7th Grade Lit. Terms

7th grade literary terms for the year

Fiction

prose for writing that tells about imaginary characters and events. short stories and novels are examples of this type of writing. some writers base their writing on actual events and people, adding invented characters, dialouge, settings, and plots. other writers rely on imagination alone

Novel

a long work of fiction; it contains such elements as characters, plot, conflict, and setting; the writer (novelist) develops these elements; in addition to the main plot, it may contain one or more subplot, or independent, related stories; it may have several themes

Novella

a work of fiction that is longer than a short story but shorter than a novel

Short Story

a brief work of fiction; like a novel, it presents a sequence of events, or plot; the plot usually deals with a central conflict faced by a main character, or protagonist; the events usually communicate a message about human nature or life; this message, or central idea, is the story’s theme

Plot

sequence of events in which each event results from a previous one and causes the next; in most novels, drama, short stories, and narrative poems, it nivolves both characters and a central conflict

Exposition

introduces the setting, the characters,(The time and place of the story) and the basic situation(conflict is often introduced at the end of this part of the plot)

Rising Action

events that increase the tension

Climax

the turning point in the story; it is the high point in the action of the plot; it is the moment of greatest tension when the outcome of the plot hangs in the balance

Falling Action

is the part of the story when the conflict lessens; events that follow the climax

Resolution

is the story’s conclusion; final outcome is achieved; loose ends are tied up

Character

a person or animal that takes part in the action of a literary work; the main, major, one of the most important one in a story, poem, or play; a minor one is one who takes part in the action, but is n ot the focus of attention.

Setting

the time and place of the action; it includes all the details of a place and time; the year, the time of day, even the weather.

Theme

central mesage, concern,or purpose in a literary work; it can usually be expressed as a generalization, or a general statement, about human beings or life; it is not a summary of its plot.

Point of View

the perspective, or vintage point, from which a story is told; it is either a narrator outside the story or a character in the story.

Conflict

a struggle between opposing forces; it is one of the most important elements of stories, novels, and plays because it causes the action; there are two types: external and internal

Flashback

A scene within a story that interrupts the sequence of events to relate events that occured in the past

Foreshadowing

The author’s use of clues to hint at what might happen later in the story

External Conflict

One in which a character struggles against some kind of outside force such as another person; another one may occur between a character and some force in nature

Internal Conflict

It takes place within the mind of a character; the character struggles to make a decision, take an action, or overcome a feeling

First person point of view

Told by a character who uses a first person pronoun “I”

Third person point of view

There are two kinds, limited and omniscent; they are called third persion because the narrator uses third person pronouns such as he or she to refer to the characters

Omniscient

In stories told from this point of view, the narrator knows and tells about what each character feels and thinks

Limited point of view

In stories told from this point of view, the narrator relates the inner thoughts and feelings of only one character, and everything is viewed from this character"‘s perspective

Dialect

The form of a language spoken by people in a particular region or group; they differ in pronounciation, grammar, and word choice; the use of it gives a short story a more authentic feel and helps a character’s words sound more realistic

Dialouge

A conversation between the characters; in poems, novels, and short stories, it is usually set off by quotation marks to indicate a speaker’s exact words

Protagonist

The main character in a literary work; it is often a person but sometimes it can be an animal

Antagonist

This is a character or a force in conflict with a main character

Alliteration

The repetition of initial consonant sounds; writers use this device to draw attention to certain words, ideas, to imitate sounds, and to create musical effects.

Tone

the writer’s attitude toward his or her audience and subject; it can often be described by a single adjective, such as formal or informal, serious or playful, bitter, or ironic

Mood

the feeling created in the read by of a literary work or passage; it is also known as atmosphere

figurative language

is writing or speech that is not meant to be taken literally; the many types are known as figures of speech; common figures of speech include metaphor, personification, and simile; writers use these techniques to state ideas in vivid andd imaginative ways

hyperbole

a form of figurative language that uses exaggeration for effect

imagery

a technique of writing with images

images

words or phrases that appeal to one or more of the five senses; writers use these to describe how their subjects look, sound, feel, taste, and smell

metaphor

a figure of speech in which something is described as though it were something else; it works by pointing out a similarity between two unlike things

motive

a reason that explains or partially explains a character’s thoughts, feelings, actions, or speech; writers try to make their character’s thoughts, feelings, actions, or speech as clear as possible

narrative

a story; novels and short stories are fictional examples; biographies and autobiographies are nonfiction examples

onomatopoeia

the use of words to imitate sounds; crash, buzz, screech, hiss, neigh, jingle, and cluck are examples

personification

figurative language in which a nonhuman subject is given human characteristics

repetition

the use, more than once, of any element of language, a sound, word, phrase, clause, or sentence

simile

a figure of speech that uses like or as to make a direct comparison between two unlike ideas; everyday speech contains these such as “pale as a ghost”, “good as gold'“, “spread like wildfire”, and “clever as a fox”

symbol

anything that stands for or represents something else; these are common in everyday life; a dove with an olive branch in its beak means peace; a blindfolded woman holding a balanced scale stands for justice

universal theme

a message about life that is expressed regularly in many different cultures and time periods; folk tales, epics, and romances often contain these like the importance of courage, the power of love, or the danger of greed

allusion

a reference to something else

comedy

a literary work, especially a play, which is light, often humorous or satirical, and ends happily; they frequently depict ordinary characters faced with temporary difficulties and conflicts.

drama

a story written to be performed by actors; although it is meant to be performed, one can also read the script, or written version, and imagine the ction

script

made up of dialogue and stage directions

dialogue

the words spoken by the actors

acts

this is how a drama is divided

stage directions

notes included in a drama to describe how the work is to be performed or staged; these are usually printed in italics and are enclosed within parentheses or brackets; they describe the movements, costumes, emotional states, and ways of speaking of the characters.

scene

a section of uninterrupted action in the act of a drama

playwright

a person who writes plays

tragedy

a work of literature, especially a play, that results in a catastrophe for the main character; in modern drama, the main character can be an ordinary person, and the cause of it can be some evil in society itself

set

the scenery used for a play or a movie

theater

a building or outdoor area in which plays and other dramatic performances are given

prop

a portable object other than furniture or costumes used on the set of a play or a movie

actors

the people who perform the play.