more+Literary+Terms

http://www.orangeusd.k12.ca.us/yorba/literary_elements.htm

All fiction is based on conflict and this conflict is presented in a structured format called **PLOT.** The introductory material which gives the setting, creates the tone, presents the characters, and presents other facts necessary to understanding the story.
 * ELEMENTS OF **
 * Exposition**

**FLASHBACK**: A method of narration in which present action is temporarily interrupted so that the reader can witness past events--usually in the form of a character's memories, dreams, narration, or even authorial commentary (such as saying, "But back when King Arthur had been a child. . . ."). Flashback allows an author to fill in the reader about a place or a character, or it can be used to delay important details until just before a dramatic moment. **http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_F.html**

The use of hints or clues to suggest what will happen later in the story. The event or character that triggers the conflict.
 * Foreshadowing**
 * Inciting Force**

The essence of fiction. It creates plot. The conflicts we encounter can usually be identified as one of four kinds. (Man versus…Man, Nature, Society, or Self)
 * Conflict**

A series of events that builds from the conflict. It begins with the inciting force and ends with the climax.
 * Rising Action**

The conflict reaches a turning point. At this point the opposing forces in the story meet and the conflict becomes most intense. The crisis occurs before or at the same time as the climax.
 * Crisis**

The climax is the result of the crisis. It is the high point of the story for the reader. Frequently, it is the moment of the highest interest and greatest emotion. The point at which the outcome of the conflict can be predicted.
 * Climax**

The events after the climax which close the story.
 * Falling Action**

Rounds out and concludes the action.  Almost always round or three-dimensional characters. They have good and bad qualities. Their goals, ambitions and values change. A round character changes as a result of what happens to him or her. A character who changes inside as a result of what happens to him is referred to in literature as a DYNAMIC character. A dynamic character grows or progresses to a higher level of understanding in the course of the story. The main character in the story || **Antagonist** The character or force that opposes the protagonist. || **Foil** A character who provides a contrast to the protagonist. ||
 * Resolution** (Denouement)
 * MAJOR CHARACTERS**
 * **Protagonist**

Almost always flat or two-dimensional characters. They have only one or two striking qualities. Their predominant quality is not balanced by an opposite quality. They are usually all good or all bad. Such characters can be interesting or amusing in their own right, but they lack depth. Flat characters are sometimes referred to as STATIC characters because they do not change in the course of the story.  **POINT OF VIEW**: The way a story gets told and who tells it. It is the method of narration that determines the position, or angle of vision, from which the story unfolds. Point of view governs the reader's access to the story. Many narratives appear in the **first person** (the narrator speaks as "I" and the narrator is a character in the story who may or may not influence events within it). Another common type of narrative is the **third-person narrative** (the narrator seems to be someone standing outside the story who refers to all the characters by name or as //he//, //she//, //they//, and so on). When the narrator reports speech and action, but never comments on the thoughts of other characters, it is the **dramatic third person point of view** or **objective** point of view. The third-person narrator can be **omniscient**--a narrator who knows everything that needs to be known about the agents and events in the story, and is free to move at will in time and place, and who has privileged access to a character's thoughts, feelings, and motives. The narrator can also be **limited**--a narrator who is confined to what is experienced, thought, or felt by a single character, or at most a limited number of characters. Finally, there is the **unreliable narrator** (a narrator who describes events in the story, but seems to make obvious mistakes or misinterpretations that may be apparent to a careful reader). Unreliable narration often serves to characterize the narrator as someone foolish or unobservant. See also [|**authorial voice**]. **POINT OF VIEW CHARACTER**: The central figure in a limited point of view narration, the character through whom the reader experiences the author's representation of the world. See **[|point of view]**, above.
 * MINOR CHARACTERS**

The narrator is a character in the story who can reveal only personal thoughts and feelings and what he or she sees and is told by other characters. He can’t tell us thoughts of other characters. The narrator is an outsider who can report only what he or she sees and hears. This narrator can tell us what is happening, but he can’t tell us the thoughts of the characters. The narrator is an outsider who sees into the mind of one of the characters. The narrator is an all-knowing outsider who can enter the minds of more than one of the characters.  **Conflict is the essence of fiction. It creates plot. The conflicts we encounter can usually be identified as one of four kinds.** Conflict that pits one person against another.
 * First Person**
 * Third-Person Objective**
 * Third-Person Limited**
 * Omniscient**
 * Man versus Man**

