| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Allegory | story with two or more levels of meaning—one literal and one or more symbolic |
| Allusion | reference to a well known person, place, event, literary work, or work of art. |
| Antagonist | a character or force in conflict with the protagonist |
| Catharsis | emotional release at the end of a tragedy [sense of relief and a release of unwanted emotions at end of story] |
| Character Foils | A character that provides a contrast to another character or situation |
| Climax | highest point of interest or suspense |
| Conflict | struggle between opposing forces |
| Connotation | set of associations that occur to people when they hear or read a word |
| Denotation | dictionary meaning of a word |
| Dialect | way of speaking that is common to people in a particular region or group |
| Direct Characterization | the writer tells you directly about the character |
| Dynamic character | a character that develops and grows during the course of the story |
| Exposition | part of the plot that introduces the setting, characters, and basic situation |
| Extended Metaphor | a metaphor that extends over a number of lines |
| External Conflict | occurs between two or more characters or between a character and nature |
| Figurative language | writing or speech not meant to be taken literally; i.e. metaphor, simile, personification, hyperbole |
| First-person Narration | story is told by one of the characters in it, with the character referring to himself or herself as "I" |
| Flat Character | not well-developed; only one or two personality traits; doesn't change or develop |
| Foreshadowing | hints about events yet to come without actually saying what will happen |
| Idiom | an expression having a meaning that can't be understood from the individual meanings of its elements or words |
| Inciting Incident | introduces the central conflict; gets the plot moving toward the climax |
| Indirect Characterization | the writer lets you learn about the characters through their thoughts, dialogue, or actions |
| Imagery | portrait in words of a person or place; descriptive writing |
| Inference | a reasonable conclusion based on evidence in the story |
| Internal Conflict | occurs within a character who possesses opposing ideas or feelings |
| Irony | a contrast between an expected outcome and the actual outcome or between appearance and reality |
| Irony of situation | an event occurs that directly contradicts the expectations of the characters, the reader, or the audience |
| Lyric Poetry | expresses thoughts and feelings of the poet about a subject |
| Metaphor | comparison in which one thing is spoken of as if it were something else, i.e. "her eyes are sparkling diamonds" |
| Narrative poetry | poems that tell a story |
| Novella | short novel |
| Parallel Structure | repetition of words, phrases, grammatical structures |
| Personification | nonhuman subject is given human characteristics (figurative language) |
| Plot | sequence of events in a literary word |
| Protagonist | the main character in a literary work |
| Repetition | parallel structure, internal rhyme, end rhyme, alliteration, assonance |
| Round Character | fully developed character; shows many different traits |
| Setting | place and time of a story's plot |
| Simile | comparison between unlike subjects using like or as (figurative language |
| Static character | a character that does not change during the course of the story |
| Stereotype | a fixed and oversimplified idea of what a type of person or group is like |
| Suspense | quality in a story that makes you keep reading in order to find out what happens next |
| Symbol | an object, person, idea, or action that represents something other than itself |
| Theme | general idea or insight into life that the story. |
| Verbal Irony | words are used to suggest the opposite of what is meant |
| Verisimilitude | the appearance of reality in a work of fiction |
Combine with other sets
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