Prose Literary Terms

Antagonist

a character in a story or poem who deceives, frustrates, or works against the main character, or protagonist, in some way. The antagonist doesn't necessarily have to be a person. It could be death, the devil, an illness, or any challenge that prevents the main character from living "happily ever after."

Dynamic character

a character who changes throughout the course of the story

Static character

a character who does not change or who changes very little in the course of a story.

Foil

a character who serves as a contrast or a conflict to another character

Hero/Heroine

a character whose actions are inspiring or noble; often the main character in a Novel, play, story, or poem. He or she may also be referred to as the "hero" of a work.

Character trait

a character's personality; a trait is not a physical description of a character.

Theme

a common thread or repeated idea that is incorporated throughout a literary work. A theme is a thought or idea the author presents to the reader about life or human nature. Generally, a theme has to be extracted as the reader explores the passages of a work. The author utilizes the characters, plot, and other literary devices to assist the reader in this endeavor. The author often intertwines the theme throughout the work, and the full impact is slowly realized as the reader processes the text. The ability to recognize a theme is important because it allows the reader to understand part of the author's purpose in writing the book.

Analogy

a comparison of two or more like objects that suggests if they are alike in certain respects, they will probably be alike in other ways as well.

Novel

a work of fiction that is longer and more complex than a short story. In a novel, setting, plot and characters are usually developed in great detail.

Fantasy

a work of literature that contains at least one fantastic or unreal element. fiction: prose writing that tells an imaginary story. Fiction includes both short stories and novels.

Characterization

all of the techniques that writers use to create characters

Aside

an actor's speech, directed to the audience, that is not supposed to be heard by other actors on stage. An aside is used to let the audience know what a character is about to do or what he or she is thinking.

Author's purpose

an author's purpose is his or her reason for creating a particular work. The purpose can be to entertain, explain or inform, express an opinion, or to persuade.

Narrative essay

an essay that tells a story.

Flashback

an interruption of the chronological sequence (as in a film or literary work) of an event of earlier occurrence. A flashback is a narrative technique that allows a writer to present past events during current events, in order to provide background for the current narration.

Narrative

any writing that tells a story. Most novels and short stories are placed into the categories of first-person and third-person narratives, which are based on who is telling the story and from what perspective.

Persuasive essay

attempts to convince a reader to adopt a particular option or course of action.

Short Story

brief work of fiction that generally focuses on one or two main characters who face a single problem or conflict.

Drawing conclusions

combining several pieces of information to make an inference is called drawing a conclusion.

Nonfiction

is prose writing that presents and explains ideas or that tells about real people, places, objects or events. Some examples of nonfiction include autobiographies, newspaper articles, biographies, essays, etc.

Informal essay

lighter in tone and usually reflects the writer's feelings and personality.

Descriptive essay

one that describes a particular subject.

Humorous essay

one whose purpose is to amuse or entertain the reader.

Expository essay

one whose purpose is to explain and give information about a subject.

Persuasion

persuasive writing is meant to sway readers' feelings, beliefs, or actions. Persuasion normally appeals to both the mind and the emotions of readers.

Main characters

the characters who are central to the plot of a story; main characters are usually dynamic and round.

Stage Directions

the instructions to the actors, director and stage crew in the script of a play.

Main Idea

the most important point that a writer wishes to express

Chronological order

the order in which events happen in time.

Prose

the ordinary form of spoken and written language; that is, language that lacks the special features of poetry. Examples of prose include: essays, stories, articles, speeches, etc.

Audience

the particular group of readers or viewers that the writer is addressing. A writer considers his or her audience when deciding on a subject, a purpose for writing and the tone and style in which to write.

Summarizing

the process of briefly recounting the main ideas of a piece of writing in a person's own words, while omitting unimportant details.

Predicting

the process of gathering information and combining it with the reader's own knowledge to guess what might occur in the story.

Comparison

the process of identifying similarities.

Evaluating

the process of judging the value of something or someone. A work of literature can be evaluated in terms of such criteria as entertainment, believability, originality, and emotional power.

Contrast

the process of pointing out the difference between things.

Questioning

the process of raising questions while reading in an effort to understand characters and events

scanning

the process of searching through writing for a particular fact or piece of information.

Humor

the quality that provokes laughter or amusement. Writers create humor through exaggeration, sarcasm, amusing descriptions, irony, and witty dialogue.

clarifying

the reader's process of pausing occasionally while reading to quickly review what he or she understands. By clarifying as they read, good readers are able to draw conclusions about what is suggested but not stated directly.

Motivation

the reason why a character acts, feels or thinks in a certain way.

Paraphrasing

the restatement of a text by readers in their own words or in another form.

Biography

the story of a person's life that is written by someone else.

sarcasm

the use of praise to mock someone or something; the use of mockery or verbal irony

Author

the writer of a book, article or other text.

Folklore

traditions, customs and stories that are passed down within a culture. Folklore contains various types of literature such as legends, folktales, myths, and fables.

Fable

a brief tale that teaches a lesson about human nature. Fables often feature animals as characters.

Stereotype

a broad generalization or an oversimplified view that disregards individual differences.

Generalization

a broad statement about an entire group.

Flat character

a character about whom little information is provided

Myth

a traditional story that attempts to explain how the world was created or why the world is the way that it is. Myths are stories that are passed on from generation to generation and are of unknown authorship.

Cliché

a type of figurative language containing an overused expression or a saying that is no longer considered original

Elegy

a type of literature defined as a song or poem that expresses sorrow or lamentation, usually for one who has died.

story mapping

a visual organizer that helps a reader understand a work of literature by tracking setting, characters, events and conflicts

Soliloquy

Soliloquy- a speech delivered by a character who is alone on the stage.

