element

Parable

a brief narrative that teaches a moral lesson; differs from fables in that the moral themes are implicit and can often be interpreted in several ways

Fable

a brief story an explicit moral provided by the author; the characters in fables are traditionally animals whose personality traits suggest human traits

Allegory

a narrative in which the literal events (persons, places, things) consistently point to a parallel sequence of symbolic ideas; this narrative strategy is often used to dramatize abstract ideas, historical events, religious concepts ,or political issues

myth

a traditional narrative of anonymous authorship that arises out of a culture's oral tradition; the characters in myths are usually gods or heroic figures; myths characteristically explain the origins of things

legend

a traditional narrative handed down through popular oral tradition to illustrate and celebrate a remarkable person, an important event, or to explain the unexplained

fairy tale

a traditional form of short narrative folklore, usually beginning in the oral tradition, that features supernatural elements; fairy tales often feature a hero or heroine who seems destined to achieve some desirable fate

tall tale

a humorous short narrative that provides a wildly exaggerated version of events; original an oral form, the tall tale assumes that its audience knows the narrator is distorting the events

tale

a short narrative without a complex plot; tales are an ancient form of narrative found in folklore, and traditional tales often contain supernatural elements; a tale differs from a short story by its tendency toward less developed characters and linear plotting

short story

a brief prose narrative that differs from the novel or novella, not only in length, but in that it limits the number of characters, settings, themes, etc.

novella

a short novel

novel

an extended work of prose fiction; because of its extended length, a novel usually has more characters, more varied scenes, greater depth in themes, and a broader coverage of time than the short story

literary nonfiction

a type of prose that employs the techniques of fiction to report on actual persons, places, and events

genre

a category for classifying literature; a genre implies a preexisting understanding between the artist and the reader about the purpose and rules of the work

canon

when applied to an individual author, ______ means the sum total of works written by that author; when used generally, it means the range of works that a consensus of scholars, teachers, and readers of a particular time and culture consider "great" or "major"

parody

a mocking imitation of a literary work or individual author's style, usually for comic effect; a parody typically exaggerates distinctive features of the original for humorous purposes

satire

a literary work that criticizes human misconduct and ridicules vices, stupidities, and errors; the point of satire is more than mere humor or mocking; it intends to improve humanity by criticizing failings, follies, and foibles

symbol[ism]

a person, place, or thing in a narrative that suggests meaning beyond its literal sense; the symbol stands for something, but more than that, it can accrue multiple meanings and associations as the work develops

motif

an element that recurs significantly throughout a narrative; a _____ can be an image, idea, theme, situation, or action; a motif can also refer to an element that recurs across many literary works, such as the of someone testing a hero's wisdom by asking a riddle

allusion

a brief (and sometimes subtle or indirect) reference to history, mythology, literature, music, painting, et cetera; ___ imply a common set of knowledge between the writer and the reader and operate as a literary shorthand to enrich the meaning of the text

archetype

a recurring symbol, image, character, landscape, or event found in myth and literature across different cultures and eras; the idea of the archetype came into literary criticism from the Swiss psychologist Carl Jung who believed that all individuals share a "collective unconscious," a set of primal memories common to the human race that exists in our subconscious

verbal irony

a statement in which the speaker or writer says the opposite of what is really meant

situational irony

the incongruity between what the reader and/or character expects to happen and what actually does happen; outcomes are significantly different from what was expected or considered appropriate; situational irony could also take the form of a discrepancy between what seems to be and what is

dramatic irony

the discrepancy between what the readers/viewers know and what the characters know; a kind of suspenseful expectation, dramatic irony occurs when the audience or reader understands the implications and meaning of a situation but the character does not; the irony forms between the contrasting levels of knowledge

cosmic irony

a type of situational irony that can be used for either tragic or comic purposes; cosmic irony is the discrepancy between actions and their results, between appearances and reality; cosmic irony implies that a god or fate controls and even toys with human beings

convention

an established feature or technique in literature that is commonly understood by both writers and readers; a convention is something generally agreed on to be appropriate for its customary uses

dialogue

the direct representation of the conversation between two or more characters

flashback

a plot-structuring device whereby a scene from the fictional past is inserted into the fictional present or dramatized out of order

foreshadowing

in plot structuring, the technique of arranging events and information in such a way that later events are prepared for, or shadowed, beforehand; the author may introduce specific words, images, or actions in order to suggest significant later events; the effective use of foreshadowing by an author may prevent a story's outcome from seeming haphazard or contrived

