ENGLISH FINAL

Fiction

stories that are at least partially made up or imagined. if factual info is included (possibly historical), it is not the most important part

narrator

a being who records the events of the story. he or she may not be a character in the story

participant narrator

writes in the first person (I). may be major (important) or minor (observer) character

nonparticipant narrator

writes in the third person

unreliable narrator

when a story is told by someone unknown

free indirect narration

when a character's thoughts and word choice are filtered through a third person narrator

charater

an imagined person who inhabits a story

round (dynamic) character

more complicated with more than one feature; they do change

flat (static) character

defined by one feature; does not change

diction

choice of words in a literary work

symbol

visible object or action that suggests some further meaning in addition to itself

symbolic action

an act whose significance goes beyond its literal meaning (it may signify rebirth, forgiveness, sacrifice, vengeance, etc.)

plot

all of the events that happen in a story

exposition

starts the story; intro to set the scene

complication

introduces conflict

crisis

conflicts that lead to the highest, most tense point in the story

climax

the absolute highest point in the story

d�nouement (resolution)

the end of the story

figurative language (figure of speech)

when a speaker uses a word differently than its dictionary meaning. usually used to draw attention or emphasis

similie

a comparison of two like things, typicially indicated by "like" or "as". (other options for connectives are "than" or a verb like "resembles"). the things compared need to be dissimilar in kind. usually only highlights one particular similarity.

metaphor

a statement that one thing is something else that it is not, in a literal sense

implied metaphor

a metaphor that does not use the verb to be

mixed metaphor

when someone combines two incompatible metaphors - the result does not make sense. usually unintentional and done with cliches (dead metaphors)

foreshadowing

hint to the reader of what comes later. characters might not be aware

epiphany

a moment of revelation/discovery and changes in views

setting

time and place

atmosphere

a mood or feeling that pervades a literary work;created with physical setting and word choice and character's perspective

synecdoche

when a part stands in for the whole

style

traits or characteristics an author uses

parallel structure

rhetoric and how we craft language to be influential. gives rhythm. sentence level and repetition of phrase or sentence structure

image

a word or sequence of words that refer to any sensory experience (seeing-visual, hearing-auditory, touching-tactile, etc.). a direct or literal recreation of physical experience. add immediacy to literary language

imagery

all of the images of a literary work taken together

personification

a figure of speech in which a thing, an animal, or an abstract term is given human characteristics. puts the nonhuman world in human terms

epigraph

quote of writer written at the beginning of a work; sets the tone of the piece that follows

terza rima

3 line stanza; chain rhyme

rhyme scheme

denoting the rhyme pattern using letters

stanza

sectioned off lines within poetry; like a paragrpah

alliteration

the repetition of consonant sounds (sally sells seashells)

refrain

phrase, line, or set of lines repeated during a poem, usually at the end of the stanza

catalexis

when the last syllable of a line is dropped

headless line

dropping first syllable of a line

heroic verse

iambic rhymed couplets

internal rhyme

when 2 or more words rhyme within a single line or verse

lyric poetry

thoughts and feelings of a speaker in a short, lyrical word

song

poem performed musically

ballad

song that tells a story

end-stopped line

ending a line in a poem with punctuation

free verse

poem with no regular meter or line length

blank verse

poem without rhyme scheme

elegy

poem of mourning an individual or event

assonance

the repetition of a vowel sound (sound of a clown)

hudibrastic

iambic tetrameter (AABB); represents parody and satire

single rhyme (masculine)

when only one syllable matches

double rhyme (feminine)

when both of the last syllables match

stage directions

tells the actor what to do at certain times; usually in italics

unities

the idea that plays are unified in time, place, and action; the idea of how a play should be

soliloquy

a spech by a lonely character on stage who is thinking outloud; mostly seen in plays

dramatic conflict

a central struggle between 2 or more forces in a play (hope vs. despair)

theme

a general point of truth about life or humanity; related to dramatic conflict

dramatic irony

a literary technique, originally used in Greek tragedy, by which the full significance of a character's words or actions are clear to the audience or reader although unknown to the character

meter

the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line; gives poetry its rhythm

foot

a combination of stressed (/) and unstressed (-) syllables; the most basic unit of a poem's meter

types of feet

iamb, dactyl, trochee, anapest

iamb

-/

trochee

/-

anapest

--/

dactyl

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