Literary Terms

Please note: these are very different from vocabulary words

It is important that you understand and be able to apply the terms to the works we read this semester, and in some instances your own

writing!

Character

A character is a person or an animal that takes part in the action of a literary work.

Antagonist

• The Antagonist is a character or force in conflict with a main character, or protagonist.

Do you know your Antagonists???

• On your paper take a few minutes to write down some Antagonists that you can recall from movies, television shows, and video games

• Remember the Antagonist is in conflict with the Protagonist or, main character!

• Helpful hint – you should now know why people use the saying “Don’t antagonize me!”

Protagonist

• The Protagonist is the main character in a literary work• Can you name some famous

Protagonists that are found in literature?

Diction• Diction is the manner in which we

express words; the wording used.• Diction = enunciation• Some easy examples are: Don’t say ‘goin’ – say ‘going’, Don’t say ‘wanna’ – say ‘want to’

DenotationThe denotation of a word is

its dictionary meaning, independent of other associations that the word may have.

ConnotationThe connotation of a word is the set of ideas

associated with it in addition to its explicit meaning. The connotation of a word can be personal, based on individual experiences. More often, cultural connotations – those recognizable by most people in a group – determine a writer’s word choices.

Denotation versus Connotation

Some examples – Cheap is “low in cost” (denotation) but “stingy”

or “poorly made” are the connotations of cheap

Let’s use the word HOT The denotation (or dictionary definition – remember d in denotation =

dictionary) of HOT is: having a temperature higher than that of a human body.

However, when you say “Man! He/She is hot!”, are you saying “Man! He is having a temperature higher than that of a human body!”? No!!

You are saying the CONNOTATION of HOT – which could mean a variety of things – man he/she is cute, attractive, beautiful, and many other meanings – those come from personal experiences and cultural meanings, etc.

ImageryImagery is 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.

PlotPlot is the sequence of events. 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.

The plot usually begins with an exposition that introduces the setting, the characters, and the basic situation. This is introduced and developed. The conflict then increases until it reaches a high point of interest or suspense, the climax. The climax is followed by the falling action, or end, of the central conflict. Any events that occur during the falling action make up the resolution.

PLOTLINE

ExpositionResolution

Risin

g Ac

tion

Climax

Falling Action

Conflict Introduced

Conflict

Conflict is the struggle between opposing forces in a story or play. There are two types of conflict that exist in literature.

External Conflict

External conflict exists when a character struggles against some outside force, such as another character, nature, society, or fate.

Man vs. ManMan vs. Nature

Internal Conflict

Internal conflict exists within the mind of a character who is torn between different courses of action.

Man vs. Himself

ForeshadowingForeshadowing is the author’s use of clues to

hint at what might happen later in the story. Writers use foreshadowing to build their readers’ expectations and to create suspense. This is used to help readers prepare for what is to come.

Can you think of an element of

foreshadowing?

Suspense

Suspense is the growing interest and excitement readers experience while awaiting a climax or resolution in a work of literature. It is a feeling of anxious uncertainty about the outcome of events. Writers create suspense by raising questions in the minds of their readers.

Point of View

Point of View is the perspective, or vantage point, from which a story is told. It is the relationship of the narrator to the story.

Figures of Speech

A figure of speech is a specific device or kind of figurative language, such as hyperbole, metaphor, personification, simile, or understatement.

Figurative 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.

Symbolism

• When an object, item, word, symbol has a deeper meaning most often symbolizing something else.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THWrno6lBUQ