suspense

Enjoyable anxiety created in the reader by the author's handling of plot; when outcome of events is unclear, the author's suspension of resolution intensifies the reader's interest, particularly if the plot involves characters to whom the reader or audience is sympathetic; suspense is also created when the fate of a character is clear to the audience, but not the character; the suspense results from the audience's anticipation of how and when the character will meet his or her inevitable fate

stream of consciousness

not a specific technique, but a type of modern narration that uses various literary devices, especially interior monologue, in an attempt to duplicate the subjective and associative nature of human consciousness; stream of consciousness often focuses on imagistic perception in order to capture the the pre-verbal level of consciousness

epistolary novel

a novel in which the story is told by way of letters written by one or more of the characters; this form often lends an authenticity to the story, an imagined sense that the author may have discovered these letters

didactic fiction

a narrative that intends to teach a specific moral lesson or provide a model for proper behavior; this term is now often used pejoratively to describe a story in which the events seem manipulated in order to convey a moral or an uplifting idea

bildungsroman

German for "novel of growth and development;" sometimes called an "apprenticeship novel," this genre depicts a youth who struggles toward maturity, usually forming a worldview or philosophy of life on the process

plot

the particular arrangement of action, events that unfold a narrative

exposition

the opening section of a narrative or dramatic structure in which characters, setting, theme, and conflict can be revealed

conflict

the central struggle between two or more forces in a story

external conflict

A struggle between a character and an outside force

internal conflict

a mental or emotional struggle that occurs within a character

complication

An intensification of the conflict in a story or play

rising action

the series of conflicts or struggles that build a story toward a climax.

climax

the most intense part

falling action

follows after the climax

resolution

the final stage of plot

sub-plot

a subordinate plot that coexist with main plot

anti-climax

When the climax is a let down because it is often less exciting than the previous events and is often unbelievable to the reader.

hero

positive assessment of the character and goal

anti-hero

lack trait as a normal hero

stock character

a stereotypical character

Archetypal Characters

character types that can be found in literary works from different cultures throughout the ages

foil

A character who acts as a contrast to another character

theme

The main idea of the story

Charactarization

how the author portrays a character

3rd person objective

narrator outside story who reveals none of the thoughts of the characters

3rd person omniscient

A method of storytelling in which the narrator knows the thoughts and feelings of all of the characters in the story.

style

the distinctive way in which a writer uses language

tone

the attitude

voice

The distinctive style or manner of expression

Diction

word choice

syntax

way author arrange words

Parable

a brief narrative that teaches a moral lesson; differs from fables in that the moral themes are implicit and can often be interpreted in several ways

Fable

a brief story an explicit moral provided by the author; the characters in ____ are traditionally animals whose personality traits suggest human traits

Allegory

a narrative in which the literal events (persons, places, things) consistently point to a parallel sequence of symbolic ideas; this narrative strategy is often used to dramatize abstract ideas, historical events, religious concepts ,or political issues

myth

a traditional narrative of anonymous authorship that arises out of a culture's oral tradition; the characters in _____ are usually gods or heroic figures; _____ characteristically explain the origins of things

legend

a traditional narrative handed down through popular oral tradition to illustrate and celebrate a remarkable person, an important event, or to explain the unexplained

fairy tale

a traditional form of short narrative folklore, usually beginning in the oral tradition, that features supernatural elements; ______ often feature a hero or heroine who seems destined to achieve some desirable fate

tall tale

a humorous short narrative that provides a wildly exaggerated version of events; original an oral form, the _______ assumes that its audience knows the narrator is distorting the events

tale

a short narrative without a complex plot; tales are an ancient form of narrative found in folklore, and traditional tales often contain supernatural elements; a ______ differs from a short story by its tendency toward less developed characters and linear plotting

short story

a brief prose narrative that differs from the novel or novella, not only in length, but in that it limits the number of characters, settings, themes, etc.

