AP Lit - Literary Terms List #1

Narrator

the voice telling the story in fiction

falling action

the resulting events after the main character’s fortunes are decided

climax

the point in the story where the main character’s fortunes are decided

hubris

self-indulgent confidence that ignores warnings, bringing bad consequences

1st Person

A narrative voice that is a character in the story

in media res

a phase used to describe a story that begins in the action

archaetype

the recurrent themes, images, patterns, and characters in all literaturesepic

epic

a long narrative poem in elevated style about superhuman heroes

limited p.o.v

a narrative voice that can usually only see the main characters thoughts

rising action

events of increasing tension leading to the peak of interest

anatagonist

the chief opponent of the main character in a story or drama

flashback

a sudden jump backwards to an earlier episode in a storyline

1st person

a narrative voice that is a character in these story

setting

the time and location of a story

theme

the central idea or underlying message of a literary work, which may or may not be obvious

exposition

the part of a story that sets up the boundaries of the events and setting