ending

Back 13

the reader must draw his or her own conclusions because it is not clear how the story ends

Front 14

protagonist

Back 14

the central character in the plot's conflict

Front 15

round character

Back 15

a fully developed character with many traits, both bad and good

Front 16

climax

Back 16

the peak or turning point of action

Front 17

flat character

Back 17

not a fully developed character

Front 18

antagonist

Back 18

the force in conflict with the protagonist

Front 19

chronological

Back 19

the events are told in the order they happen

Front 20

exposition

Back 20

the beginning of the story that includes an explanation of the situation and the condition of the characters

Front 21

flashback

Back 21

the author tells an event that took place before the current time

Front 22

time lapse

Back 22

the story skips a period of time

Front 23

falling action

Back 23

after the climax

Front 24

foreshadowing

Back 24

planting of hints about what will happen later

Front 25

rising action

Back 25

when the excitement is building leading to the climax

Front 26

standard written style

Back 26

sounds natural

Front 27

conversational style

Back 27

language is more informal, sounds more like the way people really talk

Front 28

theme

Back 28

underlying meaing of the story

Front 29

simile

Back 29

compares two different things, using the words "as" "like" or "than"

Front 30

setting

Back 30

includes the place and the time period that the story takes place

Front 31

dialect

Back 31

easiest to read, word order is used to suggest a difference from normal speech

Front 32

personification

Back 32

gives human traits to animals, nonhuman beings or inanimate objects

Front 33

figurative language

Back 33

uses words in a nonliteral way, giving them meaning beyond their ordinary one

Front 34

consonance

Back 34

repetition of consonants sounds anywhere in the words

Front 35

alliteration

Back 35

repetition of initial consonants

Front 36

devices of sound

Back 36

can increase pleasure and clarity

Front 37

onomatopoeia

Back 37

the use of words that sound like their meaning, skirt swishes

Front 38

hyperbole

Back 38

exaggeration

Front 39

rhythm

Back 39

recurring flow of strong and weak beats in a phrase

Front 40

assonance

Back 40

repetition of vowel sounds in a phrase

Front 41

symbol

Back 41

something which is literal and symbolic

Front 42

meter

Back 42

regular rhythmic pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables found in a line of poetry

Front 43

allusion

Back 43

indirect reference to something outside the current literary work

Front 44

metaphor

Back 44

an implied comparison stating the resemblance between two things

Front 45

inevitability

Back 45

something that is will happen and is inescapable

Front 46

implicit theme

Back 46

not directly stated, it is implied

Front 47

explicit theme

Back 47

stated openly

Front 48

secondary theme

Back 48

less important theme

Front 49

suspense

Back 49

tense, uncertain action which keeps the reader reading

Front 50

imagery

Back 50

an appeal to any of the senses--taste, touch, sight, sound, and smell

Front 51

style

Back 51

the language used in a book, the way words are put together to create the story

Front 52

sensationalism

Back 52

unrelieved suspense

Front 53

conflict

Back 53

a struggle against some outside enemy or some internal problem

Front 54

integral setting

Back 54

is essential to the plot, it influences action, character or theme

Front 55

internal conflict

Back 55

struggle with some inner problem such as fear or anger

Front 56

external conflict

Back 56

struggle with some outside problem such as a bad storm, a vicious animal or another person

Front 57

plot

Back 57

the sequence of events which involves the characters in conflict

Front 58

coincidence

Back 58

events which happen by chance