Review of Literary Terms

An event occurs that directly contradicts the expectations of characters, reader, or audience

An author's word choice

how the author concludes the story

The introduction of setting, character, and basic situation in a story

Writer's attitude toward his or her subject

Problem or struggle between opposing forces

A character that stays the same throughout a story

A description that appeals to one's five senses

The main character in a story; who you are rooting for!

A character that has both positive and negative characteristics (like a real person)

A contrast between what appears to be real and what is actually real.

Hints that the author gives of things that are to come in the story.

Atmosphere or feeling that a reader feels from the story

Implied comparison of two things without using like or as.

Shows events from before the present time of the story, often to reveal a character's motives

A character that undergoes a major change over the course of the story

Where and when a story takes place

Force or character working against the main character in a story

A character telling the story is taking part in the story; i.e. I, me, my

In a story, the highest or most intense point in the development

Words are used to suggest the opposite of what is meant.

Universal idea or lesson about life; understood by most cultures

Giving inanimate objects human characteristics

Reference to a well-known person, event, place, literary work or work of art.

Anything that stands for or represents something else

A comparison between two things using like or as

When the character telling the story is an outside observer; i.e. they, he, she, it

A character that is stereotypical or only shows a few, one-sided traits

A type of irony and contradiction between what a character thinks and what the audience knows to be true.

A conversation between characters; can be used to move the action along.