Literary Terms Set 1

Antagonist

The character you are rooting against in a story

Autobiography

An account of a person's life written by that person

Biography

An account of a person's life written by someone else

Characterization

When a writer reveals the personality of a character

Dialect

Writing that reflects the speech patterns or accents

Dialogue

The exact words that a character says which is displayed within quotation marks

Direct

This type of characterization is when the writer describes the character or tells us what he or she is like

Dynamic

A character that changes in an important way by the end of the story

Fantasy

A story that contains characters and events that could not exist in real life and have no basis in science

Fiction

A type of literature that tells about imaginary people and events (the story has been made up)

First Person Point of View

The narrator or person telling the story is one of the characters within the story. You see the pronouns "I and "me"

Flat

A character that is not well developed. The reader does not learn a lot about him/her throughout the story

Genre

Type of literature

Historical Fiction

This type of story has a made up story or characters but is based on an actual time period in history or actual people or events in history

Imagery

Language used in writing that appeals to the senses and helps the reader visualize what is happening

Indirect

This type of characterization is when the reader figures out what type of person a character is based on the things the character does or says

Limited

This type of Third Person point of view is when the narrator reveals the thoughts and feelings of one character from the story

Mystery

A story that is based on solving crimes

Nonfiction

A type of literature that deals with real people and real events rather than imaginary or made up ones

Objective

This type of Third Person Point of View is when the narrator does not reveal any character's thoughts or feelings

Omniscient

This type of Third Person Point of view is when the narrator reveals the thoughts and feelings of many or all the characters

Point of View

The perspective from which the story is told (Whose eyes the story is told from)

Protagonist

The character you are rooting for in a story

Round

A character that is well developed. The reader learns a lot about him/her throughout the story

Science Fiction

A story that uses science and technology in order to make stories that seem impossible become believable

Second Person Point of View

The narrator telling the story is speaking to the reader. You see the pronoun "you"

Setting

The time and place that a story occurs

Static

A character that does not change in an important way by the end of the story

Theme

The lesson learned in a story

Third Person Point of View

The narrator is outside of the story. You see the pronouns "he" or "she"