A run-in with the forces of nature. On the one hand, it expresses the insignificance of a single human life in the cosmic scheme of things. On the other hand, it tests the limits of a person’s strength and will to live.
 * Man versus Nature**

The values and customs by which everyone else lives are being challenged. The character may come to an untimely end as a result of his or her own convictions. The character may, on the other hand, bring others around to a sympathetic point of view, or it may be decided that society was right after all.
 * Man versus Society**

Internal conflict. Not all conflict involves other people. Sometimes people are their own worst enemies. An internal conflict is a good test of a character’s values. Does he give in to temptation or rise above it? Does he demand the most from himself or settle for something less? Does he even bother to struggle? The internal conflicts of a character and how they are resolved are good clues to the character’s inner strength. Often, more than one kind of conflict is taking place at the same time. In every case, however, the existence of conflict enhances the reader’s understanding of a character and creates the suspense and interest that make you want to continue reading.  An author’s use of hints or clues to suggest events that will occur later in the story. Not all foreshadowing is obvious. Frequently, future events are merely hinted at through dialogue, description, or the attitudes and reactions of the characters. Foreshadowing frequently serves two purposes. It builds suspense by raising questions that encourage the reader to go on and find out more about the event that is being foreshadowed. Foreshadowing is also a means of making a narrative more believable by partially preparing the reader for events which are to follow.  The contrast between what is said and what is actually meant.
 * Man versus Self**
 * Irony is the contrast between what is expected or what appears to be and what actually is.**
 * Verbal Irony**

This refers to a happening that is the opposite of what is expected or intended.
 * Irony of Situation**

This occurs when the audience or reader knows more than the characters know.
 * Dramatic Irony**

**SATIRE**: An attack on or criticism of any stupidity or vice in the form of scathing humor, or a critique of what the author sees as dangerous religious, political, moral, or social standards. Satire became an especially popular technique used during the Enlightenment, in which it was believed that an artist could correct folly by using art as a mirror to reflect society. When people viewed the satire and saw their faults magnified in a distorted reflection, they could see how ridiculous their behavior was and then correct that tendency in themselves. The tradition of satire continues today. Popular cartoons such as //The Simpsons// and televised comedies like //The Daily Show// make use of it in modern media. Conventionally, **formal satire** involves a direct, first-person-address, either to the audience or to a listener mentioned within the work. An example of formal satire is Alexander Pope's //Moral Essays//. **Indirect satire** conventionally employs the form of a fictional narrative--such as Byron's //Don Juan// or Swift's //Gulliver's Travels//. Ridicule, irony, exaggeration, and similar tools are almost always used in satire. **Horatian satire** tends to focus lightly on laughter and ridicule, but it maintain a playful tone. Generally, the tone is sympathetic and good humored, somewhat tolerant of imperfection and folly even while expressing amusement at it. The name comes from the Roman poet Horace (65-8 BCE), who preferred to ridicule human folly in general rather than condemn specific persons. In contrast, **Juvenalian satire** also uses withering invective, insults, and a slashing attack. The name comes from the Roman poet Juvenal (60-140 CE), who frequently employed the device, but the label is applied to British writers such as Swift and Pope as well. Compare with **[|medieval estates satire]** and **[|spoof]**. **SCENE**: A dramatic sequence that takes place within a single locale (or **[|setting]**) on stage. Often scenes serve as the subdivision of an act within a play. Note that when we use the word //scene// generically or in the text of a paper (for example, "there are three scenes in the play"), we do not capitalize the word. See //The MLA Handbook//, 6th edition, section 3.6.5 for further information involving capitalization of scenes. **SCIENCE FICTION** (originally "scientifiction," a neologism coined by editor Hugo Gernsback in his pulp magazine //Amazing Stories//): Literature in which speculative technology, time travel, alien races, intelligent robots, gene-engineering, space travel, experimental medicine, psionic abilities, dimensional portals, or altered scientific principles contribute to the plot or background. Many purists make a distinction between "**hard**" science fiction (in which the story attempts to follow accepted scientific realism and extrapolates the outcomes or consequences of scientific discovery in a hard-headed manner) and "**soft**" science fiction (which often involves looser adherence to scientific knowledge and more fantasy-elements). The basic premise is usually built on a "what if" scenario--i.e., it explores what might occur if a certain technology or event occurred. Examples include Arthur C. Clarke's //2001: A Space Odyssey//, Robert Heinlein's //Stranger in a Strange Land//, Isaac Asimov's //Foundation//, Octavia Butler's //Dawn//, H. G. Wells' //The Invisible Man//, Ursula LeGuin's //The Left Hand of Darkness//, Lois McMaster Bujold's //Ethan of Athos//, Aldous Huxley's //Brave New World//, Ray Bradbury's //The Martian Chronicles//, Neal Stephenson's //Snow Crash//, and William Gibson's //Neuromancer//. See also **[|space opera]**, [|**speculative fiction**], and **[|Cthulhu //mythos//]**.



