LITERARY TERMS An Introduction

PLOT

Plot: the structure and relationship of actions and events in a work of fiction

SETTING, PROTAGONIST, AND ANTAGONIST

Setting: the place and time that a story takes place Example: The setting of Divergent is Chicago

in the future.

Protagonist: main character, often hero of the story Example: The protagonist of Divergent is Tris

Prior.

Antagonist: character against the protagonist, often villain of the story Example: The antagonist of Divergent is

Jeanine.

CONFLICT

Conflict: struggle between opposing forces

An external conflict happens when the character struggles with outside forces.

An internal conflict happens when the character struggles with opposite emotions.

There are four types:Man vs. Man

Example: In The Dark Knight, the conflict is between Batman and The Joker.

Man vs. Nature

Example: In San Andreas, the conflict is between humans and the earthquake.

Man vs. Society

Example: In The Hunger Games, the conflict is between Katniss and the Capital.

Man vs. Self

Example: In Iron Man, the conflict is between Iron Man and Tony Stark.

PLOT POINTS

Exposition: introduces the characters, background, and setting Example: The exposition of The Fault in Our Stars is an introduction to Hazel and what her life is like with cancer.

Rising action: events which lead to the climax of the story Example: The rising action of The Fault in Our Stars is when Hazel meets Gus and the two of them become close friends.

PLOT POINTS, CONT.

Climax: the highest point of action in the story; the turning point in the story Example: The climax of The Fault in Our Stars is when Hazel and Gus go to Amsterdam, where they become a couple and find out Gus’s cancer is back.

Falling action: events in the story that lead to the end of the conflict Example: The falling action of The Fault in Our Stars is the decline of Gus’s health until he eventually dies.

Denouement/Resolution: the end of the conflict Example: The denouement/resolution of The Fault in Our Stars is Hazel coming to terms with Gus’s death.

CHARACTERIZATION

Characterization: the process by which the writer reveals the personality of a characterDirect characterization: an author overtly reveals a character’s personality by directly telling you about him or her

Example: The author tells you that the character is a bully.

INDIRECT CHARACTERIZATION

Indirect characterization: textual clues show a character’s motivation and intent

Clues:

Presenting the character’s words and actions

Revealing the character’s private thoughts and feelings

Showing how the other people respond to the character

Describing how the character looks and dresses

FLAT AND ROUND CHARACTERS

Flat Characters: only a few things are known about flat characters Example: In Shrek, the Gingerbread man is a flat character.

Round Characters: many characteristics are known about round characters Example: In Shrek, Fiona and Shrek are round characters.

STATIC AND DYNAMIC CHARACTERS

Static Characters: don’t change over the course of the plot Example: In Frozen, Olaf is a static character.

Dynamic Characters: change over the course of the plot Example: In Frozen, Elsa and Anna are dynamic characters.

NARRATION

Narrator: the "voice" that speaks or tells a story Example: The narrator of the Twilight books in Bella Swan.

Unreliable narrator: a storyteller who fails to see the connections between events in the story, or isn’t completely truthful. Example: In Forrest Gump, Forrest is an unreliable narrator.

POINT OF VIEW

Point of View: the perspective, or outlook, from which a writer tells a story.

First person: the narrator tells the story from his own point of view.

Example: “I was so excited to go to the movies!”

Second person: the book itself addresses the reader, as if the reader is an active character in the book.

Example: “You are walking down the street.”

Third person limited: restricted to one character and observes only what he sees, hears, feels, or does.

Example: “Jack misses his best friend.”

Third person omniscient: narrator can see everything and everywhere, even relating the thoughts of all of the characters.

Example: “The students were dreading the quiz.”

MOOD

Mood: the atmosphere of a literary work intended to evoke a certain emotion or feeling from the reader

Example: The mood of a horror movie like Insidious is frightened.

TONE

Tone: the attitude a writer takes toward the reader, a subject, or character. Example: The tone of The Diary of Anne Frank is a optimistic and youthful.

FLASHBACK

Flashback: the author or narrator depicts events which have taken place before the present time

Example: In Tangled, Flynn Rider uses flashback to explain how Rapunzel was kidnapped.

SURPRISE ENDING

Surprise ending: the reader doesn’t expect the ending, but it is still both logical and believable.

Example: In The Sixth Sense, the ending reveals that Bruce Willis’s character is a ghost.

This is a surprise, but it is logical because only the little boy who sees dead people talks to him throughout the entire film.

IRONY

Situational Irony: an event occurs that contradicts the expectations of the reader. Example: The good guy turns out to be the serial killer.

Dramatic Irony: the audience or the reader knows something that a character does not. Example: You (the audience) know who the kidnapper is, but the cops searching for him do not. (You see this on cop shows a lot.)

Verbal Irony: saying one thing but meaning another; sarcasm Example: Someone says, “Wow! Aren’t we having beautiful weather today?” when there’s a hurricane happening.

SIMILE, METAPHOR, PERSONIFICATION, AND HYPERBOLE

Simile: a comparison of two unlike things that uses the word “like” or “as” Example: Jeremy was as wrathful as a tiger on the hunt.

Metaphor: a comparison of two unlike things without using the words “like” or “as” Example: Maggie was a bump on a log in class today.

Personification: attributing human characteristics to something nonhuman Example: The stars danced across the sky.

Hyperbole: an extreme exaggeration Example: Elisa will just die if no one asks her to prom.

ALLUSION

Allusion: a reference in a work of literature to a well-known character, place, or situation from literature, music, mythology, film, religion (especially the Bible), art, or history. Example: In Easy A, Olive references the novel The Scarlet Letter and its main character, Hester Prynne, throughout the movie.

ALLITERATION

Alliteration: the repetition of consonant sounds in words that are close to one another, typically occurs at the beginning of words

Example: “Miss Mary Mack” shows the repetition of the “m” sound

Example: In V for Vendetta, the “v” sound is repeated.

FORESHADOWING

Foreshadowing: hints or clues of events that have yet to occur. Example: In Thor, Odin says that both Thor and Loki were born to be kings. This foreshadows the reveal that Loki is actually a Frost Giant, not the son of Odin.

SYMBOL AND IMAGERY

Symbol: a person, place, or thing used to represent something else. Example: The color red is a symbol for love, passion, anger, etc.

Imagery: descriptive language that appeals to the five senses. Example: The candy tasted sweet, sour, and tangy all at once.

THEMETheme: central idea of a piece of literature, sometimes called the moral of the story, or the lesson

There can be more than one theme.

Example: In Frozen, there are multiple possible themes.

True love means making sacrifices.

Never hide who you really are.

You can always count on family.

“AHA!” AND “HUH?”

INSTRUCTIONS: On a separate sheet of paper, make a list of “Ahas!” and “Huhs?”

1. One or two “Ahas!”: terms or concepts you have a complete understanding of after today’s lesson.

2. One or two “Huhs?”: terms or concepts you still have questions about after today’s lesson.

SUMMARIZER: KEEP YOUR FRIENDS CLOSE, AND YOUR ENEMIES CLOSER

1. Select two of your “enemies,” meaning two of the literary terms that you do not understand, are struggling with, etc.

2. Write the definition of one term and a helpful example on one of your index cards.

3. On the second index card, write the word and create a visual that will help you remember the term’s definition. This should be colorful, creative, and neat.

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for the second “enemy” term.