1. Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida by Victor Martinez
Literary Terms
Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida by Victor Martinez

2. Coming of Age Novel Also known as Bildungsroman.
One in which the main character or protagonist matures, loses innocence, and gains knowledge.
There will usually be pain and suffering along the way.
Examples:
Divergent
The Hunger Games
To Kill a Mockingbird

3. Narrator
A narrator is the speaker or character that tells a narrative or story.
The writer’s choice of narrator determines the story’s point of view.

4. Point of View
First person POV: the narrator is part of the action; uses the pronouns I, me, and my; the reader only knows what the narrator knows.
Third person POV: told by someone outside the action.
Omniscient POV: all-knowing; is able to reveal ALL thoughts and feelings of ALL characters.

5. Characterization
The creation of the character using dialogue, interior monologue action, and description.
Authors give clues to help readers figure out what a character is like.
They might…
Describe what the character looks like
Tell what the character does
Show what the character says and thinks

6. Character Motivation
The reason or reasons behind a character’s behavior.
Why a character thinks, feels, acts, or behaves in a certain way.
Personality combined with a situation.
Examples:
Why does Manny join a gang?
Why does Magda lie to their mother?

7. Narrative Structure
The way in which the story events are organized and revealed.
Examples:
Chronological Order: told in the order that events normally happen (from beginning to end)
Flashback: a scene or incident that jumps back to an earlier time.

8. Conflict a struggle between opposing forces in a narrative
Internal Conflict: occurs within a character who faces opposing ideas, feelings, or choices
Man vs. Self
External Conflict: occurs between a character and a larger force, or between two characters
Man vs. Man
Man vs. Nature
Man vs. Society

9. Epiphany
sudden realization, insight into the reality or essential meaning of something
An epiphany is usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience.

10. Theme a central message or insight conveyed in a work of literature
What does the work make you think about the most?
What does the work suggest about life or people?
Stated Theme: is stated directly in the text of the work
Implied Theme: is not stated but is suggested by the details in the work

11. Figurative and Descriptive Language
As seen in Parrot in the Oven

12. Figurative & Descriptive Language Devices in the Novel
Simile: comparison between two unlike things using the word “like” or “as”
Metaphor: a comparison between two dissimilar things without using the word “like” or “as” to make the comparison
Personification: when the speaker or writer gives human characteristics, qualities or traits to an object or idea
Hyperbole: when the writer or speaker exaggerates for emphasis or effect
Symbolism: anything that represents an idea, person, event, or object
Irony: language that describes something that is the opposite of what the reader might expect