Name_____________________________________Class____________________________Date______________
Literary Terms Match-up
a. conflict
b. falling action
c. figurative language
linear plot
e. plot
f. rising action
g. style
h. subplot
i. theme
j. topic
k. protagonist
l. antagonist
m. inciting incident
y. flashback
n. exposition
z. foreshadowing
o. climax
aa. setting d.
p. resolution
bb. suspense
q. denouement
cc. allusion
r. tone
s. mood
t. imagery
u. third person limited POV(subjective)
v. first person POV
w. third person omniscient POV
x. third person objective POV
Match the definition to the terms in the word bank.
_____1. a plot in which the events occur in chronological order
_____2. a struggle between opposing forces; the problem; can be internal or external
_____3. a secondary or subordinate plot in a play, novel, or other literary work
_____4. what happens to begin the action; a single event usually signals the beginning of the main
conflict; is sometimes called 'the complication'
____5. the distinctive way in which a work of literature is written
____6. language that communicates ideas beyond the literal meaning of words
____7. the subject of a speech, essay, thesis, or discourse
____8. the moment of greatest tension in a story
____9. the ending; any remaining secrets, questions or mysteries which remain after the resolution
are solved by the characters or explained by the author. Sometimes the author leaves us to think
about the THEME or future possibilities for the characters.
____10. one character tells what he or she sees, hears, and thinks.
The words I, me and my are part of the narration.
____11. readers see events through the eyes of several characters; the narrator reveals the thoughts
and feelings of several (or all) characters.
____12. language that appeals to the five senses
____13. narrator is an impersonal observer or recorder; the narrator just gives the facts; reader is
never allowed into any of the characters’ minds, nor given any of their feelings or emotions
____14. character directly opposed to the protagonist
____15. the quality of a short story, novel, play, or narrative poem that makes the reader or audience
uncertain about the outcome of events
____16. a reference to a mythological, literary, or historical person, place or thing
Name_____________________________________Class____________________________Date______________
____17. a scene that interrupts the action to show a previous event
____18. the central character of a drama, short story, novel, or narrative poem
____19. readers see events through the eyes of one character who is not the narrator; the
character is referred to as he or she; the reader is aware of one character’s thoughts and feelings
____20. the underlying message or universal idea in a work of fiction; themes are ideas about life
or human nature, connecting the writer to the reader
____21. setting the scene; writer introduces the characters and setting, providing description and
background
____22. the writer or speaker’s attitude toward a subject, character, or audience
____23. the character solves the main problem/conflict or someone solves it for him or her
____24. the atmosphere or predominant emotion in a literary work
____25. the use of hints or clues to suggest a future action
____26. the time and place in which events in a short story, novel, narrative poem, or play occur
____27. the sequence of events or actions in a short story, novel, play or narrative poem
____28. the part of the plot in which the story begins to draw to a close
____29. the events, typically in a cause and effect relationship, that lead up to the climax