Literary Canon, Elements of Fiction, and Narrative Techniques Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering literary canon, elements of fiction, narrative techniques, and figures of speech derived from the lesson notes.

Literary Canon

A collection of literary works that are widely recognized as important, influential, or worthy of study within a particular culture, time, or period; it may change as societies reconsider which works matter.

Setting

Where and when the story takes place, including geographical location, time, season/era, atmosphere, and social/cultural background.

Characterization

Methods used to create, describe, and develop characters—their looks, personality, habits, feelings, and background.

Plot

The ordered sequence of events happening in a story: beginning, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.

Conflict

The struggle, problem, clash, or difficult choice characters must face, with types including person vs self, others, nature, society, or fate.

Theme

The central message, lesson, insight, or deeper meaning the author wants readers to learn, which is distinct from the sequence of events (plot).

First-person Point-of-View

A narration style using "I / me / my" where the narrator shares their own thoughts and feelings only and cannot know others' minds.

Second-person Point-of-View

A narration style using "you" that speaks directly to the reader.

Third-person Limited Point-of-View

A narration style using "he / she / it / they" that follows one character closely but does not use "I".

Third-person Omniscient Point-of-View

A narration style using "he / she / they" where the narrator knows all characters' thoughts and everything everywhere.

Narrative / Literary Techniques

Methods or strategies a writer uses to build and tell a story, including POV, flashbacks, foreshadowing, dialogue, pacing, and description.

Foreshadowing

Giving hints, clues, or suggestions earlier about something important that will happen later to build curiosity and expectation.

Flashback

Interrupting normal time-order/sequence to jump backward and describe something that happened before the present story began.

Dramatic Irony

When the reader or audience knows something important that characters do not know yet, creating worry, tension, or suspense.

Literary Devices

Tools, techniques, or special language patterns writers use to create deeper meaning, stronger feeling, clearer pictures, and make writing more interesting or effective.

Simile

A literary device that compares two different things using connecting words such as "like" or "as".

Metaphor

A literary device that compares two different things directly by stating one thing is another without using connecting words like "like" or "as".

Personification

Giving human qualities, actions, feelings, speech, or habits to non-human objects, nature, abstract ideas, or animals.

Apostrophe

A device where a speaker directly addresses or speaks to an absent/dead person, object, natural force, or abstract concept as if it stood there alive and could reply.

Hyperbole

Intentional, obvious, extreme exaggeration that is not meant to be literally true, used only for strong feeling, humor, or making a point.

Onomatopoeia

Words whose spelling sounds like the actual noise they describe, such as buzz, crash, sizzle, whisper, and bang.

Euphemism

Replacing blunt, rude, sad, embarrassing, or unpleasant words or phrases with softer, gentler, indirect, "polite" expressions.

Irony / Verbal Irony

The difference or contrast between what is said and actual truth, or what is expected versus what really happens, where words mean the opposite or different than what they literally state.