| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Antagonist | A major character that opposes the efforts of the protagonist or hero. |
| Anti-hero | Also known as the ironic hero, any hero that does not display the usual characteristics we have come to identify as being heroic. |
| Apostrophe | A figure of speech that directly addresses the character that is not physically present as if that character could respond. |
| Archetype | Based on the ideas of the great thinker Karl Jung, these images, situations, themes, and characters stand for universally held beliefs and meanings. They are somewhat like a generic form that can be inserted into any poem, story, or play, and in doing so they subconsciously add the power and meaning of that form to the piece or writing. |
| Conflict | In a drama or a work of fiction, it is the opposition of two forces and/or characters that drives the direction of the story. |
| Cumulative plot | One of the three basic types of plots, it is composed of events, phrases, or sentences that are repeated over and over again, with one new aspect being added to the end each time through. It is almost as if the plot is continuing on an ever-widening cycle. |
| Cultural setting | Compoesed of the characteristics that make the characters and actions unique to that specific temporal and physical setting: the music, fashion etc. |
| Destructive character | The mere presence of this character in a narrative causes some type of conflict for the protagonist. |
| Dramatic character | The story, in this case, is narrated through the dialogue of the characters. This narrative style is used in dramas. |
| Dynamic character | A character that changes from his/her initial character within the course of the narrative. |
| Episodic plot | A plot that occurs in books in which chapters are almost complete in themselves. There is an introduction, problem, action and consequence, climax, and denouement with each episode. |
| Figurative language | Using figures of speech to bring a great deal more information, emotion of experience into a sentence. These figures of speech include simile, metaphor, litotes, hyperbole, personification, metonymy, antithesis, apostrophe, symbol, and synecdoche. |
| Flat character | A character that has very little depth to his/her personality. |
| Foil | A minor or supporting character that has traits opposite those of the protagonist. The partnership of the two, then, is meant to make the protagonist look good. |
| Foreshadowing | The ways in which the author gives the reader clues as to what will be happening later on in the narrative. |
| Hero | A main character in a narrative who displays qualities that a reader would admire and wish to emulate. There are main different hero types. |
| Hyperbole | A figure of speech that uses an obvious exaggeration to emphasize something. It is the opposite of litotes. |
| Initial character | The character as he or she is when the narrative begins, before any forces of change alter his or her personality. |
| Irony | A tool author uses to express a meaning completely contradictory to the stated or the obvious one. It is the juxtaposition of two opposite ideas: it is sometimes the discrepancy between what is stated and what is known to be true. Loosely understood, it is when the unexpected happens. |
| Limited third person narrative | The narrator is a supporting character in the story who tells what they know from their own vantage. It is more emotional than an omniscient narrator, but much less informative. You don't have the access to the main character's motivation as you would with a personal narrator, but it is a less biased rendition, and perhaps less egocentric. |
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