Literary Terms Secondary II West Island College

Term 1 Antagonist : a character or force against which a main character struggles. Character : a person, animal, or thing presented as a person. In order to be believable, a character must have credibility, consistency, and motivation.

Conflict : a problem or a struggle of some kind. Conflict may be external or internal. Internal Conflict: psychological conflicts within a character, involves choices facing a character. External Conflict: circumstances outside a character’s control.

Direct characterization: a writer tells what a character is like by means of direct comment.

Indirect characterization : a writer shows what a character is like by – 1) giving a physical description of the character; – 2) relating the character’s actions and words; – 3) revealing the character’s thoughts and feelings; and – 4) making clear what other in the story think about the character.

Dynamic character: a character who undergoes an important change. Exposition: information essential to understanding the background of a story. Foreshadowing : the method of building in clues or hints about what is to come in a story.

Personification : Giving human qualities to inanimate objects or abstract ideas (a type of metaphor). Point of view : the angle from which the story is told. 1st person point of view: the “I” vantage point in which the narrator of a story may be the main character or an observer.

Limited Point of View: a third person point of view that focuses on one character’s thoughts, feelings, and actions. Omniscient Point of View : a third person point of view in which the narrator is an all- knowing observer who knows what all the characters can see, hear, think, and feel.

Protagonist : the main character in a story. Resolution : the final part of a story that makes clear the outcome of the conflict. Setting: the time, place, and circumstances that form the background of the story.

Static Character : a character who does not change in any significant way. Theme: the central idea or underlying meaning about human nature that is developed in the story. A theme may be expressed directly or indirectly. Verisimilitude: the appearance of reality in fiction.

Term 2 Climax: the point of greatest excitement or intensity in a story. Exaggeration : To overstate or overemphasize something, often for comic relief.

Moral : a lesson intended to teach a rule of conduct and values. Metaphor : A direct comparison of unlike things that is short and vivid. I.e. The man was a bear. Simile : an indirect comparison of unlike things using like or as. I.e. He was as hungry as a bear.

Narrator: the person who tells the story. Satire: a literary work that pokes fun at some weakness or vice in human nature or society. Stock Character: a character who conforms to a familiar and predictable formula, also known as a stereotype.

Suspense: the element that keeps readers guessing about the outcome of events. Tone : the attitude the writer takes towards the subject, characters, and readers of a work.  This shows the writer’s mood. For example, serious, humorous, comic, mocking, satirical, compassionate, touching, bitter, angry, etc. The choice of words is how a writer expresses the tone. It is important to understand the story’s tone, otherwise, you might misunderstand the author’s intentions. For example, if the tone is satirical, and you think it is a tragedy, you will have missed the point.

Term 3 - Poetry Types of poems : Ballad : a narrative poem, usually containing much repetition and often a repeated refrain. Ballads were originally folk songs passed on from age to age. Concrete Poetry : poetry in which the visual arrangement of words or letters suggests something about the subject of the poem.

Types of Poetry Continued Haiku : a lyric (descriptive poem) originating in Japan that captures the essence of a moment in a simple image. Always written in the present tense. Limerick : a type of nonsense verse with a definite pattern: a five-line stanza with a rhyming pattern of AABBA.

Alliteration : the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words or within words. Alliteration is used for unity, emphasis, and musical effect. I.e. the s limy s nake s lithered. Image (imagery): words or groups of words that help the reader picture or sense what is being described.  Makes use of the reader’s five senses. Can create images by using metaphors, similes, and personification.

Onomatopoeia: the use of words whose sound imitates, suggests, or reinforces its meaning. I.e. “Crash” “Buzz” “Hum”

Stanza: any distinct grouping of lines usually in recurring units of the same number within a poem. Refrain: a phrase or sentence repeated at regular intervals in a poem or song. Refrains usually occur after each stanza. Rhyme : the similarity of sound between two words. I.e. old/cold and take/lake Rhythm : the patterned flow of sounds in poetry and prose.

Term 4 Character: Credibility: to be believable- to act like real people. We need to feel they are true to life. Consistency: to be consistent. If a character undergoes a change, there must be a good reason to explain it. Motivation: a reason to act in a particular way.

Symbol: a person, object, or event that has meaning in itself and also stands for something else.