Terminology

Question 1

Characterization

Answer 1

How a character is created/put together, and how do we, as readers, gain information about the character from the text?
Ex: descriptions - by the narrator; by themselves; by others
More indirect - By their words, their actions, lack of actions, or reactions and how other characters act and react around them.

Question 2

Major character

Answer 2

Someone very central to the story

Question 3

Minor character

Answer 3

Someone that isn’t very central, but still important.

Question 4

Dynamic Character

Answer 4

Someone that evolves

Question 5

Static Character

Answer 5

A character that doesn’t evolve (much or at all)

Question 6

Consistent character

Answer 6

The way characters are depicted

Question 7

Inconsistent character

Answer 7

These characters surprise us too much, something is not right

Question 8

Flat character

Answer 8

A character that doesn’t seem lifelike or real

Question 9

Round Character

Answer 9

The opposite of a flat character, has more aspects to it.

Question 10

Protagonist

Answer 10

The main character, usually “the good guy”.

Question 11

Antagonist

Answer 11

The main opponent to the main character

Question 12

Narrator

Answer 12

The agent or voice who/that tells the story.

Question 13

First person narrator/internal narrator

Answer 13

Is inside the story, using the first person pronoun “I”. Limited perspective, unreliable narrator

Question 14

Third person narrator/external narrator

Answer 14

Is a person outside the story, may be focalized; limited perspective

Question 15

Focalization

Answer 15

Describes the point of view
Ex: internal focalization; 1st person narrator
External focalization; camera eye
Omniscient focalization; zero focalization

WHO SPEAKS - NARRATOR
WHO SEES - FOCALIZATION

Question 16

Unreliable narrator

Answer 16

Always when 1st person narrator, and focalized 3rd person narrator

• The account of events seems to be faulty
• We don’t seem to get the “full truth”
• Elements are left out or hidden
• Dishonest, naive or unsuspecting perspective

Question 17

Omniscient narrator

Answer 17

All-knowing

• One form of external narrator
• Narrator who practically knows everything about the recounted events; situations etc. and tells the reader more than any character knows.
• “God-like distance”: a sort of hovering;sees everything and everyone
• most common in Victorian time (19th century) - avoid when discussing contemporary realistic fiction.

Question 18

Embedded narrator/narration

Answer 18

Includes other characters in the narration, sort of temporarily switching narrator.
Ex: when we read a letter from someone else in the story.

Question 19

Short story

Answer 19

Novell på svenska.

• Fictional prose tale
• Shorter than a novel
• Concentrated on a single event, complication
• Fairly few characters
• Strong Am tradition, popular in magazines 19th and 20th century

Question 20

Novel

Answer 20

Roman på svenska

• Extended fictional prose
• Longer than a short story
• Extended in time, character and theme development. We learn more about the characters.
• Realism; depending on the genre.
• Characters in process of change, and social relationships.
• Events arranged in form of a plot.

Question 21

Prose

Answer 21

Form of language with a grammatical structure and a natural flow of speech. (Not a rhythmic structure such as in poetry.)

Question 22

Plot

Answer 22

Also called storyline. The plan, scheme or main story of a literary or dramatic work (such as plays, novels or short stories)

Question 23

Genre

Answer 23

(French meaning “sort” or “kind” .) Category in literature, music or other forms of entertainment.

Question 24

Theme

Answer 24

The subject, topic or large idea a work is dealing with. General experience or subject that links all the details together. Sums up the story in as few words as possible,

• The idea that a text conveys.
• The questions that the particular text brings up.
• What the text says about its subject.
• What is the actual meaning of it?

Question 25

Mood

Answer 25

The feeling you get when reading a text. Physical things can also set the mood; events taking place in the night (The Voyage), grey/dull weather etc.

Question 26

Cross-over literature

Answer 26

Appeals to different groups; ex to both young and adults (The Curious incident…)

Question 27

Graphic Novel

Answer 27

A book made of comic content (as in comic strips)

Question 28

Narratory

Answer 28

The theory of narrative. Tools to help describe and discuss texts.