Transcript Document

Fundamental English
Literary Terms
We will be using these literary terms for
this unit and throughout the year.
These WILL be used on your FINAL
EXAMS!!
Fill out the notes sheet (powerpoint, or
your own notes) for these terms!
___________
•The protagonist is the
_____ character in a literary
work.
ANTAGONIST
The antagonist is a
character or force ____
________ with a main
character, or
protagonist.
POINT OF VIEW
 Point of view (POV) is the _________, or
vantage point, from which a story is
told. It is the relationship of the
narrator to the story.
 __________ is told by a character who
uses the first-person pronoun “I”. It
doesn’t have to be the protagonist as in
The Great Gatsby.
 Example: The Hunger Games (Katniss)
and Twilight (Bella).
_______ PERSON
LIMITED NARRATOR
•
3rd person limited point of view is the point
of view where the narrator uses third-person
pronouns such as “he” and “she” to refer to
the characters.
• It is a method of storytelling in which the
narrator knows the ____________and
_______ of one of the characters in the
story.
• Example: Harry Potter and the Chamber of
Secrets (Harry).
THIRD PERSON
__________ NARRATOR
• 3rd person omniscient is a method of storytelling in
•
•
which the narrator knows the thoughts and
feelings of_______ of the characters in the story,
as opposed to 3rd person limited, which adheres
closely to one character's perspective.
Omniscient means “____________________
_____________________________” (merriamwebster.com)
Example: The Disreputable History of Frankie
Landau-Banks
POINT OF VIEW:
SPECIAL CASES
• Occasionally a book will switch between different
•
•
points of view. For example, there are times the
Harry Potter books will briefly move to 3rd person
omniscient (when Harry is a baby).
Rarely, books will use 1st person omniscient. For
example, The Book Thief (narrated by Death) and
The Lovely Bones (a dead girl looking down on
family).
Or, a book may use 1st person but switch between
characters (My Sister’s Keeper).
PLOT
• Plot is the _________________.
The first event causes the
second, the second causes the
third, and so forth.
• In most novels, dramas, short
stories, and narrative poems,
the plot involves both characters
and a central conflict.
PLOTLINE
___________
_____________
_________
Conflict Introduced
EXPOSITION
•The exposition is the
_________.
•It is the part of the work
that introduces the
characters, the setting, and
the basic situation.
SETTING
• The setting of a literary work is the
_______ and _______ of the action.
• It includes all the details of a place and
time – the year, the time of day, even
the weather. The place may be a
specific country, state, region,
community, neighborhood, building,
institution, or home.
SETTING
• Details such as dialect, clothing,
customs, and modes of transportation
are often used to establish setting.
• In most stories, the setting serves as
a backdrop – a context in which the
characters interact.
• The setting of a story often helps to
create a particular ______, or feeling.
CONFLICT
•The conflict is the struggle
between opposing forces in
a story.
•There are _____ types of
conflict that exist in
literature.
EXTERNAL CONFLICT
• External conflict exists when a
character struggles against some
outside force, such as another
_______, ______, ______, or _____.
• External conflict is expressed as
person vs. person, person vs. nature,
etc.
INTERNAL CONFLICT
• Internal conflict exists within the mind of
a character who is torn between
different courses of action.
• Internal conflict is expressed as person
vs. ________
RISING ACTION
The rising action is the part of
the plot that begins to occur
as soon as the conflict is
__________.
The rising action adds
complications to the conflict
and increases reader interest.
CLIMAX
• The climax is the point of
_______ _________ _______,
interest, or suspense in the
plot of a narrative.
• The climax typically comes at
the turning point in a story or
drama.
DENOUEMENT or
__________ ___________
• The denouement is the unraveling of
the story.
• It consists of the events following the
climax of a story in which a resolution
or clarification takes place.
• It is also known as “falling action.”
RESOLUTION
The resolution is the part of
the plot that concludes the
falling action by ________
or _________ the outcome
of the conflict.
THEME
 The theme of a literary work is its central
________, _______, or ______. A theme
can usually be expressed as a
generalization, or general statement,
about people or life.
 The theme may be stated directly by the
writer although it is more often presented
____________.
 When the theme is stated indirectly, the
reader must figure out the theme by
looking carefully at what the work reveals
about people or life.
