Studied by 8 peopleCharacterization
a description of the distinctive nature or features of someone or something
Antagonist
The main character who works against the protagonist.
Protagonist
The central character in a story, the one who initiates or drives the action. Usually the hero or antihero; in a tragic hero, like John Proctor of The Crucible, there is always hamartia, or tragic flaw in his character which will lead to his downfall.
Conflict
The opposition between two characters (such as a protagonist and an antagonist), between two large groups of people, or between the protagonist and a larger problem such as forces of nature, ideas, public mores, and so on.
Plot
the series of related events in a story (storyline)
Setting
The general locale, historical time, and social circumstances in which the action of a fictional or dramatic work occurs
Point of View
The way a story gets told and who tells it. It’s a method of narration that shows where the story unfolds from a person's perspective
Flashback
a scene that interrupts the normal chronological sequence of events in a story to depict something that happened at an earlier time.
Foreshadowing
A device used in literature to create expectation or to set up an explanation of later developments.
Diction
Word choice, particularly as an element of style.
Syntax
Ability to create a variety of sentence structures, appropriately complex and/or simple and varied in length. Sentence structures that are extraordinarily complex and involved. Often difficult for a reader to follow.
Rhetorical Appeal
The qualities of an argument that make it truly persuasive.
Ethos
Appeal to the authority of the rhetoric.
Pathos
Appeal to the emotions of the audience.
Logos
Appeal to the systems of reasoning the rhetoric and the audience share.
Mood
An atmosphere created by a writer’s diction and the details selected.
Theme
The central idea or message of a story.
Tone
The author's attitude toward a certain topic.
Imagery
The representation of an object or scene made by applying the 5 senses to it.
Metaphor
A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things without the use of such specific words of comparison as like, as, than, or resembles.
Motif
A recurring idea in a piece of literature.
Personification
Attributing human characteristics to something nonhuman.
Similie
A figure of speech which compares two unlike things using words “like” or “as”.
Symbol
Anything that represents or stands for something else.
Tragic Hero
The protagonist of a tragedy
Tragic Flaw
Also Hamartia, a flaw or error made
Tragedy
Serious incidents in which protagonists undergo a change from happiness to suffering
Soliloquy
When characters think out loud in a play
Aside
When a character speaks to the audience, but not to the characters in the play
Monologue
A long speech made by one character in a theatrical play.
Stanza
A “paragraph” of poetry
Free Verse
Poetry written in an improper meter however, it still flows
Rhyme Scheme
The ordered pattern of rhymes in poetry.
Note
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