Literary Terms

1
Literary Terms
2
Review Basic Literary Terms

• Plot
• Character
• Setting
• Conflict
• Foreshadowing
• Suspense
• Frame Story

• Theme
• Point of View
• Irony
• Symbolism
• Allusion
• Mood
• Tone
• Dialect

3
Plot

• The series of related events that make up the
  story.

4
Bare Bones of A Plot

• Plots are built on five main parts
• Basic Situation (Exposition)
• Rising Action (Complication)
• Climax
• Falling Action
• Resolution

5
Plot Line
6
Plot

• Exposition - Opening of the story characters and
  conflict are introduced.
• Complication - Conflicts introduced main
  character takes action to resolve conflicts.
  (Also known as rising action.)
• Climax - Key scene of the story tense, exciting
  or terrifying moment.

7
Plot

• Falling Action - Conflicts begin to resolve
  story tapers off.
• Resolution - Occurs at the very end of the story
  conflicts are resolved.

8
Character

• A person, animal, natural force or object in a
  story or play.

9
Characterization

• The process of revealing the personality of a
  character is called characterization.

10
Characterization

• Direct Characterization - Writer tells the reader
  directly what kind of person the character is.
• Indirect Characterization - Reader has to use his
  or her own judgment to identify personality
  traits of a character

11
Characterization

• Static No change throughout story
• Dynamic Develops and grows over the course of
  the story

12
Characterization

• Round Many different personality traits (good
  bad)
• Flat Shows only one personality trait
• Protagonist Main character of a literary work
• Antagonist Character or force in conflict with
  the protagonist

13
Characterization

• Motivation Reason that explains or partially
  explains why a character thinks, feels, behaves
  or acts in a certain way.

14
Character

• There are five considerations for creating a
  character
• Appearance
• Speech (both dialogue and dialect)
• Thoughts (interior monologue)
• Actions
• Other Characters feelings

15
Point of View

• The vantage point from which the author has
  chosen to tell the story.

16
First Person

• One of the characters is actually telling the
  story, using the pronoun I.

17
First Person Plural

• More than one of the characters is telling the
  story, using the pronoun we.

18
Third Person

• Narrator is an outside storyteller. (can be
  limited or omniscient point of view.)

19
Third Person Omniscient

• All Knowing
• Person telling the story knows everything there
  is to know about the characters and their
  problems.

20
Third Person Limited

• Narrator only knows one characters thoughts and
  feelings.

21
Point of View

• The narrator is NOT always the author.

22
Setting

• The time and place of a story or play.

23
Setting

• Purpose of setting to provide background - a
  place for the characters to live and act in.
• In some stories, setting provides the conflict.
• Places where people live and make their homes can
  reveal a great deal about their characters.

24
Setting

• Setting can also provide atmosphere or mood - it
  affects the way a reader feels.
• One of the oldest story plots in the world is the
  one in which a person fights against something in
  the physical world - a drought, a horde of ants,
  the heat of the desert, etc.

25
Describing the Setting

• What kind of place does the story take place in?
• What is the season, climate, and time of day?
• Are the characters in conflict with the setting?

26
Describing the Setting

• Does the setting help to understand their
  personalities?
• What kind of atmosphere does the setting create?

27
Conflict

• A struggle or clash between opposing characters
  or forces.
• External Man v. Man, Man v. Nature, Man v.
  Society
• Internal Man v. Himself, Man v. Fate (God)

28
Symbolism

• Anything that stands for or represents something
  else.
• Examples Red rose
• American Flag

29
Theme

• Message about life or the central message of the
  story.

30
Theme

• A theme makes some revelation about a subject.
• The subject of the story is NOT THE SAME as the
  theme of the story.
• The subject is simply the topic of the story.
• Theme is not love. Ask yourselfwhat about
  love?

31
Theme

• A theme is usually not stated directly in the
  story.
• Theme is not character-specific.

32
Finding a Theme

• Does the title signify something important about
  the story?
• Does the main character change in the course of
  the story? Does he or she realize something he or
  she didnt know before?
• Are there any important statements about life or
  people made in the story - either by the narrator
  or the characters?

33
Irony

• A contrast between expectation and reality.
• Between what is said and what is
• really meant.
• Between what is expected to happen
• and what really happens.
• Between what appears to be true
• and what is really true.

34
Types of Irony

• Verbal - a writer or speaker says one thing but
  means another
• Situational - what we expect to happen is
  different than what actually happens.
• Dramatic - Audience or reader knows what is
  happening but the characters do not.

35
Other Terms to Know

• Foreshadowing Clues to suggest events that have
  not happened yet in the story creates suspense.
• Suspense - The uncertain feeling about what is
  going to happen next in a story.

36
Other Terms to Know

• Mood (Atmosphere) Feeling created in the reader
  by the piece of writing.
• Tone - The way the writer feels about the story
  the characters

37
Other Terms to Know

• Allusion References in a piece of writing that
  refer to the Bible, a time in history or another
  work of literature or art.
• Dialect Way a character speaks (directly
  related to setting time period)