Literary Terms Quiz # 6

PROTAGONIST
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Terms in this set (25)
PROTAGONIST
the main character who engages the reader's interest and empathy.
STOCK CHARACTER
a character who embodies one or two stereotypical qualities, ideas, or traits that can be described in a brief summary; examples include the "dumb blonde" or the "mean stepfather." They become types rather than individuals.
ANTAGONIST
the character, force, or collection of forces in fiction or drama that opposes the main character and gives rise to the conflict of the story
FOIL
a character whose behavior and values contrast with those of another character; this contrast highlights the distinctive temperament of each character.
ANTIHERO
a main character who lacks the traditional attributes of a hero. He or she may be bewildered, ineffectual, deluded, or merely pathetic.
DYNAMIC CHARACTER
a character who undergoes an important change in terms of insight, understanding, commitment, or values.
ROUND CHARACTER
a character who displays the inconsistencies and internal conflicts of real people.
STATIC CHARACTER
a character who does not undergo change in the course of the story, remaining essentially the same at the end as he or she was at the beginning
FLAT CHARACTER
a character who is not psychologically complex
DOPPELGANGER
a "duplicate" character or a character divided into two distinct, usually opposite, personalities.
ALLEGORICAL CHARACTERthis type of character has a symbolic role beyond his/her function in the work.TRAGIC HEROa central figure who is both good and noble but falls to misfortune.First personnarration by a character involved in the story. When the narrator uses "I" and describes his or her own experience, thoughts, or feelings, the work is in first person.Third person omniscientnarration by a seemingly all-knowing person who does not take part in the action of the story, but who presents the thoughts and feelings of a number of characters; "God's point of view"Third person limitednarration by a person who does not take part in the action of the story, and who reveals the thoughts and feelings of one particular character; hence the use of the term "limited" as opposed to "omniscient"Third person objectivenarration by a person who does not take part in the action of the story, and who does not reveal the thoughts or feelings of any character; "reporter." Example: "Hills Like White Elephants."Second personnarration that speaks to the reader or another character in the story, directly addressed as "you." With this point of view, the reader may feel like a character in the narrative. This POV is VERY RARE.Stream-of-consciousness techniquethe most intense use of a central consciousness in narration; this technique takes a reader inside a character's mind to reveal perceptions, thoughts, and feelings on a conscious or unconscious level, suggesting the flow of thought as well as content. Complete sentences may give way to fragments as the character's mind makes rapid associations free of conventional logic or transitions.Unreliable narratora narrator, usually a first person narrator, whose vision or version of the details of a story are consciously or unconsciously deceivingFreytag's Pyramidexplication, complication, climax, turning point/reversal, resolution/catastrophe; originally designed to describe the structure of a five-act drama; see diagram on last pageFlashbacka device that allows the writer to present events that happened before the time of the current narration or the current events in the fiction.Foreshadowinghints of future events in a literary workSubplota secondary story in a narrative which may serve as a motivating or complicating force for the main plot of the work, or it may provide emphasis for (or relief from) the main plot. The conflict between the Capulets and the Montagues in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is an example.Parallel plota secondary story line that mimics and reinforces the main plot.Anachronythe literary technique of presenting material out of chronological order, or the achronolgical presentation of events. Three major types: (1) analepsis, or flashback, (2) prolepsis, or flashforward, (3) ellipsis, or omission.