novella

a short novel

novel

an extended work of prose fiction; because of its extended length, a _____ usually has more characters, more varied scenes, greater depth in themes, and a broader coverage of time than the short story

literary nonfiction

a type of prose that employs the techniques of fiction to report on actual persons, places, and events

genre

a category for classifying literature; a ____ implies a preexisting understanding between the artist and the reader about the purpose and rules of the work

canon

when applied to an individual author,_______ means the sum total of works written by that author; when used generally, it means the range of works that a consensus of scholars, teachers, and readers of a particular time and culture consider "great" or "major"

parody

a mocking imitation of a literary work or individual author's style, usually for comic effect; a _______ typically exaggerates distinctive features of the original for humorous purposes

satire

a literary work that criticizes human misconduct and ridicules vices, stupidities, and errors; the point of _______ is more than mere humor or mocking; it intends to improve humanity by criticizing failings, follies, and foibles

symbol[ism]

a person, place, or thing in a narrative that suggests meaning beyond its literal sense; the _______ stands for something, but more than that, it can accrue multiple meanings and associations as the work develops

motif

an element that recurs significantly throughout a narrative; a _______ can be an image, idea, theme, situation, or action; a _______can also refer to an element that recurs across many literary works, such as the motif of someone testing a hero's wisdom by asking a riddle

allusion

a brief (and sometimes subtle or indirect) reference to history, mythology, literature, music, painting, et cetera; _______imply a common set of knowledge between the writer and the reader and operate as a literary shorthand to enrich the meaning of the text

archetype

a recurring symbol, image, character, landscape, or event found in myth and literature across different cultures and eras; the idea of the _______ came into literary criticism from the Swiss psychologist Carl Jung who believed that all individuals share a "collective unconscious," a set of primal memories common to the human race that exists in our subconscious

verbal irony

a statement in which the speaker or writer says the opposite of what is really meant

situational irony

the incongruity between what the reader and/or character expects to happen and what actually does happen; outcomes are significantly different from what was expected or considered appropriate; _______could also take the form of a discrepancy between what seems to be and what is

dramatic irony

the discrepancy between what the readers/viewers know and what the characters know; a kind of suspenseful expectation, _______ occurs when the audience or reader understands the implications and meaning of a situation but the character does not; the irony forms between the contrasting levels of knowledge

cosmic irony

a type of situational irony that can be used for either tragic or comic purposes; _______ is the discrepancy between actions and their results, between appearances and reality; cosmic irony implies that a god or fate controls and even toys with human beings

convention

an established feature or technique in literature that is commonly understood by both writers and readers; a_______ is something generally agreed on to be appropriate for its customary uses

dialogue

the direct representation of the conversation between two or more characters

flashback

a plot-structuring device whereby a scene from the fictional past is inserted into the fictional present or dramatized out of order

foreshadowing

in plot structuring, the technique of arranging events and information in such a way that later events are prepared for, or shadowed, beforehand; the author may introduce specific words, images, or actions in order to suggest significant later events; the effective use of _______ by an author may prevent a story's outcome from seeming haphazard or contrived

suspense

Enjoyable anxiety created in the reader by the author's handling of plot; when the outcome of events is unclear, the author's s_______ of resolution intensifies the reader's interest, particularly if the plot involves characters to whom the reader or audience is sympathetic; _______ is also created when the fate of a character is clear to the audience, but not the character; the _______ results from the audience's anticipation of how and when the character will meet his or her inevitable fate

stream of consciousness

not a specific technique, but a type of modern narration that uses various literary devices, especially interior monologue, in an attempt to duplicate the subjective and associative nature of human consciousness; _______ often focuses on imagistic perception in order to capture the the pre-verbal level of consciousness

epistolary novel

a novel in which the story is told by way of letters written by one or more of the characters; this form often lends an authenticity to the story, an imagined sense that the author may have discovered these letters

didactic fiction

a narrative that intends to teach a specific moral lesson or provide a model for proper behavior; this term is now often used pejoratively to describe a story in which the events seem manipulated in order to convey a moral or an uplifting idea

bildungsroman

German for "novel of growth and development;" sometimes called an "apprenticeship novel," this genre depicts a youth who struggles toward maturity, usually forming a worldview or philosophy of life on the process

plot

the particular arrangement of action, events that unfold a narrative

exposition

the opening section of a narrative or dramatic structure in which characters, setting, theme, and conflict can be revealed

conflict

the central struggle between two or more forces in a story

external conflict

A struggle between a character and an outside force

internal conflict

a mental or emotional struggle that occurs within a character

complication

An intensification of the conflict in a story or play

rising action

the series of conflicts or struggles that build a story toward a climax.

climax

the most intense part