| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Setting | the background (as time and place) of the action of a story or performance |
| Conflict | Struggle |
| Point of view | A piece of literature contains a speaker who is speaking either in the first person, telling things from his or her own perspective, or in the third person, telling things from the perspective of an onlooker |
| Stanza | A division of lines in a poem; like a paragraph |
| Rhyme | Regular or random occurrence of sounds in poetry |
| Alliteration | Repetition of initial consonant sounds in words |
| Flashback | is action that interrupts to show an event that happened at an earlier time |
| Repetition | repeating |
| Plot | structure of a story |
| Exposition | the presentation of essential information regarding what has occurred prior to the beginning of the play |
| Rising Action | sets the stage for the climax |
| Climax | the turning point of the play to which the rising action leads |
| Falling Action | the series of events which take place after the climax |
| Character trait | How would you describe the character? (happy, sad, motivated, honest) |
| Personification | Giving non-human objects human characteristics |
| Dramatic Foil | Character whose traits contrast another's to show those traits more prominently |
| Symbol | Person, place, event, or object that has meaning in itself but suggests other meaning as well |
| Prologue | Text included before the story to provide the background info and a hook to catch the readers interest |
| Pun | Play on words; humorous use of words with different meaning |
| Oxymoron | Figure of speech that uses words with opposite meaning |
| Hyperbole | Exaggeration |
| Simile | A comparison using like or as |
| Imagery | Creates a sensual picture; appeals to the senses |
| Antagonist | Character who works against the protagonist |
| Protagonist | Central character; characters in a literary work, not always good, but whom work is centered around |
| Mood | the emotional attitude the author takes towards the subject |
| Allusion | A reference in one literary work to a character or theme found in another literary work |
| Soliloquy | One character is ALONE on stage telling inner thoughts and feelings |
| Monologue | One character giving a long speech white others are on stage |
| Aside | Character speaks to self or another character so audience can hear, but not everyone else on stage can hear |
| Irony | an implied discrepancy between what is said and what is meant |
| Foreshadowing | Device used to give to a reader about what is to come |
| Theme | Underlying meaning of a work that is implied or stated |
Combine with other sets
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace
!