LITERARY TERMS

AKA: The-Most-Important-Notes-You’ll-Take-This-Year-So-Copy-Every-

Word-Down

----CHARACTERIZATIONCHARACTERIZATION

----• Big Question: Who is this character and How do I know that?

• The method a writer uses to reveal the personality of a character.

A. Direct characterization: direct statements about a character’s personality

B. Indirect characterization: revealing a character’s personality through the character’s words and actions and through what other characters think and say about the character

--CHARACTER TYPES----CHARACTER TYPES--• Big Question: Does the character make

big changes in his/her life or stay the same?

• Static character – a character who remains the same from beginning to end

• Dynamic character – a character who changes throughout the story

• Protagonist: the main character of the story• Antagonist: the adversary (against the main

character)

--MOOD----MOOD--•Big question: How does the

author want ME to feel?•The emotional quality or

atmosphere of a story

– A mysterious mood might read like this…Things are unclear, and everything important in the story tries

to remain hidden. Antagonists try not to show their real motives, no-one knows what they are after. The streets are dimmed by fog, and the main characters rarely understand all that happens around them.

--TONE--• Big Question: What is the AUTHOR’S

voice/mood/attitude? • The writer’s attitude toward the subject

•

----FORESHADOWING--FORESHADOWING--

• Big Question: Can anything in the story help me predict what happens later on?

• The use of clues by the author to prepare readers for events that will happen later in a story

--flashback----flashback--• Big Question: Are there any moments

when the author talks about something that happened before?

• The writer presents past events during the current events of the story to show background information

--SYMBOL----SYMBOL--• Big Question: Does this object have a

not-so-obvious meaning? • An object, person, place or experience that

means more than what it is

Literal Meaning = ?Figurative Meaning = ?

----Conflict-Conflict---

• Big Question: What’s the problem and who is involved in it?

• the opposition of forces which ties one incident to another and makes the plot move – Person VS Another Person– Person VS Fate (Destiny)– Person VS Nature – Person VS Society– Person VS Self

--Setting----Setting--• Big Question: what IMPACT does

the setting have on this story?• time and location in which a story takes place • consider how setting contributes to a story

--Point of view– --Point of view– (pov)(pov)

• Big Question: Who is speaking? • First-Person POV: Narrator participates in the action

of the story as a character.– Uses “I”

• Third-Person POV: Does NOT participate in the action, but lets the reader know how ALL characters think and feel.– Uses “he,” “she,” or “it”

• Second-Person POV: Directly addresses the reader.– Uses “you” (might be directly in the story or implied)

--IRONY----IRONY--• What is EXPECTED is not what

HAPPENS.– Three types of irony:

• Situational irony – the actual outcome of a situation is the opposite of someone’s expectations

• Verbal irony – a person says one thing and means another (You wreak your car and exclaim, “Well this is great!”)

• Dramatic irony – the audience has important information that characters in a literary work do not have

Hint: Irony IS in “Death by Scrabble!”

--INFERENCE----INFERENCE--

• Big Question: What educated guess can I make based on the characters/plot?

• Making a conclusion based on evidence. • (In literature it describes the act of figuring something

out by using what you already know.) – Example:[A + B = C] If A = 2 and B = 3 then using what you know, you

can deduce what C equals. – Example:In The Three Little Pigs, the reader can INFER that the wolf is going to try to

blow down the third pig’s house.

--allusion----allusion--• Big Question: Is there a reference

to something else?• An implied or indirect reference to a

person/event/thing in history, mythology, religion, or popular culture.

--DICTION----DICTION--• Big Question: what is this author’s

style of writing?• The writer’s choice of words

– Good writers choose their words carefully to create style and to convey a meaning or feeling

----DENOTATION--DENOTATION--

• Literal or dictionary meaning of a word– Example: Home = a house, dwelling, a place

where one lives permanently

----CONNOTATIOCONNOTATIO

N--N--• Suggested/implied meanings associated with a word beyond its dictionary meaning– Example: Home - family, loving, safe, warm

--Theme--Theme --

• Big Question: What is the author trying to tell us?

• The central message of a story

--IMAGERY----IMAGERY--• Big Question: how does

the author make me feel like I’m in the story?

• “Word pictures” that writers create to evoke an emotional response.– Appeal to sensory details

• Sight• Hearing• Touch• Taste• Smell

--SIMILE----SIMILE--• A figure of speech using “like” or

“as” to compare seemingly unlike things– Example:

The corn was as high as an elephant’s eye.

I mean really! Do corn and anElephant have ANYTHING in

common?

--METAPHOR----METAPHOR--• A figure of speech that compares two

or more things WITHOUT using “like” or “as.”– ExampleHe’s a bear when he’s angry!(Notice how it’s DIRECTLY stated. “This IS that” format.)

--Extended --Extended metaphor--metaphor--

• Compares two things WITHOUT using “like” or “as” for an EXTENDED time throughout the text.

----PERSONIFICATION--PERSONIFICATION--

• A figure of speech in which an animal, object, force of nature, or idea is given human qualities or characteristics

– Example:The shadow crept along the hallway.

• ExpositionExposition: The beginning of a story where the characters are introduced and the setting (background info) is revealed.

• Rising ActionRising Action: This is where a problem(s) arise and tension builds in the story

• ClimaxClimax: The most exciting point and turning point of the story. The reader wants to know what happens next

• Falling ActionFalling Action: The action that follows directly after the climax. This is where the problem(s) begins unwinding

• ResolutionResolution: This is the end of the story where the problem(s) is worked out

The 5 Parts of Plot