7th Grade Literary Terms
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Created by:
NE0N__P0WA on September 15, 2012
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This is a flashcard set of the Literary Terms my teacher gave the class to study for a test.
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52 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Nonfiction | writing that deals with real people, events, and places without changing facts |
| Fiction | writing that is a product of the writer's imagination |
| Science Fiction | fantasy usually based on changes that science may bring to the future |
| Genre | a type or category of literature |
| Historical Fiction | stories which are based on real times, places, events, and/or people but are, in part, imaginary |
| Fantasy | a literary work which is set in an imaginary world and concerns unreal (fantastic) characters |
| Realistic Fiction | stories that deal with people, places, and events that are familiar to us, and that are like every day experiences and circumstances |
| Plot | the series of events that make up the action of a story |
| Short Story | a short fictional narrative which focuses attention on a single character in a single situation in a single setting |
| Climax | occurs when the complication reaches a crisis, when tension is at its highest and has come to a turning point |
| Setting | time and place in which a story occurs |
| Theme | the central idea or the "message" of a story or novel |
| Exposition | sets the scene, introduces the characters, and gives us important information about what has happened before the story begins |
| Falling Action | explains how the complication is resolved |
| Rising Action | includes the exposition and complications (conflicts) of a story |
| Denouement | the "working out" or final unraveling of the plot of the story |
| Dynamic Character | a character that grows and changes throughout the story |
| Static Character | a character that remains the same throughout the story |
| Protagonist | the main character in a story; not necessarily the "good" guy |
| Antagonist | the rival or opponent of the main character |
| Stereotype | a character who looks and behaves according to widely held beliefs about how that type of person looks, acts, and thinks |
| Conflict | a struggle between two opposing forces in a story |
| Internal Conflict (Person vs. Self) | a dilemma occurring in the mind and emotions of a character, involving moral decision making |
| External Conflict | a clash involving outside forces or two characters |
| Person vs. Person | struggle between two characters |
| Person vs. Nature | struggle between a character and a force of nature |
| Person vs. Society | struggle between a character and a group of people or society as a whole |
| Characterization | the method by which an author develops a character --> by describing the character's actions --> through the character's speech and conversations --> by revealing the character's thoughts and feelings --> by describing how the character looks and dresses --> by revealing what other people in the story think about the character --> by directly telling the reader what the character is like |
| Point of View | the position from which a story is told |
| First Person | the narrator is a character who uses the pronoun "I" |
| Third Person Objective | the narrator is outside the story and focuses on the thoughts and feelings of just one character |
| Third Person Omniscent | the narrator is outside the story but knows the thoughts, feelings, actions, and problems of all of the characters |
| Figurative Language | figures of speech that say much more than the literal meanings of the words they are using |
| Simile | a comparison of two unlike things using "like" or "as" |
| Metaphor | a direct comparison of two unlike things without using the words "like" or "as" |
| Personification | a form of metaphor which attributes human characteristics, feelings, and actions to things which are not human |
| Hyperbole | exaggeration |
| Imagery | language which describes sensory experiences: sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste |
| Dialogue | conversation between two or more characters |
| Dialect | a way of speaking which is characteristic of a certain geographical area or a certain group of people |
| Humor | something that makes us laugh |
| Irony | a contrast between expectation and reality |
| Verbal Irony | when the author or character means the opposite of what he/she said |
| Situational Irony | when the opposite of what the reader expects to happen occurs in a story |
| Dramatic Irony | when the audience or reader knows something that a character does not know |
| Mood | the feeling or "atmosphere" of a story |
| Tone | the attitude a writer takes toward the audience, subject, or characters in a story |
| Satire | a literary work that ridicules (makes fun of) people's ideas or ways of doing things often times in an effort to call attention to something the writer believes should be changed |
| Symbol | something that stands for something else |
| Chronological Order | a logical sequence of events in a story |
| Foreshadowing | the author's use of hints or clues which allow the reader to predict what will happen in the story |
| Flashback | when the author interrupts the story to present events which occurred in the past |
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