General Literary Terminology Flashcards
(36 cards)
Character
Imaginary people created by the writer.
Protagonist
Major character at the center of the story.
Antagonist
A character or force that opposes the protagonist.
Minor character
Often provides support and illuminates the protagonist.
Static character
A character who remains the same.
Dynamic character
A character who changes in some important way.
Characterization
The means by which writers reveal character.
Explicit judgment
Narrator gives facts and interpretive comment.
Implied judgment
Narrator gives description; Reader makes the judgment.
Plot
The arrangement of ideas and or incidents that make up a story.
Causality
One event occurs because of another event.
Foreshadowing
A suggestion of what is going to happen.
Suspense
A sense of worry established by the author.
Conflict
Struggle between opposing forces.
Exposition
Background information regarding the setting, characters, plot.
Complication or rising action
Intensification of conflict.
Crisis
Turning point; moment of great tension that fixes the action.
Resolution/denouement
The way the story turns out.
Structure
The design or form of the completed action.
Setting
Place or location of the action, the setting provides the historical and cultural context for characters.
Point of view
Who tells the story and how it is told.
Narrator
The person telling the story.
First person
Narrator participates in action but sometimes has limited knowledge or vision.
Objective
narrator is unnamed or unidentified. does not assume character’s perspective and is not a character in the story. the narrator reports on events and lets the reader supply the meaning.
