Literary terms

Mood

the overall emotion and atmosphere the author intends the reader to feel while reading the book

Theme

he main idea around which a particular piece of writing or speech revolves

Tone

the mood implied by an author's word choice and the way that the text can make a reader feel

Genre

a term used to classify types of spoken or written discourse

Flashback

a scene that takes place before a story begins.

Antagonist

the opposing force that the main character, also known as the protagonist, faces.

Allusion

an implied or indirect reference to a person, event, or thing or to a part of another text.

Anti-hero

a main characterin a story who may lack some conventional heroic qualities and attributes, such as idealism, courage, and morality.

Protagonist

the character who drives the action

Foreshadowing

a literary device used to give an indication or hint of what is to come later in the story.

Symbolism

a figure of speech that is used when an author wants to create a certain mood or emotion in a work of literature

Suspense

the audience's excited anticipation about the plot or conflict

Dynamic character

one who learns a lesson or changes as a person

Flat character

two-dimensional in that they are relatively uncomplicated and do not change throughout the course of a work.

Round character

often has many dimensions to their personality, undergoes personal growth and has motivations behind their actions.

Static character

a type of character who remains largely the same throughout the course of the storyline.

Setting

the time, place, and environment in which a story occurs.

Alliteration

repetition of the same sound at the start of a series of words in succession whose purpose is to provide an audible pulse that gives a piece of writing a lulling, lyrical, and/or emotive effect.

Imagery

literary device used in poetry, novels, and other writing that uses vivid description that appeals to a readers' senses to create an image or idea in their head

Simile

a figure of speech that compares two unlike things using the words “like” or “as.”

Metaphor

comparison between two things that are otherwise unrelated

Personification

the attribution of human characteristics to things, abstract ideas, etc., as for literary or artistic effect

Characterization

the description of a character's physical traits (how a character looks), point of view, personality, private thoughts, and actions.

Hyperbole

a rhetorical and literary technique where an author or speaker intentionally uses exaggeration and overstatement for emphasis and effect

Onomatopoeia

a literary device that uses the letter sounds of a word to imitate the natural sound emitted from an object or action

Internal conflict

the type of conflict that occurs within a character in a story

External conflict

type of literary conflict in which the protagonist has to struggle against other characters (called antagonists), nature, or society

what point of view is this-the narrator is a person in the story, telling the story from their own point of view

1st

What point of view is this-the reader is part of the story

2nd

What third person view is this-gives the writer more freedom to move across time and space or into or out of the world of the story

Third person omniscient

What third person view is this-the POV that uses a narrator with access to only one character's perspective

Third person limited

Exposition

an element of literature that introduces the key background information of a narrative

Inciting incident

the event that sets the main character or characters on the journey that will occupy them throughout the narrative

Rising action

a series of plot events that build up toward the climax of a narrative

Climax

the highest point of tension in a storyline, often depicted by a confrontation between the protagonist and antagonist

Falling action

the period of time in a story that follows the climax and leads to the resolution

Denouement

the point in a story in which the conflict is resolved

Resolution

the conclusion of a story's plot

Oxymoron

a figure of speech that combines contradictory words with opposing meanings