Narration

Antagonist

a character that opposes the protagonist's goals and interests and so creates the major conflict in the work.

Foil

a character who contrasts with the protagonist in ways that bring out certain of his or her moral, emotional, or intellectual qualities.

Flat

also called a two-dimensional character, is more of a type than an individual, and stays essentially the same throughout the work.

Speech headings

descriptions of characters' vocal tones or gestures as they speak a line.

Second-person

form of narration in which the narrator addresses the audience directly using the pronoun "you," and assumes that the audience is experiencing the events along with the narrator

Third-person limited

means that the narrator describes events only from the perspective and with the understanding of one, or sometimes, a select few characters.

Telling

method by which the author describes, and comments on, characters' motives and values and often passes judgment on characters and events, as a means of shaping the audience's response.

Point of View

point of view can be identified by the pronoun that the narrator uses to recount events.

Narration

refers to the act of telling a story, whether in prose or in verse, and the means by which that telling is accomplished. In a broad sense, narration includes all the aspects of a story and all of the techniques available to the author: the nature of the narrator, the choice of point of view, the roles that the characters play in the plot, the pace at which the narrative proceeds, the setting in which the story takes place, the means of conveying the characterization, the use of dialogue, the structure, the themes that emerge, the tone that the work conveys, and, standing behind the fictional narrative, the authorial voice implied by these various choices.

Showing

simply presenting characters' words and actions without commentary and allowing the dramatization to imply their motives, feelings, and values.

First-person

the first-person point of view has the advantages of immediacy and directness. .

Protagonist

the main character in a work of drama, fiction, or narrative poetry. (Alternative term hero or heroine; but be careful of implied elevated status.)

Narrator

the narrator of a literary work, of fiction or poetry, is the one who tells the story.

Dialogue

the presentation of what characters in a literary work say.

Characterization

the techniques by which the author of a work of fiction, drama, or narrative poetry represents the moral, intellectual, and emotional natures of the characters.

Third-person

the third-person point of view, in contrast, presents a narrator that has a much broader view and, usually, an objective perspective on characters and events.

Omniscient third-person

this type of narrator can enter the consciousness of any character, evaluate motives and explain feelings, and recount the background and predict the outcome of situations. Can be intrusive(offers moral commentary) or objective (presence merely implied)

Round

three-dimensional character, multifaceted and subject to change and growth; he or she is also capable of inconsistencies, and in those ways similar to an actual human being.

stream of consciousness

used to replicate the thought process of a character, with little or no intervention by the narrator.