Literary Terminology

Part 1 Literary Terms Part 2 Plot Part 3 Figures of Speech

Literary Terms

Antagonist
A character or group of characters who create conflict for the protagonist aka: The Bad Guy
EX: Who is the Antagonist in Eleven?

Not always the villain but simply one who opposes the main character

Protagonist
One who has the conflict.
Usually the main character
Who is the Protagonist in Eleven?

Character
Person, Animal, Creature that takes part in the action in the story

Round Character: Main Character- One who plays an important role in the story Flat: One who does not play an important role in the story

Character Contd
Static: A character who doesnt change throughout the story Dynamic: A character who changes in the course of the story

Using Eleven tell me who fits the following type of character: Round, Flat, Static, Dynamic

Characterization
The act of creating a character
Direct: the writer states the characters traits
EX: Using Eleven how does Sandra Cisneros characterize Rachel? Sylvia Saldivar?

Characterization Contd
Indirect- character is revealed through one of the following
Words, thoughts, or actions Descriptions of the character's background or appearance What other characters say about the character The ways in which other characters react to the character

Conflict
Struggle between two foes
Internal- Struggle the character faces against himself (Man vs Self) External- Struggle the character faces against an outside force (Man vs. Man, Man vs Nature, Man vs Supernatural)
EX What type of conflicts does Rachel experience in Eleven?

Diction
A writers word choice, may be formal or informal, plain or ornate, common or technical, abstract or concrete

Foreshadow
Use of clues to suggest events that have yet to occur
EX: It was a dark and stormy night

Mood and Tone

Mood: feeling created in the reader by the literary work or passage, can be influenced by setting tone and/or events Tone: the attitude the author takes toward the writing

Point of View
The perspective from which a story is told
1st person: the narrators knowledge is limited to 1 character
EX: I, me, my, mine

Point of View Contd

3rd person limited: narrator knows only one characters thoughts and feelings
EX: He, She, They, them

3rd Person Omniscient: narrator knows more than one characters thoughts and feelings.
EX: He, She, They, Them

Setting
Where the literary work takes place
EX: The farm was a beautiful location to have the wedding. The farm, is the setting for the wedding

Theme
The BIG Idea, moral or lesson learned from a story
EX: The Boy Who Cried Wolf

Main Idea
What the story is about.

Plot

Exposition
Introduces the characters, setting, and basic situation

This part usually has the narrative hook

Rising Action
Introduces the conflict

Climax
The point of the highest tension or drama

Falling Action
Things finally settle down for the main character(s)

Resolution
The main conflict is resolved

The Basic Figures of Speech

Dialect
The way a person talks or sounds due to their physical address or culture
Example: Ye ate yet? Naw. Ye ont to? Awight.

Can you think of how your speech is different from others around the world?

Analogy
a similarity between like features of two things, on which a comparison may be based
Example: Doing drugs could be compared to if you were to slowly drain the blood out of your body drip by drip, they both will kill you in a slow painful way. See if you can create an analogy on your own

Hyperbole
Obvious and intentional exaggeration.
Ex: She had to wait an eternity to get her drink.

Write a sentence using a hyperbole.

Idiom
An expression whose meaning is not predictable.
Example: The old man kicked the bucket.
Write an example of an idiom you have heard.

Metaphor
Comparing two like things not using like or as.

The girl was a cheetah with tennis shoes.

Compare yourself to something not using like or as.

Onomatopoeia
Written sounds
Bang! The car smashed into the wall.

Say a sound out loud then try to write it how it sounds.

Personification
Giving something non-human, humanlike characteristics.
The trees arms waved violently in the wind.
Think of something in nature and use personification to describe it.

Simile
Comparing two like things using like or as.
The boy was as smart as a brick wall.
Use a simile to describe yourself.

Symbol
A thing (could be an object, person, situation or action) which stands for something else
EX: American Flag-Red, White, Blue, Stars

Irony
An outcome of events contrary to what was expected

Oxymoron
Two contrary words located side by side

EX: Sweating like a pigummm pigs do not sweat. Shes pretty ugly. Lets not be alone together.