Literary Terms Flashcards
Quiz 1 (39 cards)
Plot
The authors arrangement of incidents in a story, the organizing principal that controls the order of events
In medias res
latin term for this common plot strategy, when a story begins in the middle of things
Flashback
A common strategy, informs us about the events that happened before the opening scene of the word
Character
an imagined person, they are typically influenced by the events of the story and confronted with a problem leading to a climatic struggle that is followed by a resolution
characterzation
The methods by which a writer creates people in his story so that they seem actually to exist
Showing and telling
The two major methods of presenting characters by an author. (showing: physical description) ( Telling: words and actions)
Motivated
Reasons why characters behave the way they do
Plausable
To accept or understand, when adequate motivation is offered we can understand the actions of a character
Consistent
behavior of a character that is compatible of their temperament throughout the story
Absurdist literature
A world where there is no heroic action, instead there is an anti hero with little control over events
Dynamic character
A character that undergoes some kind of change because of the action of the plot
static character
a character that does not change
Foil
a foil helps to revel by contrast
flat character
embodies one or two qualities ideas or traits that can be readily described in a brief summary
Stock characters
a form of a flat character , stereotypes
Round characters
More complex than flat or stock characters, they have more depth and require more attention
Setting
the context in which the action of a story occurs the major elements of strings are time, place and social enviorments
point of view
refers to who tells the story and how it is told. How we feel about the events in a story is shaped by the authors point of view
Narrator
the teller of a story affects our understanding of a character and the actions by filtering what is told by telling it in their own perspective
Third person narrator
non participant, not a character in the story
omniscient narrator
all knowing
limited character
this narrator takes us inside one or two characters
editorial omniscient
this narrator evaluates the character for the Reader
neutral omniscient
narration allows the scaracters actions and thoughts to speak for themselves
