TensionA component of a dramatic situation that presents a struggle or conflict of values or ideas resulting from a dilemma choice, or competing circumstances.ConflictThe problem, question, opposition, or tension in a play or story that the protagonist faces.In medias resA narrative structure that begins by placing the reader or audience in the middle of the story, rather than at the chronological beginning.ExpositionThe part of the narrative's plot when the characters and setting are introduced.ResolutionThe section of the plot where the conflict is solved and important questions are answered.Narrative pacingAn author's choices of order and tempo to reveal the events of the story's plot.FlashbackA structural element of a narrative that interrupts linear chronological time to show readers events that happened in the past.ForeshadowingA narrative structure that provides hints and clues about events that are yet to occur in the story.JuxtapositionA literary technique that places two people, events, or places side by side to compare, contrast, or illuminate the relationship between them.Antecedent actionThe events that have occurred prior to the beginning of a story or play.SuspenseA feeling of tension and delayed expectation created in a reader by the events leading to a story's climax.Deus ex machina"God from the machine" (literally), an unexpected, unlikely, or implausible incident that resolves a story's conflict, often viewed as the sign of a poorly constructed plot.AsideA comment or speech uttered directly to the audience of a play, but unheard by other characters.Frame storyA narrative in which another narrative is embedded; the tale (or tales) within the wider story often highlight the act of storytelling itself, while the frame provides context or ironic distance.StructureThe author's basic organization of character, theme, plot, and narrative arc within a story or drama.First-person point of viewA technique in which the narrator uses "I" and presents the story from his or her perspective; these narrators only have knowledge from that subjective frame of reference.Third-person point of viewA narrative technique in which the narrator is an unknown voice outside the story rather than a character who participates in the story.Reliable narratorA credible, trustworthy, and consistent storyteller.Unreliable narratorA storyteller who lacks credibility because of bias, deception, inexperience, cognitive impairment, lack of information, or other factor that undermines the accuracy of a narrative.Suspension of disbeliefThe willingness of readers to suppress their critical or logical faculties and become emotionally engaged with fictional characters and situations.Stream of consciousnessA narrative technique that communicates a character's interior thoughts, feelings, sensations, and associations in a continuous flow without regard for logic or formal structure.Point of viewThe position from which the narrator or speaker relates the narrative; it refers to both who is telling the story and the narrator's degree of involvement in the story.NarratorA character or person who directly addresses readers and either recalls events or describes them as they occur, relates a story to the reader, and builds connections between the reader and the text. In poetry, the _____ is referred to as the speaker.BiasThe assumptions, attitudes, values, and other (often unexamined) factors that shape a character's perspective.MotivationThe inner wants, needs, values, or other factors that drive the actions of characters within a narrative.ImageA literary device that appeals to the reader's senses and sensory experiences, especially the creation of visual pictures in the minds of the audience.MotifA pattern of related images, metaphors, and objects that conveys a significant idea in a text.ArchetypeA character, setting, object, theme, situation, or story line that occurs so frequently across cultures and time periods that it becomes a pattern and embodies a universal meaning.SymbolA concrete object in a text that represents a value, idea, or other abstract concept.Figurative languageA comparison or association (e.g., analogy, symbol, metaphor, simile, personification) that draws upon concrete objects to represent abstract ideas.SimileA comparison that uses words such as "like" or "as" to make an explicit comparison between two objects or concepts.PersonificationFigurative device that gives human qualities to inanimate or nonhuman objects, places, and concepts.ProsopopoeiaA literary device that attributes speech and action to an animal, an abstraction, an imagined person, or an inanimate object.ApostropheA speech or passage in a literary work that's addressed either to an absent individual or to an inanimate object.ComparisonA literary and rhetorical device that uses similarities between people, places, things, and/or ideas to help the reader recognize figurative meaning or an abstract concept.MetaphorA comparison of two unrelated objects that assigns ideas to their points of comparison.CharacterizationAn author's use of speech, action, narrative, and description to establish a character's values, beliefs, and identity.Static characterA character who remains unchanged within a narrative or drama.Dynamic characterA character who develops or changes perspective over the course of a narrative or drama.PerspectiveThe lens through which a person makes sense of their experiences and circumstances.SpeakerThe voice that narrates a poem and builds connections between the reader and the text.ToneThe attitude of the author, narrator, or speaker toward the subject, characters, or setting of a literary work, as revealed through diction, syntax, and other stylistic choices.AllusionA reference to literature, culture, religion, or history that connects a writer's subject to a larger idea or broader context.ClimaxThe section of a plot that produces the strongest emotional tension and serves as the main turning point in the story or play.AmbiguityA word, phrase, action, or situation in a literary work that allows for two or more simultaneous interpretations supported by the text.ImageryA collection of sensory images (e.g., visual images, sounds, tastes, smells, or tactile/touch images) in a literary work.AllegoryA story that uses a series of deliberately obvious symbols to represent abstract ideas and meanings.MoodThe general feeling evoked in the reader by the word choice, descriptions, and other elements of a literary work.AssociationA relationship between the reader and the text when the reader recognizes the connotations and implications of words or the figurative meaning of objects.Narrative distanceThe physical distance, chronological distance, relationships, or emotional investment of the narrator to the events or characters of the narrative.ProtagonistThe main character in a narrative (often the "hero") who may also represent a value or belief.AntagonistAn individual or force that opposes the protagonist, represents contrasting values, and creates conflict in a story or drama; _____s may be another character, a group, an internal struggle, or a force of nature.AtmosphereA mood or emotional tone evoked by the description of the setting within a literary work.Narrative hookThe part of a narrative's plot when the problem or conflict begins.ComplexityThe ambiguous, inconsistent, or contradictory aspects of a character, theme, or other literary element that suggest layered meanings and multiple interpretations.
