Literary TermsBible

Literary Terms

• Literary terms provide useful language to talk and write about literature.

• They help critical readers to analyze elements of a work and to consider how—and how well—the elements interconnect.

• The following literary terms are often used in studies of fiction.

• the sequence of main events in a story– involves conflict

• a main character (protagonist) struggles with one or more opposing forces (antagonists)

– four major types of conflict: • protagonist vs. nature (external)• protagonist vs. society (external)• protagonist vs. another person (external)• protagonist vs. self (internal)

Plot

Rising Action

Exposition

Falling Action

Denouement

Crisis/Climax

introduces the reader to the situation– Background information– Introduces characters & setting

conflict emerges and

builds

completes the resolution and closes

the story

high point of the action consequences

of the climax

Plot Structure

• Chronological– events in order of occurrence

• Flashbacks• Framing devices

– parallel openings and closings• Episodic

– events related by sequence but not by causation• Subplots

– shed light (by comparison/contrast) on the main plot

In analyzing plot, you may find the following questions helpful:

• What happens in the story? Why?• Against whom or what is the main character

struggling? Why?• Does the protagonist win or lose? Why?• How much action occurs? How significant is it?• How has the author sequenced events? Why?

• Goes beyond events to consider issues of meaning:– What does the story say about human beings, reality,

society?– abstracts from specific events and characters– makes a general statement about life

• Themes are statements (not just topics); express them through complete sentences.

Theme

Theme can be…

• a clear moral message, a lesson about how to live

• a statement about the nature of life• stated directly• an implication about the nature of

human existence

These questions may help you in considering theme:

• Is the story optimistic or pessimistic?• What universal situations and general values are

involved?• Does the narrator or main character arrive at any

insights? Why or why not?• Does the story leave you with any insights?

Remember: Plot is what happens. Theme is what it means!

• Major – protagonist = main character

• focus of the story’s action

– antagonist• Minor

– play subordinate roles

Characters

Characters

• Static— change very little or not at all

• Dynamic— change as a result of events

• Round— complex individuals; cannot be captured with a single word or phrase

• Flat— easily summed up

• Stock— a familiar stereotype

• Caricature— an extreme exaggeration of one or several human characteristics

Characterization

• Direct characterization – overt statements about characters’

backgrounds, motives, and personalities

• Indirect characterization – reveals characters through their

actions and statements.

In analyzing characters and characterization, you may want to use some or all of the following questions:

• Answer these for all Major Characters– Does the character grow or deteriorate? Why or why

not?– How complex is the character?– Are the character’s words and actions consistent?– Is the character intelligent? likable? insightful?

responsible? happy? believable? How do you know?• How important are the minor characters?

• refers to the narrator, the person who is telling the story– first-person point-of-view

• easily recognized by the use of first-person pronouns• character in the story• limited to knowing their own experiences,

observations, and thoughts

Point of View

Point of View

– third person point-of-view (limited)• voice outside the story • know one character’s thoughts

– third person point-of-view (omniscient)• voice outside the story• seem to know all the characters’ actions and

thoughts

Point of View

• objective narrator– actions speak for themselves– doesn’t state thoughts or feelings

directly• unreliable narrator

– can’t be trusted

Here are some questions to use in considering point of view:

• Who is telling the story? How much does the speaker know and tell?

• How would the story change if someone else were to tell it?

• Does the narrator contradict himself/herself, either directly or indirectly?

• To what extent can the reader accept the narrator’s version of events and their meaning?

• a story’s placement in time and space–entails both physical and

cultural context

Setting

Setting

• varies in complexity and importance –may serve as passive background–may generate atmosphere–may function as antagonist–may be the source of an intricate web of

allusions–often a key to characterization

Setting

• limits an author’s choices regarding plot, character, and detail

• anachronism – a choice inconsistent with the time

setting

In considering setting, ask yourself questions such as these:

• How vivid or vague is your sense of the story’s time and place?

• How familiar are you with the cultural context?• Does the setting act as a passive background, or does it

affect action?• How does the setting illuminate the characters and

events?• How would the story have to alter if set in a different

place and/or time?

• Imagery• Similes• Metaphors• Symbols• Rhyme & Meter

• Diction & syntax– author’s choices in use

of language• Style

– an author’s characteristic choices

Other Literary Terms

I will let you know what literary terms you need to address!