7th Grade Literary Terms

Fiction

prose writing that tells about imaginary characters and events. Short stories and novels are examples of this type of writing. Some writers base their writing on actual events and people, adding invented characters, dialogue, settings, and plots. Other writers rely on imagination alone.

Novel

a long work of fiction- It contains such elements as characters, plot, conflict, and setting. The writer (novelist) develops these elements. In addition to a main plot, it may contain one or more subplots, or independant, related stories. It may also have several themes.

Novella

A work of fiction that is longer than a short story but shorter than a novel.

Short Story

A brief work of fiction. Like a novel, it presents a sequence of events, or plot. The plot usually deals with a central conflict faced by a main character, or protagonist. The events usally communicate a message about life or human nature. This message, or central idea, is the story’s theme.

plot

sequence of events in which each event results from a previous one and cause the next. In most novels, dramas, short stories, and narrative poems, it involves both characters and a central conflict.

Exposition

introduces the setting ( the time and place of a story) the characters, and the basic situation ( conflict is often introduced at the end of this part of the plot)

Rising Action

events that increase the tension

Climax

The turning point in the story. It is the hight point in the action of the plot. It is the moment of greatest tension when the outcome of the plot hangs in the balance

Falling action

the part of the story when the conflict lessens; events that follow the climax.

Resolution

The story’s conclusion; final outcome is achieved; loose ends are tied up.

Character

A person or animal that takes part in the actions of a literary work. The main, or major, one is the most important one in the story, poem, or play. A minor one is one who takes part in the action but is not the focus of attention.

Setting

The time and place of the action. It includes all the details of a place and time-the year, time of day, even the weather.

Theme

central message, concern, or purpose in a literary work. It can usually be expressed as a generalization, or a general statement, about human beings or about life. It is not a summary of its plot

Point of View

The perspective, or vantage point, from which a story is told. It is either a narrator outside the story or a character in the story

Conflict

A stuggle between opposing forces. It is one of the most important elements of stories, novels, and plays because it cause the action. There are two types: external and internal.

Flashback

A scene within a story that interrupts the sequence of events to relate events that occurred in the past.

Foreshadowing

The authors use of clues to hint at what might happen later in the story.

External conflict

One in which a characters struggles against some kind of outside force, such as another person. Another one may occur between a character and some force in nature.

INTERNAL CONFLICT

It takes place within the mind of a character. The character struggles to make a decision, take an action, or overcome a feeling.

First person point of view

Told by a character that uses the first person pronoun “I.”

Third person point of view

There are two kinds, limited and omniscient. They are called “third person” because the narrator uses third person pronouns like such as he or she to refer to the characters

Omniscient point of view

In stories told from this point of view, the narrator knows and tells about what EACH character feels and thinks.

Limited point of view

In stories told from this point of view, the narrator relates the inner thoughts and feelings of only ONE character, and everything is viewed from this character’s word sound more realistic.

Dialect

The form of a language spoken by people in a particular region or group. They differ in pronunciation, grammar, and word choice. The use of it gives a short story a more authentic feel and helps a characters words sound more realistic.

Dialogue

A conversation between  the characters. In poems, novels, and shorts stories, it is usually set off by quotation marks to indicate a speakers exact words.

Protagonist

The main character in a literary work, It is often a person but sometimes it can be an animal.

Antagonist

This is character or a force in conflict with a main character.

Alliteration

The repetition of initial consonant sounds. Writers use this device to draw attention to certain words, ideas, to imitate sounds, and to create musical effects.

Tone

The writers attitude toward his or her audience and subject. It can often be described by a single adjective such as formal or informal, serious or playful, butter or ironic.

Mood

The feeling created i the read by a literary work or passage. It is also know as atmosphere.