1. LITERARY & FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE TERMS Construction of Literature

2. Setting & Point of View Setting: Time and place. Be specific as possible.  Point of View: The voice telling the story.  First person is the voice used when a character in the story functions as the narrator.  Third Person is also known as omniscient (all knowing) and is not a character in the story. This voice has unlimited access to location and thoughts of more than one character.  Third Person Limited has limited access to the information and isn’t as common as the other two.

3. The People  The people in the story are called characters, and the author’s way of telling you what kind of people they are is called characterization.  Direct Characterization: The author directly states the character traits; tells you straight out information;  EX: He is tall.  Indirect Characterization: The author shows you information, and you must make your own conclusions. Requires you to infer; this is much more colorful and interesting to read.  EX: When he walked into the classroom, his head almost hit the top of the door jam.  Minor Characters: characters who take place in the action but are not the focus of the attention; they play a small role  Major Character: the protagonist, the antagonist, and other characters that have a large role in the story.  Protagonist: hero  Antagonist: the one in conflict with the hero: opposes the protagonist.

4. Plot PLOT: The action moves from a problem to a solution.  Main idea: the overall idea about a passage or text (plot summary). It is closely related to the TOPIC of the passage and may sometimes be stated in a topic sentence, especially in shorter passages.  Conflict: Source of tension in the story.  External: Internal:  Human vs. character Human vs. himself/herself  Human vs. nature  Human vs. society  Human vs. fate  Plot Structure: Open base triangle diagram  Exposition: characters and setting  Inciting incident: first clue to the main problem that leads to the climax; reader discovers the main struggle  Rising Actions: events leading up to the climax; becomes more complicated  Climax: Turning point  Falling Actions: specific events after the climax that leads to the resolution  Resolution: The outcome of the story  Denouement: any action or events that take place after the central conflict has been resolved. Not always present.

5. Theme  What is the authors’ message to the reader? The theme is usually that message. It can usually be some observation about the human condition-- how the universe treats us, how we treat each other, how we treat ourselves, etc. Some stories may have more than one theme. Another way to define theme is: a particular point of view the author wishes to express about a particular topic (love, death, growing up, nature, relationships, etc.).

6. Tone, Mood, and Atmosphere  Tone is the author’s attitude towards what she is presenting. The attitude can be humorous, ironic, sarcastic, loving or spiteful. The author can be sympathetic towards his characters or scornful of them. The attitude shows up in the way he writes about the events and in the event and setting he chooses.  Mood is the attitude of the characters towards what is happening. It may be sadness, fear, happiness or one of many others. In some fiction, the mood may change from hope to despair, courage to fear or vice versa.  Atmosphere is the general emotional effect of a story or of a scene from a story. It includes the effect of moods and is controlled by the author’s tone. Thus, a story may have an atmosphere of gloom or horror, or of joy or bewilderment, just to name a few.

7. Literary Terms  Allusion: a reference to a statement, a person, place or event that is known from literature or history. The most common: The Bible, mythology and Shakespeare.  Connotation: the feelings evoked by a word  Denotation: definition of a word  Imply: author gives clues to the reader  Infer: reader interprets the clues the author provides  Inferences: conclusions based on clues –reader makes these

8. Literary Terms  Irony: Irony is essentially a discrepancy between what happens to be and what really is (appearance and reality. There are three types:  Situational: Difference between what appears to be and what really is  Dramatic: When the audience knows something that the characters don’t  Verbal: To say one thing but mean something else (Sarcasm)  personification: when inanimate (lifeless)objects are given human qualities  Flashback: a scene that interrupts the present action of the plot to go back and tell what happened earlier.  Foreshadowing: the use of clues to hint at what is going to happen later in the plot.  Satire: a style of writing that ridicules human weaknesses, vice or folly in order to bring out social reform.

9. Literary Terms  hyperbole: an over exaggeration that should not be taken seriously  Symbol: a symbol is something that stands for itself and for something broader than itself as well. In literature, a symbol may be an object, a person, a situation or an action that suggests or represents a wider meaning. Thing stands for idea.  Sensory imagery : words or phrases the appeal to the 5 senses and conjure up mental images; especially in the setting and character development  Figurative language: writing or speech that is not meant to be taken literally, but has an intended meaning behind it. It is used to state ideas in vivid imaginative ways.  simile: indirect comparison that equates two unlike objects. (like or as)  Metaphore: direct comparison that equates two unlike objects. (indicates that one thing is another) 

10. Literary Genres  Narrative: tells a story  Nonfiction: about real people and events  Novel: extended work of fiction  Parable: a simple story that illustrates a lesson  Propaganda: biased information presented to publicize a particular point of view  Tragedy: drama where the actions or events of the main characters end disastrously