Eng II AAC Literary Terms

Archetype

a character, action, or situation that is a prototype or pattern of human life generally; a situation that occurs over and over again in literature, such as a quest, an initiation, or an attempt to overcome evil.

Characters

people or animals who take part in the action of a literary work  

flat character

person or animal in whom the author emphasizes a single important trait 

round character

a complex, fully-rounded personality (three-dimensional) 

static character

a person or animal who changes very little over the course of a narrative; things happen to these characters, but little happens in them

dynamic character

a character that changes in response to the actions through which he or she passes 

antagonist

the character pitted against the protagonist of a work with whom the readers most often identify; usually has evil or distasteful qualities but are not necessarily all bad If the antagonist is all-evil, he/she is considered a villain. 

protagonist

the most important or leading character in a work; usually identical to the hero/heroine, but not always; the protagonist can have both good and bad qualities 

foil

a character, who by contrast with the main character, serves to accentuate that character’s distinctive qualities or characteristics 

stock

a type of character who regularly appears in certain literary forms; they are often stereotyped characters such as a femme fatale, siren, temptress, damsel in distress, mentor, old crone, hag, witch, or naive young man from the country 

Conflict

3. describes the tension between opposing forces in a work of literature   

The most common conflicts are:  

person vs. person 

person vs. fate 

person vs. self 

person vs. nature 

person vs. society

external

a struggle against an outside force (person against person, nature, society) 

internal

a struggle between opposing needs, desires, or emotions within a character 

denotation

dictionary definition of a word

connotation

feelings and attitudes associated with a word 

dialect

regional variety of a language distinguished by pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary; language peculiar to a particular group or social class 

dialogue

character’s voice; the conversation between two or more characters 

euphemism

the use of a word or phrase that is less direct but is also less distasteful or less offensive than another

idiom

an expression that means something different from the literal meaning of the words

formal

polysyllabic, usually no contractions, scholarly 

colloquial

conversational; informal language, use contractions 

vernacular

language or dialect of a particular group or region  

slang

language that is very informal; not standard 

jargon

language that is specialized to a particular occupation or group 

standard

language accepted as the norm; language used in most writing for school 

Imagery

5. consists of the words or phrases a writer uses to represent persons, objects, actions, feelings, and ideas descriptively by appealing to the senses 

Mood

the atmosphere or predominant emotion in a literary work 

Plot

7. the sequence of events or actions in a short story, novel, play, or narrative poem  

Freytag’s Pyramid is a convenient diagram that describes the typical pattern of a dramatic or fictional work

Exposition

The storyteller sets the scene and the character’s background. 

Inciting incident

The character reacts to something that has happened, and it starts a chain reaction of events.

Rising action

The story builds. There is often a complication, which means the problem the character tried to solve gets more complex. 

Climax

The story reaches the point of greatest tension between the protagonist and antagonist. 

Falling action

The story shifts to action that happens as a result of the climax, which can also contain a reversal (when the character shows how they are changed by the events of the climax). 

Denouement (resolution)

6. The character solves the problem or conflict. 

Non-linear plot devices: 

Flashback

a scene that interrupts the action of a work to show a previous event 

Foreshadowing

the use of hints or clues in a narrative to suggest future action 

Subplot

a part of the story that develops separately from the main story

Parallel plot

a story structure in which the writer includes two or more separate narratives linked by a common character, event, or theme 

Point of view

the perspective from which a narrative is told 

1st Person

narrator is a character in the story (I) 

3rd Person Limited

narrator is not a character in the story but zooms in on the thoughts and feelings of one (or a very few) character(s) 

3rd Person Omniscient

narrator is not a character in the story but can tell us what all (or many) of the characters are thinking and feeling as well as what is happening in other places. 

3rd Person Objective

narrator is not a character in the story but can only report what characters say and do, not what any of them are thinking or feeling. 

