Literary Terms and IQPA

Exposition

Background information at the the beginning of a story.

Theme

The larger meaning of the story,takeaways from the story, or moral of the story

Characterization

Details that teach the reader about a character in the story

Anthropomorphism

An animal is portrayed as having human characteristics

Allegory

An extended metaphor in which the entire story represents something else.

External Conflict

A struggle a character is having with the outside world.

Satire

A story that pokes fun at society

Hyperbole

Extreme exaggeration

Protagonist

The main character

Motivation

Why a character acts the way he/she does

Personification

Attributing human characteristics t inanimate objects

Diction

Author’s word choice

Antagonist

The person who acts against the main character

Internal Conflict

A struggle that a character has within himself/herself

Tone

How the author feels this is implied by the author’s word choice.

Simile

A comparison using like or as

Point of view

The perspective from which the story is told

Setting

The place and time that the story is told

Metaphor

A comparison between two objects that do not seem to literally be similar ( symbolic or representative)

Symbolism

Something in a story that represents something else