Lecture Notes: Genres, Figurative Language, and Literary Elements

Vocabulary flashcards covering genres, figurative language, and literary elements from Pages 1–3 of the notes.

Autobiography

A person tells the story of their own life.

Realistic Fiction

A story that can actually happen and is true to life.

Thriller

An exciting plot, typically involving crime or espionage.

Drama

Composed in verse or prose, usually for theatrical performance, where conflicts and emotion are expressed through dialogue and action.

Horror

Events that evoke a feeling of dread in both the characters and the reader.

Narrative Nonfiction

Factual information presented in a format which tells a story.

Fairy Tale

Fairies or other magical creatures, usually for children.

Historical Fiction

Fictional characters and events in a historical setting.

Mythology

Legend or traditional narrative often pertaining to the actions of the gods.

Biography

Narrative of a person's life written by another person.

Dystopian

Relating to a very bad or unfair society in which there is a lot of suffering, especially an imaginary society in the future.

Fantasy

Strange or other worldly settings or characters; fiction which invites suspension of reality.

Science Fantasy

The impact of actual, imagined, or potential science, usually set in the future or on other planets.

Mystery

The solution of a crime or the unraveling of secrets.

Imagery

A description of how something looks, feels, tastes, smells, or sounds.

Figurative Language

Language that is not literal.

Personification

An animal or inanimate object is imbued with human qualities.

Metaphor

Compare or equate two things without using like or as.

Hyperbole

Deliberate exaggeration used for emphasis or to produce a comic or ironic effect; an overstatement to make a point.

Simile

To explain or clarify an idea by comparing it to something else using the words like or as.

Inference

To understand the significance of symbolic gestures, to comprehend not just what happens but what it means.

Antagonist

A character in a story who is often a villain.

Character

A person who appears in a story, book, play, movie, or television show.

Direct Characterization

Describing the background, motivation, temperament, or appearance of that character.

Exposition

Information about the characters, plot, setting, and situation.

Indirect Characterization

Showing what a character is like through what the character says, does, or thinks, or what others say about the character.

First Person

Telling a story using pronouns such as I and we. From this point of view, we see the world from a single character's perspective.

Third Person

Telling the story using the pronouns he, she, and it. This type of narrator views all events in a story from a distance and does not play a role in the actual plot.

Plot

The arrangement of events in a narrative.

Denouement

The conflict has been resolved and balance is restored to the world of the story.

Inciting Incident

The event that sets the story in motion.

Rising Action

The events, marked by increasing tension and conflict, that build up to a story's climax.

Protagonist

The main character in a work; often a hero or heroine, but not always.

Climax

The point in a story when the conflict reaches its highest intensity.

Falling Action

The result of the climax or turning point, when the conflict is being resolved.

Setting

The time and place, the when and where, of a literary text.

Theme

The way a work of literature raises a question or explores an issue in addition to telling a story.

Resolution

The working out of a plot's conflicts, following the climax.

Third Person (narration type)

Told by a narrator using the pronouns he, she, and it. This narrator is privy to the thoughts and actions of all the characters in the story.