elements of literature
Terms
undefined, object
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- understatement
- opposite of exaggeration
- primary theme
- is the most important theme in the story
- puns
- play on words
- backdrop setting
- unimportant to the plot
- sentimentality
- dwells on cute and precious
- closed ending
- an ending that is complete and the reader feels he/she knows how the story ends
- rhyme
- repetition of a stressed sound
- resolution
- the conclusion of the story and end of the struggle
- complications
- things that happen in the story that the character must overcome
- character
- people or things in the story
- narrative order
- the sequence of events
- cliffhanger
- an abrupt or sudden ending at an exciting and often dangerous time in the plot
- open ending
- the reader must draw his or her own conclusions because it is not clear how the story ends
- protagonist
- the central character in the plot's conflict
- round character
- a fully developed character with many traits, both bad and good
- climax
- the peak or turning point of action
- flat character
- not a fully developed character
- antagonist
- the force in conflict with the protagonist
- chronological
- the events are told in the order they happen
- exposition
- the beginning of the story that includes an explanation of the situation and the condition of the characters
- flashback
- the author tells an event that took place before the current time
- time lapse
- the story skips a period of time
- falling action
- after the climax
- foreshadowing
- planting of hints about what will happen later
- rising action
- when the excitement is building leading to the climax
- standard written style
- sounds natural
- conversational style
- language is more informal, sounds more like the way people really talk
- theme
- underlying meaing of the story
- simile
- compares two different things, using the words "as" "like" or "than"
- setting
- includes the place and the time period that the story takes place
- dialect
- easiest to read, word order is used to suggest a difference from normal speech
- personification
- gives human traits to animals, nonhuman beings or inanimate objects
- figurative language
- uses words in a nonliteral way, giving them meaning beyond their ordinary one
- consonance
- repetition of consonants sounds anywhere in the words
- alliteration
- repetition of initial consonants
- devices of sound
- can increase pleasure and clarity
- onomatopoeia
- the use of words that sound like their meaning, skirt swishes
- hyperbole
- exaggeration
- rhythm
- recurring flow of strong and weak beats in a phrase
- assonance
- repetition of vowel sounds in a phrase
- symbol
- something which is literal and symbolic
- meter
- regular rhythmic pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables found in a line of poetry
- allusion
- indirect reference to something outside the current literary work
- metaphor
- an implied comparison stating the resemblance between two things
- inevitability
- something that is will happen and is inescapable
- implicit theme
- not directly stated, it is implied
- explicit theme
- stated openly
- secondary theme
- less important theme
- suspense
- tense, uncertain action which keeps the reader reading
- imagery
- an appeal to any of the senses--taste, touch, sight, sound, and smell
- style
- the language used in a book, the way words are put together to create the story
- sensationalism
- unrelieved suspense
- conflict
- a struggle against some outside enemy or some internal problem
- integral setting
- is essential to the plot, it influences action, character or theme
- internal conflict
- struggle with some inner problem such as fear or anger
- external conflict
- struggle with some outside problem such as a bad storm, a vicious animal or another person
- plot
- the sequence of events which involves the characters in conflict
- coincidence
- events which happen by chance