Grade 8 English - Lesson 1: Analyzing the Structural Context of an Afro-Asian Short Story

Vocabulary flashcards defining key literary concepts, character types, characterization methods, and elements from the Panchatantra story 'The Lion Makers'.

Afro-Asian Literature

A term fused to describe the spoken or written literary works, such as short stories and poems, by people from Africa and Asia.

Prose

A general classification of literature, either oral or written, that follows the natural flow of speech and is used in fiction and non-fiction.

Conflict

The struggle or problem between two opposing forces in a story.

Plot

The logical sequence of events in a story.

Setting

The time and place of the story.

Character

A person, animal, being, creature, or thing represented in a story that performs the actions and speaks dialogue.

Round Character

A character with a fully developed personality that is affected by the story's events and can learn, grow, or deteriorate by the end of the story.

Flat Character

A one-dimensional character in a story.

Dynamic Character

A character who goes through change and grows during a story.

Static Character

A character who does not go through a change during a story.

Characterization

The description of a character's physical traits, point of view, personality, private thoughts, and actions.

Panchatantra

A compilation of interwoven series of tales in prose and poetry, mostly animal fables, compiled in Sanskrit and Pali and attributed to Pandit Vishnu Sharma around the 3rd century BCE.

Pandit Vishnu Sharma

The scholar to whom the compilation of the Panchatantra is attributed.

Eldest Brahman

The character in 'The Lion Makers' who knew how to assemble the skeleton of the dead lion.

Second Brahman

The character in 'The Lion Makers' who supplied skin, flesh, and blood to the skeleton of the dead lion.

Third Brahman

The character in 'The Lion Makers' who used his scholarship to give the breath of life to the lion.

Fourth Brahman

The man of sense in 'The Lion Makers' who lacked scholarship, recognized the danger of reviving the lion, and saved himself by climbing a tree.