Academic Vocabulary
Unit 4:
I.
Literary Terms
Plot
series of related events that make up a story.
Consists of the following:
A. EXPOSITION: the beginning; gives information about the
characters and their problems or conflicts
B. Rising Action: the main events and complications leading to
the climax
C. CLIMAX:
moment of greatest emotional intensity or
suspense; marks the moment the conflict is
decided one way or another
D. Falling Action: the main events and complications leading to
the resolution
E. RESOLUTION: the way the conflict is resolved
II.
Setting
the time and place of a story. Often contributes
to the atmosphere, conflict, or characterization.
III.
Character
person (usu.) in a story
A. STATIC CHARACTER: one who does not change much during
the course of the story
B. DYNAMIC CHARACTER: one who changes as a result of the
story’s events
C. FLAT CHARACTER: a character with no depth. Has only 1 or 2
traits that can be described in a few words.
D. ROUND CHARACTER: a character who is much like a real
person. Has many different character traits,
which sometimes contradict one another.
E. PROTAGONIST: the main character. Most often round and
dynamic. Usu. the hero.
F. ANTAGONIST: the character or force that blocks the
protagonist. Often the villain.
G. Subordinate/
often static or flat characters.
May play
Stock Character:
important roles but do not serve
as the
main characters.
IV.
Characterization
a
process of revealing the personality of
character
A. INDIRECT
CHARACTERIZATION:
reader uses own judgment to
decide what a character is like
based on the evidence provided
by the author (what the character says,
how the character looks and dresses, what
the character thinks and feels, what other
characters think or say about them, what
the character does)
B. DIRECT
CHARACTERIZATION:
V.
Point of View
the author tells us directly
what a character is like
vantage point from which the author tells
a story
A. FIRST PERSON:
one of the characters is telling the
story using the pronoun I. We know
only what this character knows and
observe only what his character observes.
B. THIRD-PERSON
OMNISCIENT:
“all-knowing” and “all-seeing”
narrator is not a character in the
story. Almost like a god telling the
story as they know past, present, and
future and can tell us what any character
is thinking or feeling at any time.
C. THIRD-PERSON
LIMITED:
the narrator, who is not a character
in the story, zooms in on the
thoughts and feelings of just one
character.
VI.
THEME
central idea the author wishes to reveal about
the subject of a piece of literature. May or may
not be a moral or lesson but not usually directly
stated.
VII.
CONFLICT
struggle, clash, or problem between opposing
characters or opposing forces
A. EXTERNAL
CONFLICT:
character struggles against an
outside force such as another character
(person vs. person), society as a whole
(person vs. society), or something in
nature (person vs. nature)
B. INTERNAL
CONFLICT:
takes place entirely within the character’s
own mind. A struggle between opposing
needs or desires or emotions within a
single person (person vs. him- or herself)