Theme
insight about human life that's revealed in a literary work
Story-telling arc
A classic pattern used in fiction that's guaranteed to satisfy
the path a story follows.
Exposition --> Conflict --> Rising Action --> Climax --> Falling Action --> Resolution
protagonist
Main character
antagonist
opponent who blocks the protagonist
Anti-Hero
Protagonist is villain of the story but we sympathize anyway
Foil
Character who serves as a direct contrast to another character as a device to emphasize the qualities of the main character
POV / Narration
Vantage point from which a story is told
1st: uses I
3rd limited: focus on one character
3rd Omniscient: all knowing
Ethos
Credible source / your credibility
Pathos
Touches reader's emotions
Logos
Uses logical arguments/facts to prove point
Rhetoric
Method developed by Aristotle to always win an argument
Tone
writers attitude toward character, subject, and audience
Tone=Person
Mood
Climate or feeling of a literary work
Mood=Environment
Archetype
Original model of a person, a perfect example or prototype upon which others are copied; universally recognized symbol
ie: hero, villain, ally, etc
Diction
Words a writer chooses. enunciation of words
when and where a story is set by using language native to that time and place
New York has different word choices than other states
Dialect
particular way of speaking that is unique to a social class or region
New Yorkers pronounce things differently
Dialogue
Words a character speaks
Figure of Speech
Word or phrase that describes one thing in terms of another; not meant to be take literally
Idiom
A popular figure of speech; always overused/a cliche
a phrase that, when taken as a whole, has a meaning you wouldn't be able to deduce from the meanings of the individual words
Kill two birds with one stone
Satire
a work that ridicules the shortcomings of a specific people or institutions as an attempt to about change
offensive comics on Abraham Lincoln
Parody
A work that makes fun of another work by imitating some aspect of the original pieces style
Interior Monologue
Narrative technique that records a characters internal flow of thoughts, memories, or ideas
thoughts passing through the minds of the protagonists.
Soliloquy
Long speech made by a character in a place wile no other characters are on the stage
Aside
A comment made by a character directly to the audience
Simile
Comparison using connective words such as "like", "as", or "resembles"
Metaphor
Comparison that doesn't use connective words
Extended Metaphor
Metaphor that continues beyond the first comparison sentence.
"You're a snake! Everything you hiss out of your mouth is a lie."
Symbolism
Person, place, thing, or event that has meaning in itself and that also stands for something more than itself
the heart is often employed as a symbol of love.
Denotation
exact dictionary definition of a word
Connotation
Idea or feeling that a word invokes in addition to its actual definition
emotions that come with a single word.
“dog,” you might think of a cute little puppy or something adorable
Word Choice
Say what you mean
Gets information across
Irony
Discrepancy between expectation and reality
whenever a person says something or does something that departs from what they (or we) expect them to say or do.
"I'm Fine." - They aren't fine
Verbal Irony
Statements that imply a meaning in opposition to their literal meaning
Im Fine.
Situational Irony
Actions taken that have an effect exactly opposite from what was intended
Trying to help but making it worse
Dramatic Irony
occurs when the audience knows an unwitting character is making a mistake
Romeo and Julie commit suicide because they don't know about each other's plans.
Personification
When the writer gives an animal or inanimate objects human characteristics
Foreshadow
Use of hints/clues to suggest what will happen later
Flashback
A scene that interrupts the normal narrative timeline in order to provide information about something that happened earlier in the story
Hyperbole
Ridiculous exaggeration
a figure of speech that is an intentional exaggeration for emphasis or comic effect
“I'm so hungry that I could eat a horse.”
Paradox
a statement that appears to contradict itself but upon further inspection reveals a deeper truth, meaning, or joke
“Less is more” "This is the beginning of the end."
Allusion
brief but purposeful references, within a literary text, to a person, place, event, or to another work of literature.
"Chocolate cake is my Achilles heel." - allusion is to "Achilles' heel"
Repetition
Repeating the same word or phrase for effect
"I have to practice my time tables over and over and over again so I can learn them."