**SETTING**: The general locale, historical time, and social circumstances in which the action of a fictional or dramatic work occurs; the setting of an episode or scene within a work is the particular physical location in which it takes place. For example, the general setting of Joyce's "The Dead," is a quay named Usher's Island, west of central Dublin in the early 1900s, and the initial setting is the second floor apartment of the Misses Morkan. Setting can be a central or peripheral factor in the meaning of a work. The setting is usually established through description--but sometimes narration or dialogue also reveals the location and time. **SHORT STORY**: "A brief prose tale," as Edgar Allan Poe labeled it. This work of narrative fiction may contain description, dialogue and commentary, but usually plot functions as the engine driving the art. The best short stories, according to Poe, seek to achieve a single, major, unified impact. See **[|single effect theory]**, below. **SPOONERISM**: The comic (and usually unintentional) transposition of two initial consonants or other sounds. For example, saying "the queer old dean" when one means to say, "the dear old queen," or speaking of "beery wenches" when one means "weary benches" would be spoonerisms. The word comes from the flustered English clergyman and Oxford don, Reverend W. A. Spooner (1844-1930), who was famous for such slips of the tongue. Spooner, in an apocryphal account, once supposedly told a negligent student, "You have tasted two worms, hissed my mystery lectures, and you must leave Oxford by the first town drain." He of course meant to say, "You have wasted two terms, missed my history lectures, and you must leave Oxford by the first down-train." **STYLE**: The author's words and the characteristic way that writer uses language to achieve certain effects. An important part of interpreting and understanding fiction is being attentive to the way the author uses words. What effects, for instance, do word choice and sentence structure have on a story and its meaning? How does the author use imagery, figurative devices, repetition, or allusion? In what ways does the style seem appropriate or discordant with the work's subject and theme? Some common styles might be labeled ornate, plain, emotive, scientific, or whatnot. Most writers have their own particular styles, thus we speak of the "Hemingway style" or "Dickensian style." [|Click here] for more information. ** What is Style? **  What exactly is //style//? When writers talk about style, it's a lot like wine connoisseurs discussing the tastes of wine. For instance, a diehard wine-drinker might call one wine //fruity// and another //dry//. Either of those wines might also be //murky//, //hot// or even //impertinent//. But what does that mean? Aren't all wines //fruity// since they are made from grapes? How can a liquid beverage taste //dry//? These terms mean little to those who have not tasted many, many wines. It is a description that has to be experienced in the mouth, rather than plainly discussed. In the same way, describing a writer's style as //tough//, or //stuffy//, or //sweet// doesn't make much sense to someone who hasn't contrasted several writing styles. It may sound like these terms are being made-up by editors as they go along. The truth is, however, we see a real difference between a passage Ernest Hemingway writes and one William Faulkner pens, just as a fruity red wine tastes differently than a crisp //chardonais//. Individual writers tend to use different vocabularies, different sentence structure, and different punctuation. For instance, the Victorian writer George Bulwer-Lytton, the man who penned the phrase, "It was a dark and stormy night..." is famous for having a "torrid" writing style, one characterized by interjections and interruptions and piled-up phrases and clauses. Here is the first sentence to his novel //Paul Clifford// from 1830: It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents--except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness. This style contrasts sharply with the simplicity favored by many twentieth-century American novelists. For instance, if an early twentieth-century writer like Hemingway had written the same sentence above, the hypothetical passage might have looked something like this: After dark a storm came and sometimes in the wind there was a noise on the rooftops. You could see the streetlamps struggling to stay lit. Notice how the two passages differ. Bulwer-Lytton loves punctuation marks like dashes, paranetheses, and commas. Hemingway tries to keep his sentences uncluttered, and often deletes commas from the places they would normally appear. Bulwer-Lytton likes long sentences (58 words). Hemingway prefers shorter ones (17 words). In vocabulary, Bulwer-Lytton