AP Lit Literary Terms - Prose

Bildungsroman

a special kind of novel that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of its main character from his or her youth to adulthood

Comedy

a type of drama, opposed to tragedy, having usually a happy ending, and emphasizing human limitation rather than human greatness

Comedy of Manners

comedy that ridicules the manners ( way of life, social customs, etc. ) of a certain segment of society

Satire

a kind of literature that ridicules human folly or vice with the purpose of bringing about reform or of keeping others from falling into similar folly or vice

Scornful Comedy

a type of comedy whose main purpose is to expose and ridicule human folly, vanity, or hypocrisy

Romantic Comedy

a type of comedy whose likable and sensible main characters are placed in difficulties from which they are rescued at the end of the play

Farce

a type of comedy that relies on exaggeration, horseplay, and unrealistic or improbable situations to provoke laughter

Fable

short narrative making an edifying or cautionary point, often employing animal characters that act like human beings

Fantasy

a kind of fiction that pictures creatures or events beyond the boundaries of known reality

Historical Fiction

story with fictional characters and events in a historical setting

Myth

any story that attempts to explain how the world was created or why the world is the way that it is. _____ are stories that are passed on from generation to generation and normally involve religion. Most _____ were first spread by oral tradition and then were written down in some literary form. Many ancient literary works are, in fact, _____ as _____ appear in every ancient culture of the planet

Novel

a book of long fictional, narrative in literary prose

Novella/Short Novel

a written, fictional, prose narrative shorter than a novel

Parable

a simple story illustrating a moral or religious lesson

Tragedy

drama in which a noble protagonist — a person of unusual moral or intellectual stature or outstanding abilities — falls to ruin during a struggle caused by a tragic flaw ( or hamartia ) in his character or an error in his rulings or judgment

Epistolary

novel a novel written as a series of documents

First Person POV

story is told by one of its characters, using the first person

Flashback

a literary device in which an earlier event is inserted into a narrative

Flashforward

a literary device in which a later event is inserted into a narrative

In Medias Res

( into the middle of things ) a Latin phrase denoting the literary and artistic narrative technique wherein the relation of a story begins either at the mid-point or at the conclusion, rather than at the beginning, establishing setting, character, and conflict via flashback and expository conversations

Limited POV

the author tells the story, using the third person, but is limited to a complete knowledge of one character in the story and tells us only what that one character thinks, feels, sees, or hears

Linear Structure

a plot that follows a straight-moving, cause and effect, chronological order

Objective POV

the author tells the story, using the third person, but is limited to reporting what the characters say or do; the author does not interpret their behavior or tell us their private thoughts or feelings

Omniscient POV

the author tells the story, using the third person, knowing all and free to tell us anything, including what the characters are thinking or feeling and why they act as they do

Narrator

the speaker or the "voice" of an oral or written work. Although it can be, the ________ is not usually the same person as the author. The ________ is one of three types of characters in a given work, (1) participant ( protagonist or participant in any action that may take place in the story ), (2) observer ( someone who is indirectly involved in the action of a story ), or (3) non participant ( one who is not at all involved in any action of the story ). The ________ is the direct window into a piece of work

Nonlinear Structure

when the plot is presented in a non-causal order, with events presented in a random series jumping to and from the main plot with flashbacks or flash forwards; or in any other manner that is either not chronological or not cause and effect, for example, in medias res

Point of View

the angle of vision from which a story is told

Stream of Conciousness

narrative which presents the private thoughts of a character without commentary or interpretation by the author

Unreliable Narrator

a narrator whose credibility has been seriously compromised; usually first-person narrators

Antagonist

character in a story or poem who opposes the main character ( protagonist ). sometimes the __________ is an animal, an idea, or a thing

Character

(1) any of the persons involved in a story or play [sense 1] (2) the distinguishing moral qualities and personal traits of a character [sense 2]

Characterization

the process of conveying information about characters, either directly or indirectly

Dynamic Character

a character ( sense 1 ) who during the course of a story undergoes a permanent change in some aspect of character ( sense 2 ) or outlook

Flat Character

a character ( sense 1 ) whose character ( sense 2 ) is summed up in one or two traits

Foil

a character who contrasts with another character ( usually the protagonist ) in order to highlight various features of that other character's personality, throwing these characteristics into sharper focus

Hero

a man who is endowed with great courage and strength, celebrated for bold exploits, favored by the gods

Protagonist

the main character of a novel, play, or film

Round Character

a character ( sense 1 ) whose character ( sense 2 ) is complex and many sided.

Static Character

a character who is the same sort of person at the end of a story as at the beginning.

Stock Character

a stereotyped character.

Tragic Flaw

a flaw in the character of the protagonist of a tragedy that brings the protagonist to ruin or sorrow

Anticlimax

a sudden descent from the impressive or significant to the ludicrous or inconsequential

Catastrophe

the concluding action of a classical tragedy containing the resolution of the plot

Comic Relief

a humorous incident introduced into a serious literary work in order to relieve dramatic tension or heighten emotional impact

Deus ex Machina

( god from the machine ) The resolution of a plot by use of a highly improbable chance or coincidence ( so named from the practice of some Greek dramatists of having a god descend from heaven at the last possible minute — in the theater by means of a stage machine — to rescue the protagonist from an impossible situation ).

Indeterminate Ending

an ending in which the central problem or conflict is left unresolved

Inversion

a reversal in order, nature, or effect

Mystery

an unusual set of circumstances for which the reader craves an explanation; used to create suspense

Plot

the sequence of incidents or events of which a story is composed

Plot Manipulation

a situation in which an author gives the plot a twist or turn unjustified by preceding action or by the characters involved

Plot Device

an object, character, or event whose only reason for existing is to advance the story. Often breaks suspension of disbelief

Suspense

that quality in a story that makes the reader eager to discover what happens next and how it will end

Subplot

a plot subordinate to the main plot of a literary work

Aside

a brief speech in which a character turns from the person being addressed to speak directly to the audience; a dramatic device for letting the audience know what a character is really thinking or feeling as opposed to what the character pretends to think or feel

Dialogue

(1) conversation between characters in a drama or narrative. (2) a literary work written in the form of a conversation

Monologue

(1) a dramatic soliloquy. (2) a literary composition in such form

Prologue

an introduction or a preface, esp. a poem recited to introduce a play

Scene

a subdivision of an act in a dramatic presentation in which the setting is fixed and the time continuous

Soliloquy

a device often used in drama where by a character relates his or her thoughts and feelings to him/herself and to the audience without addressing any of the other characters