Student Name Ms. Whitesides English: Period Six 19 Nov 2017 Literary Terms: Key for Flashcards
IRONY The contrast between expectation and reality. Irony can create humor or strong emotion. "I was never kinder to the old man until the day that I killed him" (Poe).
Situational Irony Occurs when what happens is very different from what we expect to happen. In Romeo and Juliet, Juliet is drugged and as Romeo finds her, he assumes she is dead, thus kills himself. Juliet wakes
up, seeing his dead body, and kills herself as well (Shakespeare).
Verbal Irony When what is said or written is different from what is meant. Often using dialogue to show it. Scout comments that the snow is hot, and Jem responds, No it ain't, it's so cold it burns. This is another
example of verbal irony, because something cold should not literally burn (Lee 87).
Dramatic Irony When the audience or reader knows something the characters do not know. In Macbeth, the readers know that Macbeth acts loyal to Duncan while planning his murder (Shakespeare).
Character A person, thing or animal in a story, play, or poem. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Walter Cunningham is a stock character that has a poor physical appearance, and humble emotional status, (Lee 30-42).
Protagonist The main character in a work of literature who is involved in the central conflict and forwards (pro) the plot all along. Scout Louis Finch, in To Kill a Mockingbird: forwards the entire story brings in her perspective mainly, and showing her thoughts and emotion to move the entire plot along (Lee 1-376). Scout at times can be good and bad.
Antagonist The character who opposes the main character and puts the conflict or plot in motion. Mr. Bob Ewell is the main antagonist because we see him place the event of a major conflict, a court case on the other characters- especially Scout. This highly influences the plot and forcing Scout to change (Lee 40-370).
Dynamic Character A character who changes as a result of the story's events. Scrooge, in the literary classic, A Christmas Carol changes both internally with repentance, and externally by changing
habits towards his fellow humankind (Dickens 1-72).
Static Character A character who does not change over the course of a story. In To Kill a Mockingbird: Calpurnia, the maid and care giver of Scout and Gem, stays constant in her diligence in raising these children and does not change significantly in the book. Although she is highly emotional of a character, she does not significantly change (Lee 1-376).
Stock Character An over-simplified character that lacks dimension. In To Kill a Mockingbird, one stock character is Walter Cunningham Jr. because he does not directly add to the plot, instead his father does. We need him though, or we would not have the plot. (Lee 34-40).
Personification When an object is brought to life and given human characteristics. In the poem, "Have You Got a Brook in Your Little Heart," the poem says, Have you got a brook in
your little heart, Where bashful flowers blow, And blushing birds go down to drink, And shadows tremble so? (Dickenson). Point Of View The vantage point from which a story is told. In To Kill a Mockingbird, The entire book is through Scout Louis Finch s point of view, so it is first Person narrative instead of third Person narrative (Lee 1-376).
First Person Narrator One of the characters is telling the story using the personal pronoun "I."
It was times like these when I thought my father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars, was the bravest man who ever lived" (Lee). Third Person Narrator The narrator focuses on thoughts and feelings of just one character. Uses third person pronouns such as "he" and "she."
In the epic poem titled, the Odyssey, the author wrote third person by choosing to name characters names and used he, she, or they pronouns (Homer). Omniscient The narrator knows the thoughts and feelings of all the characters and understands their pasts. The novel, Little Women, the 1 st person narrator provides unlimited information about the background and related knowledge that characters are unaware of (Alcott).
Dialect A way of speaking characteristic of a certain geographical area or a certain group of people. Includes both accent and word choices. "Reckon I have. Almost died first year I come to school and et them pecans folks say he pizened em out and put em
over on the school side of the fence" (Lee 31). Theme Definition The general idea or insight about life that a work of literature reveals. It is more than a subject in a work. Themes are the messages about a subject that a writer wishes to convey. In Call of The Wild, one of the main themes is
Becoming wild means moving from the love of humanity (London 1-72). Setting The time and place of a story, play, or narrative poem. It is usually described at the beginning of the work in the exposition.
In the middle of To Kill a Mockingbird a courthouse in detail is described to move the plot along (Lee 214-283). Foreshadowing The use of clues or events suggesting events that will occur later in the plot.
" Early discussions Scout has with her father, Atticus, and her next-door neighbor Miss Maudie foreshadow major events. Atticus says, "Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird" (Lee 90).
Mood The overall feeling of a work of literature. Can be happy, sad, scary, horrific, etc. The novel Wuthering Heights creates two contrasting moods through two contrasting settings in two neighboring houses throughout the entire novel, Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. A depressing mood is created whenever Wuthering Heights is described (Brontë).
