Name:________________________________
Period:___________ Date:_________
Literary Terms Review Worksheet
1. Fiction is any ________________ story.
2. Non-fiction is literature which describes only real people or ___________________ such as historical works,
___________________, and autobiographies.
3. A short story is a ___________________ account of events brief enough to be read in ___________________,
including plot, ___________________, setting, ___________________ of ___________________, and theme.
4. Conflict is the ___________________ between _________ ___________________
5. External conflict has three types: ___________________;___________________; and
___________________
6. Internal conflict is a character’s ___________________ or ___________________.
7. The protagonist is the ___________________ character in the story.
8. The antagonist is the ___________________ or ___________________ which causes the main character
conflict.
9. The point of view is the ___________________ from which the story is told.
10. First person point of view is when the story is being told by a ___________________ in the story. Words like
_____ or _____ are used throughout the story.
11. Third person point of view is when the story is told by an ___________________. Words like ____________
and _____________ are used throughout the story.
12. A narrator is the ___________________ who ___________________.
13. The setting is the ___________________ and ___________________ in which the story occurs.
14. The theme of the story is the statement about ___________________ of which the author wishes to make. It
is also many times the ___________________ of the story. Usually the theme of a story can be expressed in a
___________________ ___________________.
15. The plot of a story tells what happens in a story in the ___________________ in which the
___________________ occur.
16. The exposition of the story is at the beginning and contains the ___________________,
___________________, and ___________________.
17. The rising action of the story tells the ___________________ that occur before the climax or turning point.
18. The climax or turning point of the story is the part where the most ___________________ or major
___________________ occurs in the story.
19. The falling action contains all of the ___________________ of the turning point or climax.
20. The resolution is at the end of the story and is where the ___________________’s conflics are resolved in
some way.
21. Characterization is the means by which an ___________________ creates ___________________ people in
his writing.
22. An ___________________ and ___________________ character is developed in two ways.
23. Direct characterization is what is said ___________________ by the narrator about a character. For example,
“Sally was extremely rude.” Is an example of direct characterization.
24. Indirect characterization is what a character ___________________, what a character
___________________, and what other characters ___________________ about the character. For example,
in a story we may read, the character, John, works out every day of the week; never messing a day. (This
would indirectly lead the reader to understand that John was in good shape.)
25. Situation irony is an event that turns out the ___________________ of what the reader has been lead to expect
of that situation.
26. Dramatic irony is when the ___________________ knows something that the characters in the story
___________________.
27. Foreshadowing uses ___________________ and ___________________ that predict the
___________________ of the story.
28. Flashback is a total ___________________ in the present action of the story to ___________________ a
small back story that occurred previously. This many times gives background information.
29. Author’s Purpose is the ___________ that the author had for creating the work. Sometimes the author will
state his or her purpose ___________________. Other times the reader will need to make
___________________ (reasonable ___________________) about the author’s purpose. Recognizing an
author’s purpose helps the reader get more out of the reading.
30. There are four basic reasons an author might choose to write:
a. To ___________________ or inform.
b. To ___________________
c. To ___________________
d. To ___________________, or ___________________.
31. Mood is the ___________________ that a literary work gives to the readers. Writers use
___________________, ___________________, and images to create mood.
32. Tone is the ___________________ of the narrator. Tone can be ___________________, sad,
___________________¸sympathetic, or ___________________.
33. A symbol is something concrete, like a person, ___________________, or ___________________ used to
represent something else bigger than itself; something abstract, such as a concept or an idea. Writers use
symbols to bring meaning and emphasis to their writing.
34. A metaphor is a ___________________ comparison of two things NOT using ___________________ or as.
35. A simile is a ___________________ of two things using ___________________, ___________________, or
___________________.
36. A hyperbole is a comparison using an ___________________ metaphor or simile.
37. Denotation is the literal or “___________” definition of a word. (May also be referred to as a literal
meaning.)
38. Connotation is the ___________________ or ___________________ a particular work or phrase may arouse.
Words acquire their connotation by the way they’ve been___________________ in the past and by the
___________________ in which they’ve been used. (May also be referred to as an implied meaning.)
39. An allusion is a reference that a writer makes within the story to something in ___________________,
___________________, or ___________________.
40. The premise of a story is the “___________________”of the story. It contains just the
___________________ elements of a story that could apply to many stories like it.