Lecture Notes on Narrative Elements, Literary Devices, Figurative Language, Essay Structure and Writing Style

Vocabulary flashcards based on lecture notes about Narrative Elements, Literary Devices, Figurative Language, Essay Structure and Writing Style.

Plot

The events that tell what happens in the story

Plot Definition

The events that tell what happens in the story

Protagonist

The hero

Antagonist

The villain that causes the issue that the protagonist fights back

First-person point of view

Seeing the story through the eyes of a character

Third-person point of view

The point of view in which you are not involved in the story at all.

Conflict

A problem or struggle in the story

Physical Setting

Where and When the story takes place

Atmosphere

The feeling the setting creates in the story

Theme

The lesson learned from the story

Literary Devices

A larger collection of figures of speech combined with interesting language.

Figurative language

A figure of speech that uses words that have a different meaning than the literal meaning.

Allegory

A story where characters and events represent deeper meanings, like morals, politics, or religion.

Alliteration

The repetition of the same beginning sound in words close together.

Allusion

A quick reference to something or someone famous without explaining it.

Analogy

A detailed comparison between two things that seem different to show how they are alike.

Anthropomorphism

Giving animals human traits, making them act and think like people.

Archetype

A typical character or situation that shows up again and again in stories.

Assonance

The repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words.

Cliché

An overused phrase or idea that has lost its originality.

Connotation

The extra feeling or idea that a word suggests beyond its basic meaning.

Denotation

The direct, dictionary meaning of a word.

Diction

The words a writer chooses.

Euphemism

A nicer way of saying something that might sound rude or harsh.

Flashback

When the story jumps back to something that happened earlier.

Foreshadowing

A hint about what will happen later in the story.

Hyperbole

An extreme exaggeration.

Imagery

Words that create pictures in your mind by describing how things look, sound, smell, taste, or feel.

Irony

When the opposite of what you expect happens or is said.

Verbal irony

Say one thing but mean another

Situational irony

The opposite of what you expect happens

Dramatic irony

The reader knows something the character doesn’t

Juxtaposition

Putting two things side-by-side to show their differences.

Metaphor

Saying something is something else to show a connection without using “like” or “as.”

Mood

The feeling the writer creates for the reader.

Motif

An image, idea, or word that keeps showing up in a story to help show a theme.

Non sequitur

When something said or happens that doesn’t make sense with what came before.

Onomatopoeia

A word that sounds like the noise it makes.

Oxymoron

Two words that seem to say opposite things, put together.

Paradox

A sentence that seems like it can’t be true, but actually makes sense in a deeper way.

Pathetic fallacy

When the weather or nature shows how a character feels.

Pathos

When writing makes you feel sympathy or pity for a character.

Personification

Giving human actions or feelings to things that aren’t human.

Point of view

Who is telling the story.

First-person

The narrator says 'I'

Second-person

The narrator says 'you'

Third-person limited

The narrator tells about one character’s thoughts

Third-person omniscient

The narrator knows everything about everyone

Pun

A funny play on words that sound alike but mean different things.

Repetition

When a writer uses the same word or phrase again and again to make a point or create rhythm.

Satire

Writing that makes fun of people’s bad habits or society’s problems to try to inspire change. It uses humor to criticize.

Simile

Compares two different things using the words “like” or “as.”

Symbol

Something that stands for or represents a bigger idea or feeling.

Theme

The main message or idea in a story that the writer wants the reader to think about.

Tone

The author’s attitude or feeling about the topic or audience, shown through their word choices and style.

Trope

A common image, idea, or style in stories.

Highlight

Important information, powerful ideas, passages that speak to you, strong imagery & literary devices used

Connections

Making Connections from text-to-self, text-to-world/pop culture, text-to-text/media

Inquiry & Inferences

Ask questions: what don’t I understand? What is really happening here? Make inferences

Reactions

Your feelings, emotions, and thoughts while reading a text

Predictions

Based on inferences made/prior knowledge

Summarize

Main ideas, important information, plot details/elements