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Exposition

Climax

Denouement

Rising Action Falling Action

Resolution Inciting Moment

LITERARY TERMS REFERENCE PACKET English II Pre-AP: Unit 2 – Literary Analysis and Julius Caesar

PLOT TERMS

PLOT: The series of events that present and resolve a conflict. Many stories follow typical plot development, which can be traced using Freytag’s Pyramid, which helps us to remember the order in which the steps of plot usually occur.

a. EXPOSITION: The background information that introduces characters, setting, and situation b. INCITING MOMENT: An event that occurs which initiates the main action and begins the primary

conflict in the story c. RISING ACTION: Presents complications that intensify the primary conflict; builds suspense as we

wonder what the outcome will be d. CLIMAX: The major turning point in the story; high point of greatest intensity/interest e. FALLING ACTION: Events/actions following the climax, often as a result of the climax. Although

these events follow the climax, they occur before the problem created in the inciting moment has been resolved

f. RESOLUTION: Moment when the primary conflict created by the inciting moment is resolved and the outcome is clear; the end

g. DENOUEMENT: The “where they are now.” The author ties up any loose ends and answers any remaining questions

LINEAR PLOT: Goes in chronological order – the events are told in the order in which they happened (In other words, the story goes in order of Freytag’s Pyramid.) NON-LINEAR PLOT: Events are NOT revealed in the order that they occurred in time, but in some other order that the writer chooses. This is usually accomplished through one of the following two non-linear plot devices.

a. FORESHADOWING: The use of hints to give the reader insight about coming events b. FLASHBACK: A narrative technique that allows a writer to present past events during current

events in order to provide background for the current narration c. SUBPLOT: A subordinate or minor plotline within the story that often has a direct relation to the

main plot, contributing to it in interest and in complication d. PARALLEL PLOT STRUCTURE: A structure in which two stories of equal importance are told

simultaneously, and the story moves back and forth between the two plots SETTING: The time and place in which the events occur SUSPENSE: Excitement or tension created as readers wait to find out how a story ends or a conflict is resolve: created by raising questions about what might happen next, often through the use of foreshadowing

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CONFLICT TERMS

CONFLICT: The struggle (internal or external) between two opposing forces

a. EXTERNAL CONFLICT: Clash between a character and an outside force – with another person, object, or entity

Man vs. Man, Man vs. Nature, Man vs. Fate, Man vs. Society, etc. b. INTERNAL CONFLICT: A struggle within a character’s mind

Man vs. Self

CHARACTER TERMS

CHARACTERS: The people/actors in a story

a. PROTAGONIST: The main character of the story, around whom the plot revolves. While s/he is usually the reader empathizes with, s/he is not in all cases a likeable person.

b. ANTAGONIST: The person, place, or thing in conflict with the protagonist. The antagonist may take many forms including another person, a force of nature, fate, society, or the protagonist him/herself.

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT/CHARACTERIZATION: The process by which writers reveal their characters’ traits (qualities)

a. DIRECT CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT: The author directly describes the character, taking away the reader’s option to visualize the character in the reader’s own terms.

b. INDIRECT CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT: The author allows the reader the freedom to create the character in the reader’s mind. This can be accomplished with any of the following:

a. Appearance: What the character looks like; How s/he carries her/himself b. Speech: What the character says and how s/he says it c. The Opinions of Others d. The Character’s Thoughts e. Actions: What the character does in certain situations

CHARACTER TYPES

a. FLAT CHARACTER: A one-dimensional character; one or two personality traits only b. ROUND CHARACTER: A three-dimensional character with many sides to his/her personality c. STOCK CHARACTER: A stereotypical character d. STATIC CHARACTER: A character who does not undergo a change during the story e. DYNAMIC CHARACTER: A character who does undergo an important change during the story

CHARACTER FOILS: A character who provides a striking contrast, calling attention to certain traits possessed by a main character or simply enhance a character by contrast CHARACTER MOTIVATION: The reason for a character’s behavior. This requires you to make inferences based on characterization!

POINT-OF-VIEW TERMS

POINT-OF-VIEW: The vantage point from which a narrative is told. The point-of-view in a story affects how we perceive “reality” in the story and understand what happens in it.

a. FIRST-PERSON POINT-OF-VIEW: Told by one of the characters in the story; uses the pronoun “I” b. THIRD-PERSON LIMITED POINT-OF-VIEW: The narrator, who is almost never a character in the

story, zooms in on the thoughts of just one or a select few characters. c. THIRD-PERSON OMNISCIENT POINT-OF-VIEW: The narrator is able to look into the hearts and

minds of all characters at all times. The Greek prefix omni means “all,” and scient means “seeing.”

