LITERARY TERMS

Plot

• The story line

Setting

• When and where the story takes place

Theme

• Moral or lesson of the story

Climax

• The highpoint of the story

Resolution

• How the climax is solved

Irony

• Three Types:– Verbal Irony

– Dramatic Irony– Situational Irony

Verbal Irony

• Words are used to suggest the opposite of their usual meaning

Dramatic Irony

• The audience knows something that a character does not

Situational Irony

• An event occurs that directly contradicts the expectations of the characters, the

reader, or the audience

Point of View

• Who is telling the story

First Person

• Narrator is a character in the story

• Buzz words: I, me

Third Person Objective

• Outside narrator

• Knows only one character’s thoughts feelings

• Buzz words: he,she, they

Third Person Omniscient

• Outside narrator

• Knows more than one character’s thoughts and feelings

• Buzz words: he, she, they

Symbolism

• One object represents another

Protagonist

• The character who drives the action

Antagonist

• The obstacle of the protagonist

Character

• Someone or something in the story

Foreshadowing

• Giving hints as to what will happen later in the story

Personification

• Giving human qualities to non-human things

Tone

• The atmosphere the author is trying to create

Imagery

• Language that appeals to the senses

Diction

• The choice of words used in a literary work