american lit final

Characterization

The development and description of a character. This can be direct or indirect. 

Protagonist

The chief character in a work of literature.

Antagonist

Character or force in a literary work that opposes the main character, or protagonist.

Setting

When and where (time and place) a story takes place. 

Plot

The sequence of events: exposition, inciting event, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution.

Conflict

The struggle between two forces. Often categorized by element and situation. 

Theme

The central or dominant idea or concern of a work; the main idea or meaning 

perspective

 A character's view of the situation or events in the story (also known as Point of View)

Symbol

 A person, place, or object that is representative of deeper meaning within a text. 

tone

the attitude a literary work takes towards its subject and theme; reflects the narrator's attitude. 

mood

the feeling or ambience resulting from the tone of a piece as well as the writer/narrator's 

attitude. The effect is created through descriptions of feelings or objects that establish a 

particular feeling such as gloom, fear, or hope.

foreshadow

To hint at or present things to come in a story or play.

allusion

A brief, even casual reference to a historical or literary figure, event, or object to create a resonance in the reader or to apply a symbolic meaning to the character or object of which the allusion consists. (i.e. the character name, George Milton, in Of Mice and Men alludes to the author of Paradise Lost because it references the destruction of an ideal world through corruption). 

irony

 A situation or statement characterized by a significant difference between what is expected or understood and what actually happens or is meant. Irony is frequently humorous and can be sarcastic when using words to imply the opposite of what they normally mean

Motif

 Recurrent device, formula, topic, or situation that often serves as a signal for the appearance of a character or event. The repeated pattern has a symbolic meaning to the text. 

Allegory

Narrative form in which characters and actions have meanings outside themselves; characters  are usually personifications of abstract qualities (Animal Farm= Russian Revolution).

Catharsis

Purification or cleansing of the spirit through the emotions of pity and terror as a witness to a tragedy.

Diction

An author's choice of words to convey a tone or effect.

Alliteration

The repetition of the first letter of each word (i.e. Peter picked a peck of pickled peppers)

Consonance

The repetition of two or more consonants with a change in the intervening vowels (i.e. 

pitter-patter, splish-splash, and click-clack).

Logos/Pathos/Ethos

motivation for a character OR the method used to win over a reader in writing.

Logos: an attempt to appeal to a reader through logic 

Ethos: the ethical appeal to the reader to trust the narrator/characters’ argument.

Pathos: the emotional reaction a reader has to written work. 

Epigraph

Quote set at the beginning of a literary work or at its divisions to set the tone or suggest a 

theme. 

Connotation

What is implied by a word. For example, the words sweet, gay, and awesome have 

connotations that are quite different from their actual definitions.

Denotation

The dictionary definition of a word; the direct and specific meaning

Juxtaposition

Placing of two items side by side to create a certain effect, reveal an attitude, or 

accomplish some other purpose.

Analogy

Comparison of two things that are alike in some respects. Metaphors and similes are both 

types of analogy.

Paradox

A statement that seems contradictory, but is actually true. (i.e. the beginning of the end; you  have to spend money to make money)

Imagery

Sensory details in a work; the use of figurative language to evoke a feeling, call to mind an idea, or describe an object. Imagery involves any or all of the five senses.

Metaphor

comparison between two unlike things

Simile

a comparison using “like” or “as”

Hyperbole 

 dramatic or exaggerated speech/phrase

Personification

iving inanimate objects human or living qualities

Oxymoron

a figure of speech that combines two apparently contradictory elements. 

Idiom

a figure of speech that cannot be taken literally but a part of our cultural understanding.