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IRONY TERMS

IRONY: Occurs when the reader expects one thing, but the opposite occurs – the unexpected. It is the discrepancy between what is expected and what actually occurs. THREE TYPES OF IRONY

a. SITUATIONAL IRONY: A discrepancy between the expected result and the actual result b. VERBAL IRONY: When an individual says one thing but really means another (or, when a

character says one thing, but the opposite is true) c. DRAMATIC IRONY: When the audience/reader knows what is happening before the characters

do. Horror movies and soap operas are known for their heavy use of dramatic irony.

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

Note: See your rhetorical terms packet for further figurative language terms. CONCEIT: A metaphor that just does not work or fit very easily.

Example: “The United States is a venerable sea turtle, silently gliding through the blue depths”. SYMBOLISM: The use of something concrete that stands for or represents something abstract. METONYMY: Substituting the name of one object for another object closely associated with it.

Example: “The pen [WRITING] is mightier than the sword [WAR/FIGHTING].” We await word from the crown. I'm told he's gone so far as to give her a diamond ring. The IRS is auditing me? Great. All I need is a couple of suits arriving at my door.

SYNECDOCHE: When something is identified only by mention of a smaller part of itself.

Example: “I soared into the air as the wheels left the runway.” – mentions only wheels, instead of entire plane.”

DRAMATIC SPEECH TERMS

DIALOGUE: A conversation between two or more people. Any portion of a staged drama, that is neither a monologue nor a soliloquy, is a dialogue. MONOLOGUE: A long speech by one person to an audience of any number of people.

SOLILOQUY: A long speech in which a character who is onstage alone expresses his or her thoughts and feelings aloud. APOSTROPHE: A figure of speech in which one directly addresses an absent or imaginary person, or some abstraction. This is often used when emotions become most intense. Example: “Hello darkness, my old friend… I’ve come to talk with you again.” ASIDE: Words spoken by a character in a play to the audience or to another character that are not supposed to be heard by the others onstage.

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OTHER IMPORTANT LITERARY TERMS

THEME: The underlying meaning of a literary work. Theme may also be stated as “the author’s idea or what life is, should be, or could be.” In short, the theme is the statement or observation about life that the author is trying to make. A theme is NOT a one-word concept like “Revenge.” It is a full statement, such as “Revenge is not worthwhile unless the avenger makes him/herself known.” MOTIF: a pattern of recurring objects, concepts, or structures in a work of literature Example: Footsteps, wine, and the sea in A Tale of Two Cities. ALLITERATION: The repetition of initial consonant sounds; can be as few as two sounds in close proximity

Example: “A great fire blazed on the hearth and the smell of cedar cleanly split and sweetwood burning bright wafted a cloud of fragrance down the island”

ANACHRONISM: Something out of time or place in a literary text Example: A smart phone in a story that takes place in 1985 COMIC RELIEF: A humorous scene, incident or speech that relieves the overall emotional intensity. By providing contrast, comic relief serves to heighten the seriousness of the main action while helping audiences to absorb earlier events in the plot and get ready for the ones to come. JUXTAPOSITION: To place side by side in order to compare. PARADOX: An apparently contradictory statement that actually reveals some truth.

Examples: “Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again." “Everyone is completely unique, just like everyone else.” "If there is an exception to every rule, then every rule must have at least one exception, the exception to this one being that it has no exception.”

OXYMORON: A concise paradox that brings together two contradictory terms. Examples: jumbo shrimp, act naturally, found missing, genuine imitation APHORISM: A concise statement that expresses succinctly a general truth or idea, often using rhyme or balance Example: “The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” ELLIPSIS: The omission of a word or phrase which is grammatically necessary but can be deduced from the context Example: “Some people prefer cats; others, dogs.” IAMBIC PENTAMETER: The rhythm in which Shakespeare writes his plays and his sonnets Break the name down…

� An ‘iamb’ is a metrical foot, or unit of measurement, consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable ( ˘ ´). One iamb = ăriśe.

� “Penta” means five, so… Line of verse that contains five iambs. This line is ten syllables long with an alternating pattern of unstressed and stressed syllables. Example: “But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?” BLANK VERSE: Poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter; “blank” means the poetry is not rhymed; this is the major form of verse in Shakespeare’s plays.