Adapted from BuzzFeed.com

Fancy Literary Terms Explained by Disney

• A common thread or repeated idea that is incorporated throughout a literary work

• Ex: “True love conquers all” is the main theme of Sleeping Beauty.

Theme

• An object, character, figure, or color that is used to represent an abstract idea or concept

• Ex: Dumbo’s “magic” feather represents courage and self-confidence. Once he truly believes in himself, he no longer needs it.

Symbol

• A constantly recurring symbol or motif in literature.

• Ex: Alice must pass a series of tests as she makes her way through Wonderland. This kind of journey is a common archetype in Western literature and best known in Homer’s The Odyssey.

Archetype

• The atmosphere that pervades a literary work with the intention of evoking a certain emotion or feeling from the audience.

• Ex: Fantasia frequently uses music and setting to drastically shift the mood of light and playful to dark and foreboding.

Mood

• An inherent incompatibility between objectives of 2 or more characters.

• Ex: When Shere Khan returns to the jungle, Mowgli must flee to the safety of human civilization.

Conflict

Freytag’s Pyramid: Beauty and the Beast

Resolution

• Introduction of the characters, setting, and situation at the beginning of the story

• Ex: Background of Beast and the curse, Belle walks through town singing, townspeople (including Gaston) are introduced, background on Belle and how she is an outcast in town.

Exposition

Rising Action• Complications to the

conflict develop and increase reader interest

• Ex: Maurice is captured in the Beast’s castle. Gaston proposes to Belle and denied. Belle searches for her father and offers to be prisoner in his place. Belle and the Beast begin to fall in love. Belle leaves to help sick Maurice. The townspeople go to the castle to kill the Beast.

• The point of greatest emotional intensity, interest, or suspense

• Ex: The townspeople, led by Gaston, storm the Beast’s castle. Gaston fights the Beast, who has no interest in fighting, until Belle returns and the Beast defeats Gaston.

Climax

• The action that follows the climax and may show results of climax.

• Ex: Belle and the Beast are together again. Belle professes her love for him and he magically changes into a prince. All the enchanted objects turn back into people.

Falling Action

• The final part of a play, movie, or narrative in which the strands of the plot are drawn together and matters are resolved.

• Ex: In Beauty and the Beast, the curse is broken and everyone happily watches Belle, in the infamous gold dress, and the Prince waltz the night away.

Resolution

• The central character in a literary work, around whom the main conflict revolves.

• Ex: Aladdin is the protagonist of the Disney classic Aladdin.

Protagonist

• A person or force in society/nature that opposes the protagonist

• Ex: Jafar is the antagonist to Aladdin and tries to prevent him from living happily ever after with Princess Jasmine.

Antagonist

• A character who illuminates the qualities of another character by means of contrast.

• Ex: Both Carl Frederickson and Charles Muntz love adventure, but Muntz is willing to hurt the exotic bird Kevin to protect his reputation, while Carl tries his hardest to save Kevin.

Character Foil

• A warning or indication of a future event.

• Ex: Before she’s fatally shot by a hunter, Bambi’s mother gives Bambi a stern lecture on the dangers of man.

Foreshadowing

• A character saying one thing but meaning another

• Ex: When Pacha expresses his anger for risking his life for Kuzco, the selfish and conceited emperor-turned-llama Kuzco says, “Oh, boo-hoo. Now I feel really bad. Bad llama.” All Kuzco cares about is himself.

Verbal Irony

• Irony that occurs when the meaning of the situation is understood by the audience but not the characters in the literary work.

• Ex: Throughout most of The Lion King, Simba feels guilty for his father’s death, unaware that Scar actually killed Mufasa. The audience knows Scar is responsible, not Simba.

Dramatic Irony

• The actual outcome of a situation is the opposite of what is expected

• Ex: At the beginning of The Incredibles, Mr. Incredible is sued for saving a person who was attempting suicide.

Situational Irony

• A writer’s choice of words

• Ex: “Tranquil as a forest, but on fire within. Once you find your center, you are sure to win. You’re a spineless, pale, pathetic lot, and you haven’t got a clue. Somehow I’ll make a man out of you.” ~ Mulan

Diction

• The suggested or implied meanings associated with a word beyond its dictionary definition

• Ex: When Nemo and his friends mess up the dentist’s aquarium for the water to be changed, Gill says, “Ok everybody! Think dirty thoughts!”

Connotation

• The author’s attitude towards his/her subject matter

• Ex: With a balloon, and disguised in mud, Winnie the Pooh pretends to be a little black rain cloud and sings a song to try to reach his favorite thing of all time: honey.

Tone

• Language that uses figures of speech

• Ex: “A dream is a wish your heart makes…” is an example of a metaphor in Cinderella.

Figurative Language

• Descriptive language that appeals to one or more of the five senses

• Ex: “Can you sing with all the voices of the mountains? Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?”

Imagery

• A character that changes during the story

• Ex: In Tangled, Flynn Rider starts out as a thief who only cares about himself and treasure, but at the end, he starts to care for Rapunzel and put her before himself.

Developing/Dynamic Character

• A brief reference in a literary work to a person, place, thing, or passage in another literary work.

• Ex: In The Hunchback of Notre Dame, the gargoyle Laverne tells a flock of pigeons to “Fly my pretties! Fly! Fly!” similar to the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz.

Allusion