| Term | Definition |
|---|
| abstract | cannot be perceived by the senses |
| concrete | can be perceived by the senses |
| protagonist | the character confronted with the major conflict |
| antagonist | the character opposing the protagonist |
| mood/atmosphere | climate of feeling, or mood, of a literary work |
| characterization | all the means by which an author makes a character known |
| plot (4 parts) | exposition/introduction, rising action/complications, climax, denouement |
| exposition/introduction | beginning of a literary work; introduces setting, characters, mood/atmosphere |
| climax | the conflict is resolved |
| denouement | wraps up loose ends |
| conflict | the clash of opposing forces (person vs. person, nature, society, self) |
| comparison | showing similarities |
| contrast | showing differences |
| denotation | the literal or dictionary meaning of a word |
| connotation | the suggested or associated meanings of a word beyond the literal |
| dialect | the language/speech of a region (diction, syntax, pronunciation, idioms/slang/colloquialisms) |
| diction | the manner in which something is expressed in words; word choice |
| syntax | the grammatical arrangement of words in sentences; sentence structure |
| pronunciation | the manner in which someone utters a word |
| fiction | imaginative prose including short story and novel |
| flashback | when a narrator interrupts the current time frame to relate to events that happened earlier |
| foreshadowing | hints or clues of things to come |
| verbal irony | occurs when the surface meaning of what one said or writes is the opposite of the intended meaning |
| situation irony | exists when the opposite of what is expected or intended occurs |
| dramatic irony | occurs in fiction or drama when the reader or spectator knows more about the true state of affairs than the characters do |
| local color | details of speech, dress, customs, habits, attitudes, occupations, geography of a particular region |
| imagery | mental pictures created through descriptive multi-sense language |
| inference | logical conclusion based on the available evidence |
| point of view | First Person Subjective, First Person Detached, First Person Observer, Third Person Omniscient, Third Person Objective |
| First Person Subjective | the narrator is a major or minor character in the story who reports the events as if they had just happened an who appears to be unaware of the full meaning of events |
| First Person Detached | the narrator is a MAJOR character in the story who recalls the events from a vantage point of maturity and has time to reflect on the full meaning of events. |
| First Person Observer | the narrator is a MINOR character in the story who plays the roles of eyewitness and confidant. His sources of information are what he hears and sees and what the main character tells him. |
| Third Person Omniscient | the narrator is an anonymous person outside the story who plays and all-knowing role. He not only reports on what the characters do and say but also enters the minds of the characters and comments of their actions. |
| Third Person Objective | the narrator is an anonymous person outside the story who reports only on what the character do and say |
| setting | the time and place of a story |
| suspense | tension/uncertainty about the characters |
| symbol | something CONCRETE representing something ABSTRACT |
| tone | author's attitude toward change and events |
| theme | meaning or message of a story |
| dynamic | character who changes basic attitudes/values/principals |
| static | character who doesn't changes basic attitudes/values/principals |
| stereotype | someone possessed of all the traits regarded as typical of a gender, race, nationality, religion, etc. |
| flat | a character whom we know little; underdeveloped |
| round | a character whom we know a lot; developed |
| character foil | minor character who contrasts a major character for the purpose of heightening our impression of the major character |
| romanticism | life as we wish it, rather than it is |
| realism | life as its is without distortion or idealization |
| naturalism | an extremely pessimistic form of realism suggesting individuals are victims of internal and external forces beyond their control (individual is unimportant, no just or loving god, no free will) |
| narrator | person telling the story |
| internal forces | emotions, disability, genetics |
| external forces | earthquake, weather, other opinion, environment |
| internal monologue | disassociated thoughts of a character which are captured in a narrative or story |
| dialogue | exchange of talking/conversing between two or more characters |
| fantasy | fiction that departs from experienced reality by depicting nonexistent or unreal settings, situations, happenings, or characters. Fantasy includes fables, fairy tales, ghost stories and science fiction. Fantasy may or may not be employed as a means as of criticizing present realityg |
| allegory | tells a story, characters are symbolic, teaches a moral lesson |
| satire | the art of brining a subject down by ridiculing it and evoking toward it attitudes of amusement, contempt, or scron |
| allusion | reference to something/someone that the author expects the reader to know |
| chivalric ideal | an ideal, a guy who is best at everything:fighting, music, art, is a hero. Loyal to god, king, women/children. He fulfills all assigned quests. He conveys rule. He is polite. |
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