All you ever wanted to know about literary terms and MORE!!!

All you ever wanted to know about literary terms and MORE!!!

Literary Terms We will be using these literary terms throughout the school year. There WILL BE literary terms used on your EOC at the end of the year!! Don t lose your terms! You might be able to use them be RESPONSIBLE!!

Jargon Jargon is the vocabulary related to a certain job or profession

Genres Classifications of literature Short stories Novels Plays Poems

FICTION -- A story the author made up from his imagination NON-FICTION A story that is true, based on real people and real events Autobiography a story about someone written by THAT PERSON and uses I Biography a story written about someone BY SOMEONE ELSE and uses he or she MEMOIR written version of a person smemory in connection with an historical event

ESSAY a brief composition offering an opinion about a subject EPIC a long narrative poem following the adventures of a hero who represents his civilization

Plot Plot -- the sequence of events in the story. The first event causes the second, the second causes the third, and so forth. -PLOT involves both characters and a central conflict.

Plot Begins with an exposition that introduces the setting, the characters, and the basic situation. Conflict then increases until it reaches a high point of interest or suspense, the climax, a point where the new direction of the plot becomes obvious. Climax is followed by the falling action, as events move to the resolution of the central conflict, the end of the story.

PLOT DIAGRAM Climax Exposition Resolution Narrative Hook (conflict introduced)

Exposition The Exposition is the introduction. It introduces the characters, setting, and basic situation.

Narrative Hook The initial incident or event that begins the action of the story.

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 turning point of the story; the outcome becomes clear. It is not always the most exciting, but it is critical to the story line.

Falling Action Falling Action is the action that typically follows the climax and reveals its results. The story is moving to the conclusion.

Resolution The Resolution is the part of the plot that concludes the falling action. It reveals or suggests the outcome of the conflict.

Setting The setting of a literary work is the time and place of the action. 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.

Historical Time Frame The time period when the literature was written What is happening in life can often affect the author and, as a result, help determine what he/she writes.

Character A character is a person or an animal that takes part in the action of a literary work.

Characterization The method used to present the character The character has character traits that show details about him/her. Character traits can include personality, speech, behavior/actions, thoughts/ feelings, interactions with others.

Direct characterization the author directly tells about the character Indirect characterization the author indirectly shows about the character by what he/she says or does or what others say about him/her

Round Character A character who shows varied and sometimes contradictory traits. Reveals different personality traits. Well developed as a character

Flat Character A character who reveals only one personality trait. Not well developed; we know little about the character

Dynamic and Static Characters Dynamic characters change during the story in some important way (how they think, what they believe, how they behave) Static characters remain primarily the same throughout the story.

Protagonist The Protagonist is the main character in a literary work. Can you name some famous protagonists that are found in literature?

Antagonist The Antagonist is a character or force in conflict with a main character, or protagonist. Can you name some famous antagonists that are found in literature?

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. Person vs. Person Person vs. Nature Person vs. Society Person vs. Fate

Internal Conflict Internal conflict exists within the mind of a character who is torn between different courses of action. Person vs. Self

Theme The author s intended message The lesson we are supposed to learn The moral of the story Authors usually write because they have a message they want to get across to the reader, their audience

Symbolism The author often uses something to stand for or represent something else An object holds a figurative meaning as well as its literal meaning this object is the SYMBOL

POINT OF VIEW First Person The story is told by one character, referred to as I. Third Person Limited The narrator is outside the story and reveals the thoughts of only one character, and refers to that character as he or she. Third Person Omniscient The narrator is outside the story and knows everything about all the characters and all the events.

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.

Flashback continued The movie Titanic is told almost entirely in a flashback. What are some other films that contain flashback to help tell stories?

Foreshadowing Foreshadowing is the author 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 examples from film or literature?

Prediction The use of context and content clues (foreshadowing) to anticipate or guess what might happen next

Figures of Speech/ Figurative Language A figure of speech is a specific device or kind of figurative language, such as hyperbole, metaphor, personification, or simile. 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.

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. Imagery paints a picture.

Simile A Simile is a figure of speech that compares seemingly unlike things. Similes use the words like or as. Example: Her voice was like nails on a chalkboard.

Metaphor A Metaphor is a figure of speech that makes a direct comparison. One thing IS another. (A metaphor does NOT use like or as.) Example: Life is a bowl of cherries. (The word is is not always used.

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.

Hyperbole An exaggeration Often humorous I ate so much at lunch, I m 20 pounds heavier! I m so hungry I could eat a horse! He has tons of money.

Oxymoron An Oxymoron is a figure of speech that is a combination of seemingly contradictory words. Examples: Same difference Pretty ugly Roaring silence

Euphemism A softer expression substituted for phrases that might be offensive Example: borrowing rather than stealing

Sound Devices Use of the sounds within words to create certain effects

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.

Assonance Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds within words Example: rapping, rapping napping tapping (From The Raven )

Onomatopoeia Words that suggest their meanings and sound like what they are Funny examples: hiss, splash, zap, whoosh Serious examples: creaked, squealed

Rhythm A musical quality created by a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables Found in poetry and song

Rhyme The repetition of identical or similar stressed sounds End rhyme: the rhyme occurs at the end of lines in poetry Internal rhyme: the words rhyme within the lines of poetry

Tone The author s attitude toward the subject of a poem, story, or other literary work. Is he trying to make fun of something? Is he trying to be funny? Is he trying to be sentimental? What he is trying to do, through his style or voice, creates a mood for you.

Irony The discrepancy between what is said and what is meant, what is said and what is done, what is intended or expected and what actually happens.

Verbal Irony Saying one thing and meaning another Example: Mother comes into the TV room and discovers her 15-year-old watching The Simpsons instead of doing his homework, as he was sent to do earlier. Pointing to the screen she says, "Don't let me tempt you from your duties, kiddo, but when you're finished with your serious studies there, maybe we could take some time out for recreation and do a little math."

Situational Irony Situational Irony When we think one thing is going to happen and something else does Example: A beautiful outdoor wedding is planned it rains that day.

Dramatic Irony This is the contrast between what the character thinks to be true and what we (the reader) know to be true. We know something the character doesn t know. It's when you know the alien invader is hiding in the attic, but the hero of the movie doesn't know that. You want him to get a clue and stay away from the attic. "Don't open that door! Get out of the house!" The irony is that the hero thinks he is safe, when you know he's in danger. There is that element of contrast again.

Structural Irony We know more than the character. The use of a naive hero whose incorrect perceptions differ from the correct ones held by the reader.

MOOD Mood, or atmosphere, is the feeling created in the reader by what is read. What kinds of moods have been in what you have read?

Voice/Style Voice is the distinctive tone or style in the language used by the author. Word choice, phrasing, sentence length, tone, dialogue, purpose, and attitude toward the audience and subject can all contribute to an author s writing style.

SATIRE A satire is a literary work that scorns or makes fun of human weaknesses and faults.

Denotation The denotation of a word is its actual dictionary meaning, independent of other associations that the word may have. Remember d as in denotation or dictionary

Connotation The connotation of a word is the set of ideas associated with the word 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 word choices.

Denotation versus Connotation Some examples Cheap is low in cost (denotation) but stingy or poorly made are the connotations of cheap

Think of the word HOT The denotation (or dictionary definition remember d in denotation and 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/She is having a temperature higher than that of a human body!? 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.