Rhetorical shift (or turn)

refers to a change or movement in a piece resulting from an epiphany, realization, or insight gained by the speaker, a character, or the reader

epiphany

used more figuratively to describe the insight or revelation gained when one suddenly understands the essence of a (generally commonplace) object, gesture, statement, situation, moment, or mentality—that is, when one “sees” that commonplace object for what it really is beneath the surface and perceives its inner workings or nature 

Setting

the time and place in which events in a short story, novel, play, or narrative poem take place 

Structure

the framework or organization of a literary selection. 

Style

the writer’s characteristic manner of employing language 

Suspense

the quality of a short story, novel, play, or narrative poem that makes the reader or audience uncertain or tense about the outcome of events 

Syntax

the arrangement of words and the order of grammatical elements in a sentence 

Theme

the central message of a literary work 

Tone

16. the writer’s or speaker’s attitude toward a subject, character, or audience, and it is conveyed through the author’s choice of diction, point of view, imagery, detail, and syntax  

Tone can be serious, humorous, sarcastic, indignant, objective, etc. 

Figures of Speech

words or phrases that describe one thing in terms of something else

Apostrophe

a form of personification in which the absent or dead are spoken to as if present and the inanimate, as if animate

Metaphor

a comparison of two unlike things not using “like” or “as” 

Metonymy

a form of metaphor 

Oxymoron

a form of paradox that combines a pair of opposite terms into a single unusual expression 

Paradox

5. occurs when the elements of a statement contradict each other  

Although the statement may appear illogical, impossible, or absurd, it turns out to have a coherent meaning that reveals a hidden truth. 

Personification

a kind of metaphor that gives inanimate objects or abstract ideas human characteristics 

Pun

7. a play on words that are identical or similar in sound but have sharply diverse meanings.  

Puns can have serious as well as humorous uses. 

Simile

a comparison of two different things or ideas through the use of the words “like” or “as” 

Synecdoche

a form of metaphor 

Sound Devices

stylistic techniques that convey meaning through sound 

Alliteration

the practice of beginning several consecutive or neighboring words with the same sound 

Assonance

the repetition of vowel sounds in a series of words 

Consonance

the repetition of consonant sound within a series of words used to create a harmonious effect (not at beginning of words but in middle or end) 

Onomatopoeia

the use of words that mimic the sounds they describe 

Rhyme

the repetition of sounds in two more words or phrases starting with vowel sound and continuing to end of word

end rhyme

occurs at the end of lines 

internal rhyme

occurs within the line 

rhyme scheme

patterns of end rhymes (example: A B A B) 

Meter

rhythm that continuously repeats a single basic pattern; a measure or unit of metrical verse 

Allegory

the presentation of an abstract idea through more concrete means; typically a narrative that has at least two levels of meaning   

Allusion

a reference to a mythological, literary, or historical person, place, or thing 

Hyperbole

3. a deliberate, extravagant, and often outrageous exaggeration  

It may be used for either serious or comic effect. 

Irony

occurs in three types

verbal irony

occurs when a speaker or narrator says one thing while meaning the opposite 

situational irony

occurs when a situation turns out differently from what one would normally expect--though often the twist is oddly appropriate 

dramatic irony

occurs when a character or speaker says or does something that has different meanings from what he thinks it means, though the audience and other characters understand the full implications of the speech or action 

sarcasm

the use of verbal irony in which a person appears to be praising something but is actually insulting it 

Motif

a term that describes a pattern or strand of imagery or symbolism in a work of literature 

Satire

refers to the use of humorous devices like irony, understatement, and exaggeration to highlight a human folly or a societal problem  

Symbolism

the use of any object, person, place, or action that both has a meaning in itself and that stands for something larger than itself, such as a quality, attitude, belief, or value. There are two basic types, universal (a symbol that is common to all mankind) and contextual (a symbol used in a particular way by an individual author). 

Understatement

the opposite of hyperbole