Literary Termsss

Question 0

Antagonist

Answer 0

Person going against the main character

Question 1

Protagonist

Answer 1

Main character in the story

Question 2

Setting

Answer 2

The time and place of the action of the story

Question 3

Plot

Answer 3

Sequence of events in a story

Question 4

Exposition

Answer 4

Beginning. Provides back round info introduces settings, important characters, and conflict

Question 5

Rising action

Answer 5

Conflict develops, story events build toward climax

Question 6

Climax

Answer 6

Point of maximum tension or interest

Question 7

Denouement

Answer 7

Results of the important action that happened in the climax

Question 8

Narration/point of view

Answer 8

Character or voice that relates the stories events to the reader

Question 9

1st person

Answer 9

Narrator is character in the story

Question 10

Third limited

Answer 10

When narrator only knows what one person thinks, feels, and observes

Question 11

Third omniscient

Answer 11

When narrator sees into the minds if all the characters (godlike)

Question 12

Internal conflict

Answer 12

Conflict that occurs within the character

Question 13

External conflict

Answer 13

When character is pitted against nature, physical obstacle, or another character

Question 14

Flat character

Answer 14

One who is not fully developed. One dimensional

Question 15

Round character

Answer 15

Complex, and highly developed. Many dimensions

Question 16

Static character

Answer 16

One who remains the same throughout the story

Question 17

Dynamic character

Answer 17

One who undergoes important changes

Question 18

Direct characterization

Answer 18

When the author makes statements about the characters personality directly to the reader

Question 19

Indirect characterization

Answer 19

When author reveals characters personality through characters thoughts, words, or interactions with others

Question 20

Tone

Answer 20

The attitude the writer has toward the subject

Question 21

Theme

Answer 21

Message about life or human nature that the writer wants the reader to understand

Question 22

Symbol

Answer 22

A person, place, object, or activity that stands for something beyond its self

Question 23

Allusion

Answer 23

Indirect reference to a famous person, place, event, or literary work

Question 24

Dialect

Answer 24

A form of language that is spoken in a particular area, or particular social, or ethnic group

Question 25

Foreshadow

Answer 25

A writers use of hints or clues to suggest events that will occur later in the story

Question 26

Irony

Answer 26

Special kind of contrast between appearance and reality

Question 27

Dramatic irony

Answer 27

When the reader knows something the character doesn't

Question 28

Verbal irony

Answer 28

When someone knowingly exaggerates or says one thing but means another

Question 29

Situational

Answer 29

A contrast between what the reader expects and what actually exists or happens

Question 30

Pun

Answer 30

Play on words (joke)

Question 31

Alliteration

Answer 31

Repetition of constant sounds at the beginning of words

Question 32

Figurative language

Answer 32

Language that communicates meanings beyond the literal meanings of words

Question 33

Metaphor

Answer 33

A comparison between two things that are basically unlike but have something in common

Question 34

Simile

Answer 34

Comparing two things using like or as

Question 35

Personification

Answer 35

Giving something non-human, human characteristics

Question 36

Implied metaphor

Answer 36

Suggests a comparison rather than stating it directly

Question 37

Imagery

Answer 37

Descriptive words and phrases that re-create sensory experiences for the reader

Question 38

Onomatopoeia

Answer 38

Words whose sounds echo their meanings Ex. Buzz, crash, boom, bang

Question 39

Speaker

Answer 39

The voice that "talks" to the reader similar to the narrator in a fiction

Question 40

Stanza

Answer 40

Group of two or more lines that form a unit in a poem (paragraph)

Question 41

Enjambment

Answer 41

When one line of poetry continues to the next

Question 42

Image

Answer 42

Imagery is the stuff of poetry ~senses~sight

Question 43

Juxtaposition

Answer 43

Putting two things next to each other to compare them