PLOT
A series of related events that make up a story
 

PLOT OUTLINE

1) EXPOSITION: introduces the characters, setting, and usually the major conflict
2) CONFLICT: struggle between opposing characters or opposing forces.
3) RISING ACTION: complications/problems that arise as the characters take steps to resolve the conflict
4) CLIMAX: the turning point or crisis: the highest point of the story, when the outcome of the conflict is decided; the moment of greatest emotional intensity or suspense
5) FALLING ACTION: unravels the complications
6) RESOLUTION or DENOUEMENT: when all of the conflicts/problems are solved and the story is "closed," the conclusion
 

SETTING

Time and location in which a story takes place. Sometimes setting also creates the conflict, helps to create atmosphere or mood, and/or introduces the characters
 

CONFLICT: TWO TYPES

1) EXTERNAL CONFLICT: characters struggle against outside forces such as another character, society, or nature
2) INTERNAL CONFLICT: struggle between opposing needs, desires, or emotions within a person; takes place entirely within a character's mind.
Note----Can have both types of conflict within a single work.
 

CHARACTERIZATION

Process of revealing the personality of a character. Writer reveals characterization in the following ways:

DIRECT CHARACTER'IZATION

1) tells reader directly what character is like

INDIRECT CHARACTERIZATION

2) describes how character looks and dresses
3) lets reader hear character speak
4) reveals character's private thoughts and feelings
5) reveals character's effect on other people--shows how other characters feel or behave toward the character
6) shows the character in action
 

PROTAGONIST

The main character, the person whose conflict sets the plot in motion. Most are dynamic characters who change in some important way by the end of the story. Usually, but not always, the hero.
 

ANTAGONIST
The character or force that struggles against or blocks the protagonist. Often, but not always, the villain.

FOIL
AA character who serves as a contrast to another. Often a minor character functions as the foil to bring out specific traits of a major character.
 

FORESHADOWING
The use of clues to hint at events that will occur later in a plot

FLASHBACK
A scene that interrupts the normal chronological sequence of events of a story to depict something that happened at an earlier time
 

SUSPENSE
A feeling of uncertainty, curiosity, or anxiety about what will happen next in a story
 

IRONY
A contrast or discrepancy between expectations and reality. Three major categories of irony:
1) VERBAL IRONY--occurs when a writer or speaker says one thing but really means the opposite.
2) SITUATIONAL IRONY--occurs when what actually happens is the opposite of what is expected or appropriate.
3) DRAMATIC IRONY--occurs when the audience or the reader knows something important that a character in a play or story does not know.
 

ALLUSION
Reference to a statement, person, place, event, or thing that is known from literature, history, religion, mythology, politic, or some other field of knowledge.

ANALOGY
Comparison made between two things to show how they are alike in some respects. Example--someone might draw an analogy between riding in a helicopter and riding a roller coaster, both lurch and dip as you ride in them.

BALLAD
A song or songlike poem that tells a story.

DIALECT
Way of speaking that is characteristic of a particular region or a particular group of people.

GENRE
Category to which a literary work belongs. Some examples of popular genres include: western novel, gothic/horror fiction, detective fiction, romance, fantasy.

IMAGERY
Language that appeals to the senses.
 

MOOD (ATMOSPHERE)
The overall emotion created by a work of literature. It usually can be described with one or more adjectives. Ex: eerie, angry, peaceful.

TONE
The attitude a writer takes towards the subject of a work, the character in it, or the audience. It is conveyed through the writer's choice of words and descriptions of characters and setting; usually can be described with adjectives such as amused, angry, sarcastic, solemn.

THEME
A story's central idea or insight. It is NOT the same as the subject of a work, which can be stated in one word---love, fear, growing-up. Theme is the writer's view of the world or a revelation about human nature. Ex: "For most young people, growing up is a process that involves the pain of achieving self-knowledge." THEME MUST BE STATED IN AT LEAST ONE SENTENCE.

TRAGEDY
A story in which the main character (heroic character) dies or comes to some other unhappy end.
 

PARADOX
A statement or situation that seems to be a contradiction but reveals a truth.
Ex: "she killed him with kindness."

PARODY
Imitation of a serious artistic work for amusement or instruction. Uses exaggeration or inappropriate subject matter to make a serious form or a particular work of art seem laughable or to highlight its flaws. Ex: Don Quixote parodies the courtly tradition of chivalry and knighthood.
 

POINT OF VIEW
The perspective from which a story is told. There are three points of view.
1) FIRST PERSON --narrator is a character in the story, using the pronouns "I" or "we." Reader can only know what the narrator knows.
2) OMNISCIENT--"all knowing," the person telling the story knows everything that is going on in the story. Narrator is outside the story, an observer who can tell us what all the characters are thinking and feeling, as well as what is happening in the story.
3) THIRD PERSON LIMITED--narrator is outside the story -like an omniscient narrator--but tells the story from the vantage point of only one character. The reader learns the events of a narrative through the perceptions of the chosen character.

SATIRE
A kind of writing that ridicules human weakness, vices, pr folly in order to bring social reform.

SOLILOQUY
An unusually long speech in which a character who is onstage alone expresses his or her thoughts aloud.

FIGURE OF SPEECH (FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE)
A word or phrase that describes one thing in terms of another and is not meant to be understood on a literal level. Common figures of speech include:
1) SIMILE makes a comparison between two seemingly unlike things by using a connective word such as like, s than, or resembles.
2) METAPHORE makes a comparison two seemingly unlike things without using connective words.
3) PERSONIFICATION a kind of metaphor in which a non-human thing or quality is talked about as if it were human.
4) HYPERBOLE uses exaggeration to express a strong sentiment or create a comic effect.
5) ONOMATOPOEIA use of a word whose sound imitates or suggests its meaning
6) SYMBOL is a person, place, thing, or event that stands for both itself and for something beyond itself.
7) UNDERSTATEMENT consists of saying less that what is really meant, or saying something with less force than is appropriate.
8) OXYMOROM combines apparently contradictory or opposing ideas--living death, cruel love.
9) ALLITERATION is the repetition of consonant sounds in words that are close to one another.

ARCHETYPE
A pattern or model that serves as the basis for different but related versions of a character, plot, image, or theme. For example, the basic plot of the hero's quest is a recurring pattern in myths and other types of literature from around the world.