prefers Latinate root-words like //agitate//, and Hemingway prefers Germanic root-words like //struggle//. Bulwer-Lytton likes to repeat dominant images (//dark// and //darkness// appear in the same sentence). Hemingway dislikes such repetition. Bulwer-Lytton loves to use many adjectives (//dark//, //stormy//, //occasional//, //violent//, //scanty//) and some adverbs (//fiercely//). Hemingway often uses no adjectives at all. In this hypothetical Hemingway passage, even the word //dark// is now functioning as a substantive noun, synonymous with //night//. While Bulwer-Lytton's style was quite popular in the Victorian period, most modern writers find his style excessive. We tend to prefer Hemingway's clarity and brevity to Bulwer-Lytton's purple prose. In the same way, all writers vary in their styles. Their sentences differ in length and complexity. Each individual tends to put the words together in particular patterns. Each writer's tone may be objective and distanced, or up-close and personal. Style involves all these choices and more. Style is the intangible essence of what makes a person's writing unique. Writers may adapt different styles at different times in their writing careers. Other writers have specific traits that always set them apart. Fantasy writer Piers Anthony's style involves extensive use of puns. Faulkner's style involves long, rolling sentences and experimentation with compound words and so-called " [|stream of consciousness] " narration. Hemingway's style has often been described as "gritty"; it involves removal of commas and deadpan description of often gruesome events. Hemingway often uses concise, staccato sentences with few authorial comments. Jane Austen's writing style has been called "dry"; it involves multisyllabic words and understated wit. Charles Dickens favors a Latinate vocabulary and long sentence structure; he often interrupts his narrative to directly address the reader in a personal aside. Notice that these are tendencies--not absolute laws. Good writers vary their style as appropriate. The best writers can don one style or another to suit their purpose, rather than simply having a single style. There are two ways to explore style and understand it: (1) The first method of understanding style is a "hands-on" approach in which students read [|passages by different authors] and then try to imitate their favorites. (2) The second (and more abstract) way to understand style is to [|analyze style mathematically] by breaking down each sentence into grammatical parts and noting what features are statistically more common in certain styles. Read through both of the links above. After examining the passages by different authors, and seeing the statistical differences in each style, you can click on [|an exercise to help you master three common styles.] **PLOT**: The structure and relationship of actions and events in a work of fiction. In order for a plot to begin, some sort of catalyst is necessary. While the temporal order of events in the work constitutes the "story," we are speaking of plot rather than story as soon as we look at how these events relate to one another and how they are rendered and organized so as to achieve their particular effects. Note that, while it is most common for events to unfold chronologically or [|//**ab ovo**//] (in which the first event happens first, the second event happens second, and so on), many stories structure the plot in such a way that the reader encounters happenings out of order. A common technique along this line is to "begin" the story in the middle of the action, a technique called beginning **//[|in medias res]//** (Latin for "in the middle[s] of things"). Some narratives involve several short [|**episodic**] plots occurring one after the other (like chivalric romances), or they may involve multiple subplots taking place simultaneously with the main plot (as in many of Shakespeare's plays). **THEME**: A central idea or statement that unifies and controls an entire literary work. The theme can take the form of a brief and meaningful insight or a comprehensive vision of life; it may be a single idea such as "progress" (in many Victorian works), "order and duty" (in many early Roman works), "seize-the-day" (in many late Roman works), or "jealousy" (in Shakespeare's //Othello//). The theme may also be a more complicated doctrine, such as Milton's theme in //Paradise Lost,// "to justify the ways of God to men," or "Socialism is the only sane reaction to the labor abuses in Chicago meat-packing plants" (Upton Sinclair's //The Jungle//). A theme is the author's way of communicating and sharing ideas, perceptions, and feelings with readers, and it may be directly stated in the book, or it may only be implied. Compare with **[|motif]** and **[|leit-motif]**.

