Vocab part 2

Foil

A character that contrasts another character.

Flat Character

A character embodying only one or two traits and lacking character development.

Round Character

A character who exhibits a range of emotions and evolves over the course of the story.

Secondary/Minor Character

A supporting character who is important to the events of a story or play, but not as prominent or central as the main character.

Stock Character

A type of flat character based on a stereotype, often used for humor or satire.

Characterization

The method by which the author builds or reveals a character.

Direct Characterization

When a narrator tells the reader who a character is by describing their background, motivation, temperament, or appearance.

Indirect Characterization

When the author shows rather than tells what a character is like through their actions, thoughts, dialogue, or what others say about them.

Chiasmus

A sentence strategy in which the arrangement of ideas in the second clause is a reversal of the first.

Colloquial language/Colloquialism

An expression or language construction appropriate only for casual, informal speaking or writing.

Comedy

A dramatic work with a light, amusing plot, a happy ending, and ordinary characters, usually written and performed in the vernacular.

Comedy of Manners

A satiric dramatic form that lampoons social conventions.

Comic Relief

Something said or done that provides a break from the seriousness of the work.

Conceit

A literary device that sets up a striking analogy between two entities that would not usually invite comparison.

Metaphysical Conceit

A conceit that specifically draws connections between the physical and the spiritual.

Confessional Poetry

Poetry that uses intimate, painful, disturbing, or sad material from the poet's life.

Conflict

The tension, opposition, or struggle that drives a plot.

Dilemma Conflict

A type of conflict in which both choices have negative consequences.

External Conflict

The opposition or tension between two characters or forces.

Internal Conflict

Conflict occurring within a character.

Consonance

An instance in which identical final consonant sounds in nearby words follow different vowel sounds.

Contrast

A literary technique in which the author examines two opposites to create an attitude, accomplish a purpose or effect, or make an assertion.

Couplet

Two lines of poetry.

Closed Couplet

Two consecutive rhyming lines of poetry that express a complete thought.

Heroic Couplet

Two consecutive rhyming lines of poetry written in iambic pentameter.

Critical Lenses

Different ways to approach interpreting a work of literature; also known as critical perspectives.

Deduction

Arriving at a conclusion by making an inference from the premise.

Dialect

Dialogue or narration written to simulate regional or cultural speech patterns.

Diction

A writer's choice of words.

Didactic

A work in which the author's primary purpose is to instruct, teach, or convey a moral lesson.