Literary
Terms
Literature
writings that express ideas of
universal interest, archetypal
qualities, and share common
elements
Universal
ideas and/or issues that apply to
everyone in the world regardless of
time period, culture, or geographic
location
Archetypal
themes, plots, symbols that recur in
literature regardless of time period,
culture, and geographic location
Literary Types
• Fiction •Nonfiction
• Novel • Short Story
• Poetry • Drama
• Memoirs • Biography
• Essays • Speeches
• History • Epic
Fiction
■ Fiction is prose writing that tells about imaginary
characters and events.
■ Some fiction is entirely made-up, while other
fiction is based on real events and/or people
(“historical fiction”)
Non-fiction
■ prose writing that tells about real
characters and events
Some non-fiction literary types that we will study this
semester include:
•memoirs •articles •speeches
Theme
■ The central message or insight into life revealed through a
literary work
■ This is the deeper meaning, the main lesson/message/moral
that the author hopes the reader will understand at the end
of the story that the author hopes the reader will
understand at the end.
Some examples of themes include:
•man’s search for identity,
•man’s inhumanity to man,
•the search for the meaning of life,
•patience before passion,
•goodness can conquer evil,
• the triumph of the human spirit,
Setting
■ Place—though usually
■ The setting of the literary physical—may also involve the
work is the time and place of social, economic, or cultural
environment of the story
the action.
■ Time can include not only the historical
period—past, present, or future—but also
a specific year, season, or time of day.
Conflict
▪A conflict is a struggle between opposing forces.
▪There are two types of conflict:
INTERNAL EXTERNAL
-Conflict that –Conflict that occurs outside of the
occurs inside character
the character -man Vs. man
-man Vs. self -man Vs. nature
-man Vs. society
-man Vs. fate
Protagonist
■ The protagonist is the main character in a
literary work.
■ He/she is NOT necessarily the “good guy”, just
the main character
Antagonist
■ An antagonist is a character or force in
conflict with the main character
■ This is NOT necessarily the “bad guy”, just
the person or thing that is working against
the main character
Characterization
■ The way a writer reveals a character’s personality and traits
■ There are two methods:
– Direct Characterization: The author directly states a character’s
personality and/or physical traits
– Indirect Characterization: Uses a character’s thoughts, actions, and
feelings, to suggest the character’s traits.
Dynamic Character
■ A character that develops and changes through the course of a
story
Example: Ebenezer Scrooge🡪 at the beginning of “A Christmas
Carol”, he is a mean, lonely man that is only interested in
money. By the end of the story, he is generous, and interested in
the “true spirit of Christmas.”
Static Character
■ A character that does NOTchange or develop through the
course of the story
Example:
Wile E. Coyote
Round Character
■ A character that exhibits many traits, faults as well as virtues
Flat Character
■ A character who seems to have only a few personality traits
Diction
■ Word choice, including vocabulary used, word
appropriateness, and vividness of language
Denotation Vs. Connotation
■ Denotation: ■ Connotation:
The dictionary meaning of a The set of ideas associated
word, independent of other with a word in addition to
associations that the word the word’s actual, explicit
may have meaning
Mood
■ The feeling created IN the reader by a literary
work
Tone
■ The attitude toward the subject that an author
conveys in a literary work.
Purpose
■ The author’s reason for writing a specific piece
Examples:
■ To entertain,
■ to inform,
■ to persuade the reader
Dialogue
■ A dialogue is a conversation Example:
between characters.
■ It is often used to reveal things After walking into the kitchen,
about a character’s thoughts, Susie cried, “Mom, how could
motivations, and personality to you eat the last cupcake?!”
the reader, and to advance the Mom replied, “I was hungry, and
action of the plot. you weren’t here. It was
delicious, my dear!”
Symbol
■ Something that has a literal meaning, but also stands for or
represents an abstract idea.
Example: The American Flag– on a literal level, it is just a
flag, a piece of cloth. However, it also stands for this
particular county, for freedom, etc.
Imagery
■ The descriptive or figurative language used in literature
that appeals to our senses.
■ Imagery makes us see, hear, taste, touch, smell what
the character sees, hears, tastes, etc. so that we
become immersed in the action and emotion.
Foreshadowing
■ Clues in a literary work that suggest events that have yet to
occur
▪This literary device helps to
create suspense, keeping readers
wondering about what will
happen next.
Motif
▪ Symbols, situations, or issues that recur
throughout a literary piece helping to
enhance and emphasize the theme(s).
Narrator
■ The person from
whose perspective a
story is told
Perspective
One’s view from a particular position; how a
situation is seen
or perceived
Point of View
■ The perspective or angle from which a story is being told
■ There are several types:
– First-Person-Point-of-View: When the narrator telling the story
is one of the characters, and tells the story as a personal account
– Third-Person-Point-of-View: When the narrator telling the story
is NOT one of the characters (has no name, and does not participate
in any of the action of the plot)
Point of View (continued)
■ There are also two types of Third-Person-Point-of-View:
– Third-Limited -Point-of-View: When the narrator sees the world
through one character’s eyes and reveals only that character’s
thoughts
– Third-Omniscient -Point-of-View: When the narrator sees into
the minds of all the characters
Plot
■ The sequence of events that make up
a story, usually centering around a
main conflict
The Five Stages of Plot
Exposition
■ The first stage of plot!
■ In the Exposition, the scene is set:
– this part of the story introduces the characters, tells
the reader the setting, and provides all of the
necessary background information.
Rising Action
■ The second stage of plot!
■ This is where the action usually begins. In the Rising Action,
the conflict is introduced (either between characters, or with
an outside force).
■ The events leading up to the Climax.
■ This conflict will build up pressure until the Climax.
Climax
■ The climax is the highest ■ Generally, this is the point after
point of conflict in the which everything is different.
story!! All of the pressure or events of
the Rising Action have stacked
up to this moment, when
something must change.
Falling Action
■ The series of events that result because of the
conflict.
■ This stage begins the downward slope🡪 the
conflict lessens, and the plot moves towards
closure.
Resolution/Denouement
■ In the final stage of plot, the conflict concludes
■ Loose ends are tied up
■ The story is brought to its conclusion.