The author’s **attitude**, stated or implied, toward a subject. Some possible attitudes are pessimism, optimism, earnestness, seriousness, bitterness, humorous, and joyful. An author’s tone can be revealed through choice of words and details.
 * Tone**

The climate of **feeling** in a literary work. The choice of setting, objects, details, images, and words all contribute towards creating a specific mood. For example, an author may create a mood of mystery around a character or setting but may treat that character or setting in an ironic, serious, or humorous tone  A person, place or object which has a meaning in itself but suggests other meanings as well. Things, characters and actions can be symbols. Anything that suggests a meaning beyond the obvious. Some symbols are conventional, generally meaning the same thing to all readers. For example: bright sunshine symbolizes goodness and water is a symbolic cleanser.  The main idea or underlying meaning of a literary work. A theme may be stated or implied. Theme differs from the subject or topic of a literary work in that it involves a statement or opinion about the topic. Not every literary work has a theme. Themes may be major or minor. A major theme is an idea the author returns to time and again. It becomes one of the most important ideas in the story. Minor themes are ideas that may appear from time to time. It is important to recognize the difference between the theme of a literary work and the subject of a literary work. The subject is the topic on which an author has chosen to write. The theme, however, makes some statement about or expresses some opinion on that topic. For example, the subject of a story might be war while the theme might be the idea that war is useless.
 * Mood**

Four ways in which an author can express themes are as follows: 1. Themes are expressed and emphasized by the way the author makes us feel.. By sharing **feelings of the main character** you also share the ideas that go through his mind. 2. Themes are presented in **thoughts and conversations**. Authors put words in their character’s mouths only for good reasons. One of these is to develop a story’s themes. The things a person says are much on their mind. Look for **thoughts that are repeated** throughout the story. 3. Themes are suggested through the characters. The main character usually illustrates the most important theme of the story. A good way to get at this theme is to ask yourself the question, **what does the main character learn** in the course of the story?

4. The **actions or events** in the story are used to suggest theme. People naturally express ideas and feelings through their actions. One thing authors think about is what an action will "say". In other words, how will the action express an idea or theme? ** : ** Language that appeals to the senses. Descriptions of people or objects stated in terms of our senses.  Whenever you describe something by comparing it with something else, you are using figurative language. Any language that goes beyond the literal meaning of words in order to furnish new effects or fresh insights into an idea or a subject. The most common figures of speech are simile, metaphor, and alliteration. A figure of speech which involves a direct comparison between two unlike things, usually with the words like or as. Example: The muscles on his brawny arms are strong as iron bands. A figure of speech which involves an implied comparison between two relatively unlike things using a form of be. The comparison is not announced by like or as. Example: The road was a ribbon of moonlight.
 * Simile**
 * Metaphor**

Repeated consonant sounds occurring at the beginning of words or within words. Alliteration is used to create melody, establish mood, call attention to important words, and point out similarities and contrasts. Example: wide-eyed and wondering while we wait for others to waken.
 * Alliteration**

A figure of speech which gives the qualities of a person to an animal, an object, or an idea. It is a comparison which the author uses to show something in an entirely new light, to communicate a certain feeling or attitude towards it and to control the way a reader perceives it. Example: a brave handsome brute fell with a creaking rending cry--the author is giving a tree human qualities.
 * Personification**

The use of words that mimic sounds. They appeal to our sense of hearing and they help bring a description to life. A string of syllables the author has made up to represent the way a sound really sounds. Example: Caarackle!
 * Onomatopoeia**

An exaggerated statement used to heighten effect. It is not used to mislead the reader, but to emphasize a point. Example: She’s said so on several million occasions
 * Hyperbole**