Literacy Devices

Protagonist

The central character in a story, play, or novel.

Antagonist

A force working against the protagonist or main character.

Characterization

How an author develops characters and their personalities

Indirect Characterization

The reader assigns the character trait based on the character’s actions, speech, or relationship with others

Direct Characterization

A characters trait is directly stated for a characters, said by someone else or a narrator in the story.

Conflict

A struggle between opposing forces

Internal conflict

person vs self

External conflict

person vs person, person vs nature, person vs fate, person vs society

Plot

The sequences of events in a literary work

Parts of the plot

exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution

Exposition

the essential background information at the beginning of a literary work

rising action

the development of conflict and complications in a literary work

Climax

the turning point in the literary work

Falling Action

Results or effects of the climax and complications of a literary device

Resolution/Denouement

End of a literary work/when loose ends are tied up, and questions are answered

Setting

The time and place of a literary work

Tone

the authors attitude towards the subject of a work

Mood

how the reader feels while reading. The mood is created by the authors use of details, setting, characters, etc, and the tone they create

Theme

a literary work conveys a message about life or human nature, It is a topic and insight given about that topic

Point of View

The vantage point or perspective from which a literary work is told

First person pov

the narrator is the character (use of I)

third person pov

the narrator is outside the story (use of he she they)

Figurative Language

Language that represents one thing in terms of something dissimilar (non-literal language) including Simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, symbol, pun, etc.

Hyperbole

An authors use of exaggeration or overstatement for emphasis

Simile

a comparison between two things that have some quality in common using LIKE or AS

Metaphor

a comparison of 2 things that have some quality WITHOUT using LIKE or AS

Personification

Giving human characteristics or qualities to an inanimate object or idea

Symbol

A person, place, object, or an action that stands for something beyond itself

Imagerey

Descriptive language that utilizes any of the 5 senses (touch, taste, sight, sound, smell)

Flashback

The method of returning to an earlier point in time to make the present clearer

Foreshadowing

A hint on what is to come in a literary work

Irony

A contrast between what is expected and what exists or happens

Situational Irony

occurs when the ACTUAL result of a situtation is different from what you’d expect

Dramatic Irony

Occurs when the AUDIENCE knows a critical piece of information that the CHARACTER in a play, movie, or novel doesnt

Verbal Irony

A speakers intention is the opposite of what he or she is saying. For example, a characters stepping out into a hurricane and saying “what nice weather”