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79 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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theme
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central idea of a piece of literature |
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interpreting literature |
explaining of the meaning of someone's work |
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evaluating literature |
to judge or determine the significance, worth, or quality of someone's work |
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narrative |
a spoken or written account of connected events; a story |
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novel |
long, fictional story compromised of characters, events and actions that have a definite beginning and an eventual end |
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short story |
- less complex than novels
- usually focuses on one incident - has a single plot, setting, and a smaller number of characters |
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epiphany |
a sudden insight into the reality or essential meaning of something |
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in medias res |
into the middle of a narrative; without preamble |
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plot |
main events of a play, novel, movie, or similar work; storyline |
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conflict |
a serious disagreement or argument |
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protagonist |
the leading character or one of the major characters |
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anecdotes |
a short and amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person |
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antagonist |
the villain |
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exposition |
a comprehensive description and explanation of an idea or theory |
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epics |
a long poem narrating the deeds and adventures of heroic or legendary figures or the history of a nation |
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crisis |
a time of intense difficulty, trouble, or danger |
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climax |
the most intense part of something; peak |
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resolution/denouement |
the final part of a play, movie, or narrative where the strands of the plot are drawn together and matters are explained or resolved |
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deus ex machina |
an unexpected power or event saving a seemingly hopeless situation, especially as a contrived plot device in a play or novel |
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epistolary novel |
a novel written in the form of a series of letters |
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fables |
a short story, typically with animals as characters, conveying a moral |
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fairy tales |
children's story about magical and imaginary beings and lands |
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fiction |
literature that describes imaginary events and people |
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flashback |
a sudden vivid memory from an event in the past |
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folk tales |
a story originating in popular culture, typically passed on by word of mouth |
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foreshadowing |
an indication of a future event |
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flash fiction |
fiction that's extremely brief |
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flat character |
they're relatively uncomplicated and don't change throughout the course of a work |
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graphic novel |
a novel in comic strip format |
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imagery |
visually descriptive or figurative language, especially in a literature work |
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short-short story |
a short story that's brief and usually has a surprise ending |
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manga |
Japanese comic books and graphic novels, typically aimed at adults as well as children |
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metafiction
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fiction in which the author self-consciously alludes to the artificiality of a work by parodying or departing from novelistic conventions and traditional narrative techniques |
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micro fiction |
any story told in 300 words or less, and could even be as short as a few words |
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moral |
a lesson that can be learned from a story |
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novels of manners |
realistic story that concentrates the reader's attention upon the customs and conversation, and the ways of thinking and valuing of the people of a social class |
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novellas |
a short novel or long short story
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parables |
simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson, as told by jesus in the gospels |
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pastoral romance |
literary work dealing with shepherds and rustic life |
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picaresque novel |
depicts the adventures of roguish hero/heroine of low social class who lives by his or her wits in a corrupt society
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postmodernism |
a late 20th century style and concept in the arts, architecture, and criticism that represents a departure from modernism and has its heart a general distrust of grand theories and ideologies as well as a problematical relationship with any notion of "art" |
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prose poems |
a piece of writing in prose having obvious poetic qualities, including intensity, compactness, prominent rhythms, and imagery |
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realism |
attitude or practice of accepting a situation as it is and being prepared to deal with it accordingly |
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round character |
a complex character that sows increase in complexity throughout the story |
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foil |
a character who contrasts with another character, usually the protagonist, in order to highlight particular qualities of the other character |
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stock character |
a stereotypical person that the audience recognizes from frequent recurrences in a particular literary tradition |
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sudden fiction |
a fictional story that is briefer than typical short stories |
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caricatures |
a picture, description, or imitation of a person or thing where characteristics are exaggerated in order to create a comic effect |
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dynamic characters |
they undergo an important inner change, as a change in personality or attitude |
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static characters |
they don't undergo important change throughout the story, remaining essentially the same at the end as he or she was at the beginning |
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underground or alternative comics |
small press or self-published comic books which are often socially relevant or satirical in nature |
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web comics |
a series of comic strips published online |
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persona |
the aspect of someone's character that is presented to or perceived by others |
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third person omniscient |
POV where the narrator knows all the thoughts, actions, and feelings of all characters |
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third person limited omniscient |
the narrator only knows the thoughts and feelings of one character |
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third person objective |
the narrator tells the story without describing any character's thoughts, opinions, or feelings; instead, it gives an objective, unbiased POV |
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dramatic irony |
when the audience knows something that characters don't |
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situational irony |
a situation where actions have an effect that's opposite from what was intended, so that the outcome is contrary to what was expected |
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verbal irony |
when a person says one thing, but means another |
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style |
a manner doing something; technique |
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tone |
general attitude of a place, piece of writing, situation, etc |
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stream-of-consciousness technique |
a method of narration that describes in words the flow of thoughts in the minds of the characters |
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alliteration |
occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of closely connected words |
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anaphora |
beginning several lines with the same word(s) to create parallelism and a rhythm - example: "Listen to this band. Listen to this album. Listen to this song." |
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figure of speech |
a word or phrase that has a meaning other than the literal meaning |
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myth |
a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events |
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personification |
giving a nonliving thing human characteristics |
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hyperbole |
exagerration |
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understatement |
presenting something as being smaller, worse, or less important that it actually is |
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allusion |
an expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly - example: indirect, subtweet |
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universal or archetypal symbol |
describes universal symbols that evoke deep and sometimes unconscious responses in a reader |
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conventional symbol |
widely recognized signs or sign systems that signify a concept or idea that all members of a group understand based on a common cultural understanding |
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literary symbol |
an object that represents an idea that is significantly deeper |
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allegory |
a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one |
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allegorical figures vs. symbols |
? |
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beast fable |
a short story or poem where animals are given human feelings and motives |
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cliche |
a phrase or opinion that's overused and betrays a lack of originality |
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satire |
the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues |
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ambivalence |
having mixed feelings or contradictory ideas about something or someone |
