Author's Purpose
This is to inform, persuade, entertain, or explain his ideas to the reader.
Metophor
This is a figure of speech that describes one thing in the terms of something else. It does NOT use "like" or "as.
Simile
This is a figure of speech that makes a direct comparison between two subjects using "like" or "as.
Red Herring
In a mystery story, information that points the reader away from the solution.
Indirect Characterization
The process by which the personality of a fictitious character is revealed through the character's speech, thoughts, effect on others, actions, and looks.
Motif
Any recurring element that has symbolic significance in a story. Through its repetition, it can help produce other narrative (or literary) aspects such as theme or mood.
Point of View
Who the narrator is in relation to the story and what information the narrator can reveal.
Exposition
The start of a story where the characters and setting are established. During this part of the story, the conflict or main problem is also introduced.
Symbol
Anything that stands for something else.
Foreshadowing
Information that an author gives the reader that hints or suggests what might happen later in the story.
Suspense
This is a feeling of growing curiosity or anxious uncertainty about the outcome of events in a literary work.
Climax
The high point of a story. It is the main event or danger that the character faces. This is the darkest moment, the worst challenge the character must oppose. At this point it looks as if the character will fail, and will never get what he/she wants.
Falling Action
The part of the story where it begins to slowly wind down; shows the result of the actions or decisions the character has made. This eventually leads to the final part of the novel, the crisis resolution.
Mood
The feeling or atmosphere perceived by the reader. It is the emotions you feel while reading.
Tone
This is the writer's attitude toward the readers and toward the subject in a literary work. It may be informal, formal, friendly, distant, personal, or impersonal.
Theme
This is a central message, concern or purpose in a literary work. This might be the insight that the writer wants to pass along to the reader.
Flashback
A literary or cinematic device in which an earlier event is inserted into the normal chronological order of a narrative.
Denotation
The literal definition of a word.
Connotation
The suggesting of a meaning by a word apart from the thing it explicitly names or describes.
Protagonist
This is the main character in a literary work. He/she is at the center of the action, often in conflict with an external antagonist or with internal forces.
Appositive
A restatement of the word's meaning somewhere in the sentence.
Moral
This is the lesson taught by a literary work. Often they are directly stated infables but only indirectly suggested in poems, novels, short stories, or plays.
Imagery
The use of figurative language to represent objects, actions and ideas in such a way that they appeal to our five senses.
Dramatic Irony
A literary technique by which the full significance of a character's words or actions are clear to the audience or reader although unknown to the character.
Hyperbole
An extreme exaggeration for the effect of proving a particular point.
Proverb
A short saying, usually of unknown or ancient origin, that expresses some useful thought, commonplace truth, or moral lesson and is most often expressed in simple, homely language.
Folktale
A short saying, usually of unknown or ancient origin, that expresses some useful thought, commonplace truth, or moral lesson and is most often expressed in simple, homely language.