Prose Terms and Literary Elements Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards generated from lecture notes covering literary devices, narrative structure, character types, point of view, irony, and elements of style.

plot

The series of events in a story.

conflict

The interplay between opposing people, things, or ideas in a text.

setting

The time and place of events in a text with three main functions: to help in understanding of the characters and their actions; to help create mood and atmosphere; to facilitate plot development by being involved in the conflict.

exposition

Point in story when background information on characters, setting, and conflict are introduced.

rising action

Point in story when conflict is developed, suspense is created, and foreshadowing may be used to hint at later events.

technical climax

Turning point of the plot, often when: (1) the outcome of the story is determined; (2) the protagonist changes or has an opportunity to change; (3) the conflict begins to come to an end.

dramatic climax

Point in story with greatest interest or intensity, which is up to each reader to decide.

resolution

Point in story following technical climax in which the outcome is actually worked out and a story is wrapped up.

characterization

The technique a writer uses to reveal characters.

protagonist

Central character in a work of fiction, who sets the plot in motion.

antagonist

Principal opponent of the protagonist.

foil character

Character who contrasts in some way with a more important character.

stock character

A character that relies on common literary or social stereotypes for personality (the villain, the hero, the jock, etc.).

round character

A character who is well described and whose thoughts and actions are clearly revealed; either this OR flat.

flat character

A character who is not well developed; either this OR round.

dynamic character

A character who grows, learns or changes in some significant way; either this OR static.

static character

A character who resists change or refuses to change; either this OR dynamic.

expository characterization

A type of characterization when the author directly states what a character looks like or feels.

dramatic characterization

A type of characterization when the author illustrates what a character is like by describing their speech, thoughts, effect on others, actions, and looks so that reader must infer information about him or her.

motivation

Something that, deep down in a character's psychology, drives his or her actions.

first person

The narrator is a character in the story and uses the pronoun "I".

second person

The narrator addresses readers or another character directly, often using "you".

third person objective

The narrator is not a character in the story and reports only what can be seen and heard.

third person limited

The narrator is not a character in the story and reports the thoughts and feelings of one character.

third person omniscient

The narrator is not a character in the story and reports the thoughts and feelings of all important characters.

dramatic irony

When the audience knows something important that a character does not know.

situational irony

When something happens that is the opposite of what the audience expected the whole time.

verbal irony

When a speaker says one thing but means the opposite or something very different; sarcasm is one form.

flashback

When a character recounts or thinks about an event that happened in the past.

plotless short story

A story that contains characters and conflict, but does not follow the normal arc with an exposition, climax, and resolution.

in media res

A story that begins in the middle of action, usually at an exciting point in the plot.

frame story

A large, overarching story that contains smaller stories within it, such as flashbacks.

suspense

When the author creates an uneasy feeling for readers where we can feel fear or anxiety building, but we don't know what is going to happen next.

foreshadowing

The use of clues to hint at what is going to happen later in the story.

tone

The author's or speaker's attitude toward the characters, events or audience.

atmosphere

A story's general feeling, usually established by the description of the setting.

mood

The reader's state of mind and emotions after she finishes the story.

diction

The choice of words and phrases in speech or writing.

syntax

The arrangement of words and phrases in speech or writing.

theme

A controlling idea of a literary work that is a general truth or commentary about life, people, and the world.