Literary Terms We will be using these literary terms throughout the school year. You need to keep up with your notes. Don t t lose your terms! You might be able to use them be RESPONSIBLE!! We will use the following terms: Character Diction Imagery Exposition Falling Action Flashback Point of View Theme Metaphor Personification Antagonist Denotation Mood Rising Action Resolution Foreshadowing Setting Tone Simile Alliteration Protagonist Connotation Plot Climax Conflict Suspense Style Figures of Speech Oxymoron Character A character is a person or an animal that takes part in the action of a literary work. Antagonist The Antagonist is a character or force in conflict with a main character, or protagonist. Do you know your Antagonists??? On your paper take a few minutes to write down some Antagonists that you can recall from movies, television shows, and video games Remember the Antagonist is in conflict with the Protagonist or, main character! Helpful hint you should now know why people use the saying Don t t antagonize me! Protagonist The Protagonist is the main character in a literary work Can you name some famous Protagonists that are found in literature? Literary Terms 1
Diction Diction is the manner in which we express words; the wording used. Diction = enunciation Some easy examples are: Don t t say goin say going,, Don t t say wanna say want to Denotation The denotation of a word is its dictionary meaning, independent of other associations that the word may have. Connotation The connotation of a word is the set of ideas associated with it in addition to its explicit meaning. The connotation of a word can be personal, based on individual experiences. More often, cultural connotations those recognizable by most people in a group determine a writer s s word choices. Denotation versus Connotation Some examples Cheap is low in cost (denotation) but stingy or poorly made are the connotations of cheap Let s s use the word HOT The denotation (or dictionary definition remember d in denotation = dictionary) of HOT is: having a temperature higher than that of a human body. However, when you say Man! He/She is hot!, are you saying Man! He is having a temperature higher than that of a human body!?? No!! You are saying the CONNOTATION of HOT which could mean a variety of things man he/she is cute, attractive, beautiful, and many other meanings those come from personal experiences and cultural meanings, etc. Imagery Imagery is words or phrases that appeal to one or more of the five senses. Writers use imagery to describe how their subjects look, sound, feel, taste, and smell. Literary Terms 2
MOOD Mood,, or atmosphere, is the feeling created in the reader by a literary work or passage. Writers use many devices to create mood, including images, dialogue, setting, and plot. Often, a writer creates a mood at the beginning of a work and then sustains the mood throughout. Sometimes, however, the mood of the work changes dramatically. Plot Plot is the sequence of events. The first event causes the second, the second causes the third, and so forth. In most novels, dramas, short stories, and narrative poems, the plot involves both characters and a central conflict. The plot usually begins with an exposition that introduces the setting, the characters, and the basic situation. This is introduced and developed. The conflict then increases until it reaches a high point of interest or suspense, the climax. The climax is followed by the falling action, or end, of the central conflict. Any events that occur during the falling action make up the resolution. Exposition PLOTLINE Rising Action Climax Conflict Introduced Falling Action Resolution Exposition The Exposition is the introduction. It is the part of the work that introduces the characters, setting, and basic situation. Rising Action Rising Action is the part of the plot that begins to occur as soon as the conflict is introduced. The rising action adds complications to the conflict and increases reader interest. Climax The Climax is the point of greatest emotional intensity, interest, or suspense in the plot of a narrative. The climax typically comes at the turning point in a story or drama. Literary Terms 3
Falling Action Falling Action is the action that typically follows the climax and reveals its results. Resolution The Resolution is the part of the plot that concludes the falling action by revealing or suggesting the outcome of the conflict. Conflict Conflict is the struggle between opposing forces in a story or play. There are two types of conflict that exist in literature. External Conflict External conflict exists when a character struggles against some outside force, such as another character, nature, society, or fate. Man vs. Man Man vs. Nature Man vs. society Man vs. fate Internal Conflict Internal conflict exists within the mind of a character who is torn between different courses of action. Man vs. Himself Flashback A flashback is a literary device in which an earlier episode, conversation, or event is inserted into the sequence of events. Often flashbacks are presented as a memory of the narrator or of another character. Literary Terms 4
Flashback continued The movie Titanic is told almost entirely in a flashback. What are some other films that contain flashback to help tell stories? Holes Willy Wonka Think of some more Foreshadowing Foreshadowing is the author s s use of clues to hint at what might happen later in the story. Writers use foreshadowing to build their readers expectations and to create suspense. This is used to help readers prepare for what is to come. Can you think of an element of foreshadowing? Suspense Suspense is the growing interest and excitement readers experience while awaiting a climax or resolution in a work of literature. It is a feeling of anxious uncertainty about the outcome of events. Writers create suspense by raising questions in the minds of their readers. Point of View Point of View is the perspective, or vantage point, from which a story is told. It is the relationship of the narrator to the story. First-person is told by a character who uses the first-person pronoun I. Third-person limited point of view is the point of view where the narrator uses third-person pronouns such as he and she to refer to the characters. Third person omniscient is a method of storytelling in which the narrator knows the thoughts and feelings of all of the characters in the story, as opposed to third person limited,, which adheres closely to one character's perspective. Literary Terms 5
Setting The setting of a literary work is the time and place of the action. The setting includes all the details of a place and time the year, the time of day, even the weather. The place may be a specific country, state, region, community, neighborhood, building, institution, or home. Details such as dialect, clothing, customs, and modes of transportation are often used to establish setting. In most stories, the setting serves as a backdrop a context in which the characters interact. The setting of a story often helps to create a particular mood, or feeling. Style Style is the distinctive way in which an author uses language. Word choice, phrasing, sentence length, tone, dialogue, purpose, and attitude toward the audience and subject can all contribute to an author s s writing style. Theme The theme of a literary work is its central message, concern, or purpose. A theme can usually be expressed as a generalization, or general statement, about people or life. The theme may be stated directly by the writer although it is more often presented indirectly. When the theme is stated indirectly, the reader must figure out the theme by looking carefully at what the work reveals about the people or about life. Tone Tone is a reflection of a writer s s or speaker s attitude toward a subject of a poem, story, or other literary work. Tone may be communicated through words and details that express particular emotions and that evoke an emotional response from the reader. For example, word choice or phrasing may seem to convey respect, anger, lightheartedness, or sarcasm. Figures of Speech A figure of speech is a specific device or kind of figurative language, such as hyperbole, metaphor, personification, simile, or understatement. Figurative language is used for descriptive effect, often to imply ideas indirectly. It is not meant to be taken literally. Figurative language is used to state ideas in vivid and imaginative ways. Metaphor A Metaphor is a type of speech that compares or equates two or more things that have something in common. A metaphor does NOT use like or as. Example: Life is a bowl of cherries. Literary Terms 6
Simile A Simile is another figure of speech that compares seemingly unlike things. Simile s s DO use the words like or as. Oxymoron An Oxymoron is a figure of speech that is a combination of seemingly contradictory words. Example: Her voice was like nails on a chalkboard. Examples: Same difference Pretty ugly Roaring silence Personification Personification is a figure of speech in which an animal, object, force of nature, or idea is given human qualities or characteristics. Example: Tears began to fall from the dark clouds. Alliteration Alliteration is the repetition of sounds, most often consonant sounds, at the beginning of words. Alliteration gives emphasis to words. Example: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers Irony: The contrast between what is expected and what actually exists or happens. Examples: Is it ironic that someone steps into a puddle and you make fun of them and the next thing you know YOU step in one!? Is it ironic that the name of Britain s s biggest dog (until it died recently) was Tiny? Literary Terms 7