 We will talk much more about theme!
Alliteration
Alliteration is the _________ of sounds,
most often _________ sounds, at the
beginning of words. Alliteration gives
emphasis to words.
Example: Peter Piper picked a peck of
pickled peppers
_________
• A regional or social variety of a language
distinguished by pronunciation, grammar,
or vocabulary, especially a variety of
speech differing from the standard literary
language or speech pattern of the culture
in which it exists.
• Dialects are spoken by definable groups of
people from a particular geographic
region, economic group, or social class.
• Writers use dialect to contrast and express
differences in educational, class, social, and
regional backgrounds of their characters.
• Describe the sentry’s dialect in Antigone.
• Notice examples of dialect as we read The
House on Mango Street.
_______ of _______
• A figure of speech is a specific device or
kind of figurative language, such as
hyperbole, metaphor, personification,
simile, or oxymoron.
• _______ language is used for descriptive
effect, often to imply ideas indirectly. It is
not meant to be taken literally. Figurative
language is used to state ideas in vivid
and imaginative ways.
Hyperbole
• Definition- A figure of speech that contains
an ___________ for emphasis
• Examples of hyperbole include sayings
such as “I haven’t seen you for ages” or
“My backpack weighs ________!”
• Hyperbole has a touch of hype.
Metaphor
A Metaphor is a figure of speech that
compares or equates two or more things
that have something in common. A
metaphor does _______ use like or as.
It is an implicit or implied comparison (as
opposed to the simile, where the
comparison is very clear)
Example: Life is a bowl
of cherries.
Simile
A Simile is another figure of speech that
compares seemingly unlike things. Similes
use the words ______ or ________.
Example: Her voice was like nails on a
chalkboard.
Personification
Personification is a figure of
speech in which an ________,
_____________, or _______
is given human qualities or
characteristics.
Giving an animal human traits is
not personification; it is called
anthropomorphism.
Example: Tears began to fall
from the dark clouds.
Oxymoron
An Oxymoron is a figure of speech that is a
combination of seemingly contradictory
words.
Examples:
Same difference
Pretty ugly
Jumbo shrimp
Allusion
• An allusion is a reference to a literary
or historical person or event to
explain a present situation. The
_____, __________, and ________
are all common allusions.
_________
________ is the use of words
or phrases that appeal to one
or more of the five senses.
Writers use imagery to
describe how their subjects
look, sound, feel, taste, and
smell.
Imagery
• Definition- Language evoking the five senses (taste,
touch, sight, sound, smell)
• Example:
“dare to plunge downward, straight
through waters warm and bright
into that cold unknown,
deeper and deeper down
terrified, into black,
until they touch the stone “
• Imagery helps you imagine.
Local Color
• Local color is sometimes also referred to
as _________ literature -- fiction and
poetry that focuses on the characters,
dialect, customs, topography, and other
features particular to a _______
_________.
• The behavior, speech, etc. characteristic
of a certain region, location, or time
depicted in a novel or play adds
authenticity.
Local Color
• Many local color stories share a dislike for
change and a certain degree of nostalgia
for the ways of the past.
• There is sometimes a tension or conflict
between urban ways and old-fashioned
values.
• A celebration of community and
acceptance in the face of adversity
characterizes women's local color fiction.
• Be sure to notice elements of local color in
The House on Mango Street.
_____________
• Definition- A word that is spelled like
it sounds
• Using words that imitate the sounds
they denote
• Examples: Bam! Crash! Boom! Pop!
• Moo, woof, oink
Style
Style is the distinctive way in which
an author uses language.
Word choice, phrasing, sentence
length, tone, dialogue, purpose,
and attitude toward the audience
and subject can all contribute to
an author’s writing style. Pay
attention to author Sandra
Cisneros’ style in The House on
Mango Street.
Tone
• The author’s _________ about the
_________ matter.
– Ask yourself how the writer feels about the
subject. Is the writer being sarcastic, serious,
celebratory, dramatic, imaginative, comical,
etc.
– Think about it like this, a writer can write
about Hinsdale Central in many different
tones, right?
– Tone is shaped by purpose!
_____________
• The underlying message
communicated when characters
express one idea, but they are
really thinking or feeling
something else.
___________
• A short, usually descriptive literary sketch.
• A snapshot or scene