Dialogue

The conversation between characters in a drama or narrative. A dialogue occurs in most works of literature.

Anecdote

a brief account of an interesting incident or event that usually is intended to entertain or to make a point.

Drama

a drama or play is a form of literature meant to be performed by actors before an audience. In a drama, the characters' dialogue and actions tell the story. The written form of a play is known as a script.

Comedy

a dramatic work that is light and often humorous in tone and usually ends happily with a peaceful resolution of the main conflict.

Tragedy

a dramatic work that presents the downfall of a character or characters. The events in a tragic plot are set in motion by a decision that is often an error in judgment caused by the main character's tragic flaw. Succeeding events inevitably lead to a disastrous conclusion, usually death. In a classical tragedy, the tragic hero must be of high status or importance.

Fact and opinion

a fact is a statement that can be proved. An opinion, in contrast, is a statement that reflects the writer's or speaker's belief, but which cannot be supported by proof or evidence.

Suspense

a feeling of growing tension and excitement. Writers create suspense by raising questions in readers' minds about what might happen.

Primary source

a firsthand account of an event; primary sources include: diaries, journals, letters, speeches, news stories, photographs, and pieces of art.

Dialect

a form of language that is spoken in a particular place or by a particular group of people. dialogue (di-UH-log): The conversation between characters in a drama or narrative. A dialogue occurs in most works of literature.

Autobiography

a form of nonfiction in which a person tells the story of his or her life.

Tall Tale

a humorously exaggerated story about impossible events.

Minor characters

a less important character who interacts with the main characters, helping to move the plot along and providing background for the story. Minor characters are usually static and flat.

Moral

a lesson that a story teaches. A moral is often stated directly at the end of a fable.

Dramatic monologue

a literary device that is used when a character reveals his or her innermost thoughts and feelings, those that are hidden throughout the course of the story line, through a poem or a speech. This speech, where only one character speaks, is recited while other characters are present onstage. This monologue often comes during a climactic moment in a work and often reveals hidden truths about a character, their history and their relationships.

Parody

a literary or artistic work that imitates the characteristic style of an author's work for comic effect or ridicule.

Satire

a literary technique in which ideas or customs are ridiculed for the purpose of improving society.

Synecdoche

a literary technique in which the whole is represented by naming one of its parts (genus named for species), or vice versa (species named for genus). Example: "You've got to come take a Look at my new set of wheels." The vehicle here is represented by its parts, or wheels.

Act

a major unit of action in a drama or play. Each act can be further divided into smaller sections called scenes.

Interview

a meeting in which one person asks another about personal matters, professional matters or both.

Caricature

a picture or imitation of a person's habits, physical appearance or mannerisms exaggerated in a comic or absurd way.

Connecting

a reader's process of relating the content of a literary work to his or her own knowledge and experience.

secondary source

a secondary source presents information compiled from or based on other sources.

Scene

a section in a play presenting events that occur in one place at one time.

Essay

a short work of nonfiction that deals with a single subject.

Folktale

a simple story that has been passed from generation to generation by word of mouth. Folktales are told primarily to entertain rather than to explain or teach a lesson.

Memoir

a specific type of autobiography; like autobiography, a memoir is about the author's personal experiences. However, a memoir does not necessarily cover the author's entire life

Legend

a story handed down from the past about a specific person, usually someone of heroic accomplishments.

Allegory

a story in which people, things and actions represent an idea about life; allegories often have a strong moral or lesson.

Epiphany

a sudden moment of understanding that causes a character to change or to act in a certain way. epitaph: a short poem or verse written in memory of someone

Horror fiction

fiction that contains mysterious and often supernatural events to create a sense of terror.

Historical fiction

fiction that explores a past time period and may contain references to actual people and events of the past

Formal essay

highly organized and thoroughly researched.

Context clues

hints or suggestions that may surround unfamiliar words or phrases and clarify their meaning.

Realistic Fiction

imaginative writing set in the real, modern world. The characters act like real people who use ordinary human abilities to cope with problems and conflicts typical of modern

Round character

is a character who is fully described by the author (several character traits, background information, etc.

Inference

is a logical guess based on evidence based on evidence in the text.

Science Fiction

prose writing in which a writer explores unexpected possibilities of the past or the future by using scientific data and theories as well as his or her imagination.

Fiction

prose writing that tells an imaginary story. Fiction includes both short stories and novels.

Chorus

repetition in literature of one or more lines at regular intervals; sometimes called the refrain.

Oral history

stories of people's lives related by word of mouth. These histories usually include both factual material and personal reactions.

Propaganda

text that uses false or misleading information to present a slanted point of view.

Direct characterization

the author directly states a character's traits or makes direct comments about a character's nature.

Indirect characterization

the author does not directly state a character's traits; instead the reader draws conclusions and discovers a character's traits based upon clues provided by the author

Cause and Effect

two events are related as cause and effect when one event brings about or causes the other. The event that happens first is the cause; the one that follows is the effect. character: a person who is responsible for the thoughts and actions within a story, poem, or other literature. Characters are extremely important because they are the medium through which a reader interacts with a piece of literature. Every character has his or her own personality, which a creative author uses to assist in forming the plot of a story or creating a mood.

Foreshadowing

when the writer provides clues or hints that suggest or predict future event in a story. free verse: poetry without regular patterns of rhyme and rhythm. Often used to capture the sounds and rhythms of ordinary speech.