Literary Terms Pre-IB English 2

Protagonist

The central character of a narrative the character through whom the lesson of the story is learned.

Simile

A comparison of two items using like or as.

Point of View

The vantage point from which a story is told. First and third person are basic examples of p.o.v.

Connotation

Another significant meaning of a word often steeped in symbol or feeling.

Characterization

The manner by which an author develops a character within a narrative.

Dialogue

The spoken words of two or more characters within a narrative.

Imagery

The picture in your mind that the words from the page create; can be figurative symbolic or literal.

Situational Irony

An event where the opposite of what’s expected happens.

Antagonist

The force a character or element that works against the protagonist.

Dramatic Irony

When the reader or audience knows something a character does not know and that knowledge is important to the flow of events.

Ego

The representative of the outer world to the id; oriented towards reality reason and sanity.

Historical Fiction

A narrative telling the story of a real moment in history but with embellishment.

Theme

The main idea/message of a literary work; written in a full declarative sentence.

Paradigm

A set of assumptions concepts values and practices constituting a community's way of viewing reality.

Dialect

A regional variety of language often with distinct accents and whole phrases.

Oedipus Complex

A psychological term for a child's strong feelings for the parent of the opposite sex.

Denotation

The explicit meaning of a word or a particular meaning of a symbol.

Allusion

A reference to another literary work or a moment in history.

Conflict

The struggle between two opposing forces in literature usually protagonist versus antagonist.

Setting

The time and place of the action of the story.

Catharsis

The releasing of certain emotions in the audience especially in tragedy.

Act

A division within a drama usually seen as a chapter of a novel.

Autobiography

A truthful account of someone’s life told and written by that person.

Tone

The author's attitude toward the work displayed through language.

Colloquialism

A local variation of language found in particular dialects.

Paradox

A seemingly contradictory statement that may nonetheless be true.

Dynamic character

A character who undergoes growth and development during the literary work.

Static character

A character of one trait who remains unchanged during the story.

Biography

A truthful account of someone's life told and written by another person.

Scene

A small division of a drama within an act usually with the same setting.

Stereotype

A conventional and oversimplified opinion or belief about a group.

Virtue

The quality of moral excellence righteousness and responsibility.

Vice

An evil degrading or immoral practice or habit.

Complex character

A character with different traits but who neither grows nor changes during the work.

Superego

The part of the personality which acts as a moral monitor; the morality principle.

Direct Quotation

Using the words of a source exactly word-for-word.

Plot

The events making up the story line in their order.

Style

The language and techniques used by a writer forming the full aspect of the work.

Omniscient narrator

A third person narrator who knows all including the characters' thoughts.

Nemesis

The force restoring order in a tragedy; named for the goddess of justice.

Metaphor

A comparison of unlike things without using like or as.

Irony

A contrast between what is stated and what is meant; includes verbal situational and dramatic irony.

Foreshadow

Using details and images to hint at future events in the narrative.

Analysis

Breaking down an intellectual whole into parts to reach an understanding.

Indirect Quotation

Using the author's words but not in a direct word-for-word borrowing.

Paraphrase

Putting the author's words into your own words.

Novella

A short prose fictional narrative with the elements of a novel.

Tragic Hero

A person of noble birth whose destruction is connected to the well-being of their world.

Insight

The act of grasping the hidden nature of things giving personal meaning.

Stream-of-consciousness

Capturing the continuous flow of a character's thoughts feelings and awareness.

Rhetoric

Principles and theory for presenting information in a clear convincing way.

Ad hominem

Appealing to personal considerations rather than logic or reason.

A priori

Deductive reasoning from a general principle not supported by fact.

Purple Patch

A selection of writing with an unusual piling up of literary devices.

Euphemism

Substituting a mild or indirect term for one considered harsh or offensive.

Apostrophe

Direct address to an absent person an abstract concept or an object.

Dichotomy

Division into two contradictory parts or opinions.

Tragedy

A literary work (usually drama) dealing with human themes often with the hero’s fall.

Hubris

Excessive pride especially that of the tragic hero.

Local color

The interests or flavor of a specific locality as expressed in language or story.

Narrative

The story of fictional or actual events as told by the narrator.

Naturalism

Factual representation conforming to nature especially in art or literature.

Realism

Truthful practical and accurate representation of life.

Short Story

Fictional prose focused on a single conflict and plot line.

Pleasure Principle

The concept that pleasure is all that matters often the role of the Id.

Reality Principle

The function moderating the Id focusing on long-term rather than immediate pleasure.

Denouement

The final part of a story where the plot is resolved or explained.

Drama

A full-length work of fiction written in dialogue for the stage.

Flashback

Stopping the narrative to return to an earlier event in the story.

Hamartia

The tragic flaw leading to a hero’s downfall.

Description

Words used to fully detail a place or thing in writing.

Symbol

Something standing for itself and also something greater.

Climax

Moment of great intensity in a story leading to the conclusion.

Novel

A full-length prose fiction work with narrative as the main element.

Parallelism

Structural arrangement with similar development/phrasing in sentences or units.

Pathetic Fallacy

False emotionalism; attributing human emotions to nature or objects.

Histrionics

Deliberate display of emotion for effect.

Hagiography

Biography idealizing or idolizing the subject especially a saint.

Idiomatic

Mode of expression peculiar to a language.

Metonymy

Using the name of an attribute or adjunct for that of the thing meant.