Midterm/Literary Terms Vocab

Question 0

annotation

Answer 0

a notation made by the reader in the margin of the page

Question 1

allusion

Answer 1

an expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference

Question 2

antagonist

Answer 2

the person/thing that keeps the protagonist from succeeding

Question 3

archetype

Answer 3

the typical representation of a type of person or character or thing

Question 4

atmosohere

Answer 4

surroundings and attitude in the setting

Question 5

characterization

Answer 5

the portrayal of a character or of a trait in said character

Question 6

chronological

Answer 6

in the order of or in relation to time

Question 7

climax

Answer 7

the major turning point for the protagonist in the story

Question 8

complication

Answer 8

something that gets in the way of the protagonist’s success

Question 9

conflict

Answer 9

the main hinderance to the success of the protagonist; there can be internal and external conflict

Question 10

juxtaposition

Answer 10

a literary technique in which two or more ideas, places, characters and their actions are placed side by side in a narrative or a poem for the purpose of developing comparisons and contrasts

Question 11

dialogue

Answer 11

words spoken between two characters

Question 12

dynamic character

Answer 12

a character who changes attitudes and ideas often in a story

Question 13

static character

Answer 13

a character who stays in the same realm of personality and ideas during a story, who is consistent

Question 14

external conflict

Answer 14

conflict which is outside of the protagonist’s self; can include Man V Society, Man V Man, Man V Nature, and Man V Supernatural

Question 15

falling action

Answer 15

after the climax, is meant to bring the story to an end

Question 16

foil

Answer 16

a character used to show the better sides of the protagonist

Question 17

foreshadowing

Answer 17

predicting what is to come based on an event prior to the climax

Question 18

heros journey archetypes

Answer 18

hero, herald, mentor, trickster, threshold guardians, shape-shifter, shadow

Question 19

internal conflict

Answer 19

conflict within the protagonist, whether it be a fear, a psychological issue, a fault, etc

Question 20

plot

Answer 20

the story line

Question 21

protagonist

Answer 21

main character of the story, has a story worthy goal that he must reach

Question 22

resolution/denouement

Answer 22

the solution to the goal, usually the end of the story

Question 23

unreliable narrator

Answer 23

a narrator who is opinionated, and therefore unreliable to tell the story from a biased perspective