Literature Terms Fall Master List

fable

a brief story or poem, usually with animal characters, that teaches a lesson, or moral.

short story

a brief work of fiction

antagonist

a character or a force in conflict with the main character or protagonist.

journal

a daily, or periodic, account of events and the writer's thoughts and feelings about those events.

genre

a division or type of literature.

suspense

a feeling of anxious uncertainty about the outcome of events.

myth

a fictional tale that explains the actions of gods or heroes, or the origins of elements of nature.

foreshadowing

a hint or clue as to what might happen later in the story.

soliloquy

a long speech in a play or prose work, made by a character who is alone.

novel

a long work of fiction

euphemism

a more agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant

kinmanism

a rare breed of English teacher humor that is supposed to be funny but never IS!

scene

a section of uninterrupted action in the act of a drama

drama

a story written to be performed by actors.

legend

a widely told story about the past which may or may not be true.

symbol

anything that stands for or represents something else.

narrative

anything that tells a story

theme

central message or concern of a literary work

hero/heroine

character whose actions are inspiring or noble.

dialogue

conversation between characters.

denotation

dictionary definition of a word

inference

drawing conclusions about characters based on the evidence

idiom

expression that has meaning particular to a language or region. "making a face"

dialect

form of a language spoken by people in a particular region or group.

fantasy

highly imaginative writing that contains elements not found in real life.

stage directions

includes the setting, the lighting, the costumes, special effects, etc.

irony

literary techniques that involve surprising, interesting, or amusing contradictions.

atmosphere

mood or feeling created in the reader by a literary work or passage.

prose

ordinary form of written language (short stories, novels, essays, etc.

character

person or animal that takes part in the action of a literary work.

point of view

perspective from which a story is told

nonfiction

prose writing about real people, places, objects, or events. (essays, biographies, letters, reports, etc.)

fiction

prose writing that tells about imaginary characters and events.

historical fiction

real events, places, or people are incorporated into a fictional, or made-up, story.

motive

reason that explains a character's thoughts, feelings, actions, or speech.

allusion

reference to a well-known person, place, event, literary work, or work of art.

flashback

scene that interrupts the sequence of events to relate events that occurred in the past.

essay

short nonfiction work about a particular subject.

narrator

speaker or character who is telling the story

autobiography

story of the writer's life, told by the writer.

conflict

struggle between opposing forces.

characterization

the act of creating and developing a character.

exposition

the introduction, or part of a literary work that introduces the characters, setting, and basic situtation

oxymoron

the joining of seemingly contradictory terms (paid volunteer, act naturally, etc.)

moral

the lesson taught by a literary work

protagonist

the main character in a literary work

resolution

the outcome of the conflict in a plot

oral tradition

the passing of songs, stories, and poems from generation to generations by word of mouth.

plot

the sequence of events in a literary piece.

setting

the time and place of the action

climax

the turning point, the high point in the action in the plot, the moment of greatest tension.

biography

the writer tells the life story of someone else

repetition

using a word, phrase, or clause more than once. Using a word, phrase, or clause more than once

tall tale

usually involve characters with highly exaggerated abilities and qualities.

connotation

what a word brings to mind. Set of ideas associated with the word, in addition to its explicit meaning.

tragedy

work of literature, especially a play, that results in catastrophe for the main character

figurative language

writing or speech that is not meant to be taken literally. (metaphor, personification, simile)