Intro to Literature

Literature

Telling a story while employee stylistic techniques

Beginning of literature

Not only pictorial, but acoustic

Spoken words and signs

pictographs and alphabets were passed on

Oral poetry

Audio literature in 21st century

Visual literature

Only in drama; combines acoustic and visual elements; the symbiosis of words and images into film

Genre

Type of kind of literature; poetry, drama, fiction, film

Poetry

Particular arrangement of words on a page

Fiction

Fables and tales; novels and short stories; made up

Non-Fixtion

True events; factual

History

An objective presentation of reality

Biography

A story of someone’s life written by another person

Autobiography

A story of someone’s life written by themselves

Plot

In fiction: the arrangement of events in a story; has an exposition, a conflict, and a resolution

Round character

A major character who experiences a change; also called a dynamic character

Flat character

A minor character who doesn’t change; also called a static character

First person pov

Uses personal pronouns: I, me, mine, we, us, our; narrator is the main character who tells his/her own story

Third person pov

Uses pronouns: he, she, it, they, them; tells the story from the outside looking in

Third person limited pov

Can see only into one characters mind

Third person omnipresent

Can relate the thoughts of all the characters

Symbolism

a creative device where an author uses an object, person, situation, or color to represent a larger, deeper meaning beyond its literal sense

Style

The way the writer presents the story; loud, boring, tense, complicated

Time and Place

Knowing time and place place helps reader better understand

Literary devices

Techniques writers use to make their writing more interesting, vivid, persuasive or meaningful

Simile

Comparison between two unlike things using like or as

Metaphor

Comparison between two unlike things without using like or as

Personification

Giving human qualities, actions, or feelings to something non-human

Hyperbole

An extreme exaggeration that has not meant to be taken lately

Imagery

Descriptive language that helps readers imagine something using their senses: site, sound, smell, taste, and touch

Alliteration

The repetition of the same consonant sound in nearby words