Literary and Poetic Terms: Point of View, Structure, Irony, Character, Style, Theme, and Rhyme

FIRST PERSON

The narrator is a character in the story; told with 'I' and 'me', etc.

THIRD PERSON OBJECTIVE

The narrator is not a character in the story and reports only what can be seen and heard; the reader does not have access to any character's thoughts and feelings.

THIRD PERSON LIMITED OMNISCIENT

The narrator is not a character in the story; reports one character's thoughts and feelings.

THIRD PERSON OMNISCIENT

The narrator is not a character in the story; reports multiple characters' thoughts and feelings.

PLOT

The carefully constructed series of events in a narrative.

PLOTLESS SHORT STORY

Describes characters in a situation without conflict or resolution.

IN MEDIA RES

A narrative that begins somewhere in the middle, usually at some crucial point in the plot.

FRAME STORY

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

CONFLICT

The interplay between opposing elements. There are three types of conflict: protagonist vs. self, protagonist vs. others, protagonist vs. environment.

SETTING

The time and place of events in a literary work. Setting has three 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.

PATHETIC FALLACY

Using the setting, or nature, to parallel or mirror the mood of a character or of the story.

FORESHADOWING

A literary device used to give an indication or hint of what is to come later in the story; useful for creating suspense, a feeling of unease, a sense of curiosity, or a mark that things may not be as they seem.

FLASHBACK

An interruption in a text's 'present' to show readers a scene that unfolded in the past.

EXPOSITION

Gives background information on the characters, setting, and other elements necessary for understanding the story; introduces conflict.

COMPLICATION

Situation that makes a plot more complex or difficult; develops conflict and creates suspense.

TECHNICAL CLIMAX

The turning point in the plot at which the outcome is determined. Often, the protagonist changes or has an opportunity to change at this point; after this point, the conflict begins to come to an end.

DRAMATIC CLIMAX

The point of greatest interest or intensity of the story; this is subjective and may not be the same as the technical climax.

RESOLUTION

The events following the technical climax in which the outcome is actually worked out.

CONCLUSION

The final event of a story's plot.

SITUATIONAL IRONY

When something happens that is opposite of expectations.

VERBAL IRONY

A statement which is opposite of the speaker's intent.

DRAMATIC IRONY

A situation in which the reader has a better understanding of events than the characters in a story do.

PROTAGONIST

The central character in a work of fiction; the character who sets the action of the plot in motion.

Antagonist

The principal opponent of the protagonist.

Foil Character

A character who contrasts in some important way with a more important character; underscores the distinctive characteristics of another.

Stock Character

A character that relies on common literary or social stereotypes for personality; often used as simple props to help develop the main characters or story.

Round Character

A character who is well described and whose thoughts and actions are clearly revealed in a story.

Flat Character

A character who is not well developed in a story.

Dynamic Character

A character who grows, learns, or changes in a significant way throughout a story.

Static Character

A character who resists change or refuses to change during the story.

Motivation

The reason that explains a character's thoughts, feelings, actions, or speech.

Characterization

The technique a writer uses to create and reveal characters in a work of fiction.

Expository Character Revelation

Telling what a character is like.

Dramatic Character Revelation

Showing what a character is like through descriptions of thought, dialogue, action, etc.

Atmosphere

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

Tone

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

Mood

The reader's state of mind and emotions while reading a text.

Diction

The choice of words and phrases in a text.

Syntax

The arrangement of words and phrases to create sentences in a text.

Theme

The controlling idea of a literary work that is a general truth or commentary about life, people, and the world that is brought out in a story.

LOVE

LOVE CAN OVERCOME ALL OBSTACLES.

NARRATIVE

A long story told in verse form; an epic is an example of a narrative poem.

LYRIC POEM

A brief, personal poem that uses many sound devices, as well as rhythm and meter, and is filled with emotion; sonnets, odes and elegies are types of lyrics.

BALLAD

A type of poem that is actually meant to be sung and is both lyric AND narrative in nature.

RHYMED VERSE

Has regular meter and rhyme scheme.

BLANK VERSE

Unrhymed iambic pentameter (unstressed-stressed / 10 syllables).

FREE VERSE

No regular metrical rhythm or end rhyme.

SIMILE

A comparison between two dissimilar things using words such as 'like,' 'than,' 'as,' or 'resembles.'

METAPHOR / DIRECT METAPHOR

A comparison between two unlike things.