Literary Terms Short Story Unit. How does the development of literary terms knowledge convey...

FRESHMAN ENGLISH

Literary Terms

Short Story Unit

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS FOR STUDYING LITERARY TERMS How does the development of literary

terms knowledge convey meaning to a story and bring the story to life for the reader?

How does an author’s point of view and the author’s perspective impact the writing of a piece of literature?

How does understanding the theme of a story help to connect the reader to the story?

METAPHOR The comparison of two unlike things

stating a single comparison that something “is” something else.

SIMILE The comparison of two unlike things

stating a single comparison using “like” or “as”

SYMBOLISM a concrete object, person, place or

action that represents something larger or more abstract than itself, such as a quality, an attitude, a belief, or a value.

The Grim Reaper is a SYMBOL of death

ALLUSION a reference (in literature) to a well-

known person, place, event or literary work that the author assumes the reader is familiar with

EXAMPLES:The girl’s love of sweets was her Achilles

heel.Don’t be a scrooge.

ALLITERATION The repetition of consonant sounds at

the beginnings of words in order to produce an effect/emotion (example – tongue twisters)

IMAGERY words or phrases that create mental

pictures

The crimson liquid spilled from the neck of the white dove, staining and matting its pure, white feathers.

For the life of him, he couldn't figure why these East Enders called themselves black. He kept looking and looking, and the colors he found were gingersnap and light fudge and dark fudge and acorn and butter rum and cinnamon and burnt orange. But never licorice, which, to him, was real black. (excerpt from Maniac Magee)

IRONY The opposite of what is expected

Situational irony The contrast between what is expected to

happen and what actually exists or happens

Dally rides the ponies fairly.  He will not cheat when he races.

From The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton

IRONY Dramatic irony

The reader or viewer knows something that a character does not know

In The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, only the audience and Ponyboy know that Randy is going to skip the rumble.

IRONY Verbal irony

When someone knowingly exaggerates or says one thing and means another

“You, punk.  This is what you get for helping those kids, you little punk,” Dally says to Johnny on his deathbed after passing away.

From The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

PERSONIFICATION Giving human qualities to inanimate or

non-human objects

SNOW

Snow speaks to the people itsfalling above in the glooming

sunlight.Its white sparkling voiceechoes as it falls throughthe air.

Anonymous

STYLE a writer’s characteristic way of writing

(determined by the choice of words, the arrangement of words in sentences, and the relationship of the sentences to one another)

DIALOGUE Spoken conversation of fictional

characters or real people

DICTION Word Choice

A writer’s or speaker’s choice of words and way of arranging the words in sentences

Most common forms of DICTION in literature:formalinformalcolloquialslang

AUTHOR PERSPECTIVE An author’s beliefs and attitudes

expressed in his or her writing

If you recognize the author’s perspective, you will recognize any bias in the writing, why an author includes some things, but not others and why an author says things in a certain way.

PLOT Series of related events that make up a

story

Introduction/exposition

Generating circumstance

Narrative hook

Rising

ac

tion

climaxFalling action

resolution

denouement

CONFLICT A struggle between opposing characters

and/or forces

Internal conflict Person vs. Self

External conflict Person vs. Person Person vs. Society Person vs. Nature

INTRODUCTION/EXPOSITION Introduction to the characters, setting,

tone, and conflict of a storyAlso gives needed background information

Introduction/exposition

Generating circumstance

Narrative hook

Rising

ac

tion

climaxFalling action

resolution denouement

GENERATING CIRCUMSTANCE The event that leads to writing the

novel/puts the plot in motion

Introduction/exposition

Generating circumstance

Narrative hook

Rising

ac

tion

climaxFalling action

resolution denouement

NARRATIVE HOOK The beginning of the rising action

The first big event happens in the story

Introduction/exposition

Generating circumstance

Narrative hook

Rising

ac

tion

climaxFalling action

resolution denouement

RISING ACTION Actions that build the suspense and lead

to the climax

Introduction/exposition

Generating circumstance

Narrative hook

Ris

ing

action

climaxFalling action

resolution denouement

CLIMAX The turning point, highest point, peak of

action in the storyWhere the main conflict is resolved

Introduction/exposition

Generating circumstance

Narrative hook

Rising

ac

tion

climaxFalling action

resolution denouement

FALLING ACTION The actions that result from the climax

and resolve any left over conflicts

Introduction/exposition

Generating circumstance

Narrative hook

Rising

ac

tion

climaxFalling action

resolution denouement

RESOLUTION The final outcome, how the problem is

solved

Introduction/exposition

Generating circumstance

Narrative hook

Rising

ac

tion

climaxFalling action

resolution

denouement

DENOUEMENT The end, the finale

Introduction/exposition

Generating circumstance

Narrative hook

Rising

ac

tion

climaxFalling action

resolution denouement

NARRATIVE A first or third person account of an

event

NARRATOR The character or voice who tells the

story

AUTHOR The person who wrote the story

NOVEL A long fictional story; usually more than

100 pages in length

PROTAGONIST The central character in a story; The Main character Not always the “good guy” Usually the one with whom the audience

can relate

Ponyboy from The Outsiders was the PROTAGONIST of that novel.

ANTAGONIST The principal character or force that is in

opposition with the protagonist

SETTING Time and place of a story

THEME The main idea or message of a story A perception about life or human nature

Some Common Themes in Literature1. The only person you can truly trust is yourself2. It is important to follow your instincts3. Man is inherently evil4. Man is inherently good5. It’s important to never give up6. Human beings are products of their society7. It’s a crime to kill innocence8. The innocent aren’t always treated fairly9. It is important to stand up for what you believe in

FORESHADOW A writer’s use of hints or clues to

indicate events and situations that will occur later in the plot

FLASHBACK A conversation, episode, or an event

that happened before the beginning of the story

"When I stepped out into the bright sunlight, from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman, and a ride home.“

The famous first line of The Outsiders which begins the flashback of the novel – Ponyboy writing his English composition in order to receive the credit to graduate.

CHARACTERIZATION The way a writer portrays a character;

through physical description; through the character’s own speech, thoughts, feeling or actions; or through direct comments about the character

POINT OF VIEW The perspective from which the story is

toldFirst person

the narrator is a character in the story; uses “I” and “me” statements

Third person – the narrator is outside the action Third person omniscient

Narrator is all-knowing, can see in the minds of more than one character

Third person limitedNarrator can only see into the mind of one

character