Plot The series of related events that make up a story. In Pride and Prejudice, The plot of the story begins when Lizzie s sister, Jane. Lizzie develops and interest in for Mr. Wickham, who accuses Darcy of destroying him financially. Jane runs away with Mr. Wickham and Lizzie realizes that Mr. Darcy is not as bad a man as she thought him to be (Austen). Illusrtation:
Exposition: The introduction of a story that introduces the setting, (time and place) and the characters. "Once upon a time, there were three bears. There was a Daddy Bear, who was very big, a Mama Bear, who was middle-sized, and a Baby Bear, who was very small. They all lived together in a little cottage in the middle of the woods. Their favorite breakfast was porridge. One morning, after they made their porridge, Daddy Bear said, Let s go for walk in the woods until it cools.'" (Grimm).
Flashback Interruption in the present action of a plot to flash backward and tell what happened at an earlier time. This often has a trigger using the senses as a cue. Death of a Salesman uses flashback to narrate Willy Loman s memories of the past. At one moment, Willy talks with his dead brother while playing cards with Charley (Miller).
Conflict A struggle between opposing characters or forces. The Old English epic poem Beowulf is the tale of the eponymous hero who must defeat three monsters. These monsters include Grendel, Grendel s mother, and a dragon. The three monsters are not human and represent the fears that the Anglo-Saxons had about the natural world and its ability to destroy humanity (Translator: Green).
Internal Conflict A struggle within a single character. It is a struggle between opposing needs, desires, or emotions. Whether tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune or to take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them. To die, to sleep (Shakespeare).
External Conflict A character struggles with an outside force which may be another character, society as a whole, or a natural or manmade force. In the novel The Lord of the Flies, Ralph (A 'Good Guy') steadily comes into conflict with Jack (a bully). Jack gives in to their savage instinct and make attempts to hunt or kill the civilized batch of boys (Golding 1-236).
Man vs Man Conflict One character struggles against another character. The play Othello s key struggles are between Othello and his nemesis, Iago. Iago is upset with Othello for two main reasons Othello has promoted another man instead of Iago, and Iago believes that Othello has slept with his wife, Emilia. Hence Othello, a man is in conflict with another man, Iago (Shakespeare).
Man vs. Nature Conflict One character struggles against the elements or forces of nature. The Old English poem Beowulf is the tale of the hero who must defeat three monsters; Grendel, Grendel s mother, and a dragon. The three monsters are not human and represent the fears that the Anglo-Saxons had about the natural world and its ability to destroy humanity (Anonymous).
Man vs. Society Conflict A character struggles against the rules or norms of society. The novel Flowers for Algernon is Tale is dystopia in which the protagonist, Charley Gordon goes through an operation that has been done many times before with the same results (Keyes).
Man vs. Technology Conflict A character struggles against technology. In There Will Come Soft Rains, the earth and the people have had an apocolapse because machines have taken over basic human needs for companionship and survival (Bradbury).
Climax The most exciting moment in the story when the outcome is decided one way or another. In the story, The Outsiders, The climax continues when Johnny dies and the final rumble between the "Socs" and the "Greasers" takes place (S.E. Hinton).
Tone The emotion given to a specific (shorter) passage or character by the author. All morons hate it when you call them a moron, - from Catcher In The Rye (Salinger).
Alliteration A repetition of sounds in one line that is stressed. Two or more sounds close together in a line create alliteration. Hearken! and observe how healthily, how calmly, I can tell you the whole story (Poe).
Resolution (Also Called Denouement) When the story's problems are solved and the story ends. In Hamlet, the main character learns that he himself has been poisoned and will die, so he musters the courage and kills his treacherous uncle, the king, and he will dissolves an evil government that existed (Shakespeare). Illustration e
Allusion A brief and indirect reference to a person, place, thing or idea of historical, cultural, literary, or political significance. When Charlie Gordon in Flowers for Algernon becomes fired, a static character named Fanny Girden gives an allusion to a reference in the Old Testament (Bible) by saying, It was evil when Eve listened to the snake and ate from the tree of knowledge (Keyes 49). Illustration
Assonance caused by the repetition of vowel sounds within sentences, phrases, or in poems. He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there is some mistake. The only other sound s the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake. (Frost).
Consonance The repetition of consonant sounds within sentences, phrases, or in poems. A Quietness distilled As Twilight long begun, Or Nature spending with herself Sequestered afternoon (Dickinson).
Anapestic Tri-Meter This is a poetic meter that has three anapestic metrical feet per line. Each foot has two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable. "The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold, And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold; And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea, When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee" (Bryon).
Iambic Pentameter A foot is an iamb if it consists of one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable, so the word remark is an iamb. Pent means five, so a line of iambic pentameter consists of five iambs. "Shall I Compare Thee To a Summer's Day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date" (Shakespeare).
*Refrain When a line or a phrase is repeated in order to emphasis a concept or idea. " O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done " O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still (Whitman).