English Homework

GLOSSARY

The following terms are assigned for study and testing on the ENGL 1302 Exams. Additional literary terms do appear in the glossary for Approaching Prose Fiction; this list has been adapted from that source to reflect only what may appear on your exam.

Allegory –presents abstract concepts like evil or love as characters and operates on two levels: the literal and the figurative

Allusion --requires readers to be aware of events, people, places, and things well beyond the story; these things should be familiar, famous, or well-known in culture or history.

Antagonist--the character or force in conflict with the main character

Characterization--the revelation of character through techniques such as physical description, action, dialogue, interaction with other characters, and the depiction of thought, emotion and belief.

Conflict-- the struggle between two forces is the standard definition for conflict Man vs. man, self, society, nature, the supernatural, technology, etc.

Dialogic--describes a narrative in which multiple voices, perspectives or discourses are present and engage and interact with each other.

Dialogue--speech between two or more characters in a narrative.

Diction--an author’s word choice as a reflection of style or a way to create aspects of the narrative, diction

· informal diction uses colloquial expressions, dialect, less structured grammar

· formal or elevated diction uses lengthier words and more complex sentence structures

Dynamic Character—a character that undergoes some sort of significant personal change (for better or worse) as a result of their experiences.

Epiphany-- a moment of realization the character may have about his/her actions or situation, that causes him/her to change.

Fable-- short tales that also teach a lesson—a moral, usually through animals that exhibit human traits).

Figures of Speech

First person--narration from the point of view of a character, often central to the plot, who refers to himself or herself as ‘I’. Such narrators can often be deliberately ‘unreliable’.

Flashback-- a return to events that occurred before the story happened

Flat character-- the word ‘flat’ suggests a one-dimensional figure, taken to represent a particular idea, human trait or set of values, much like the static characters described above. They are caricatures who can be easily and quickly summarized; they often receive little description or detail in the narrative.

Foil--character that highlights the protagonist’s emotions, characteristics, values, or morals.

Foreshadowing--to give hints as to what might occur before it actually happens.

Freytag’s Pyramid—A method of organizing and identifying the structure of a narrative:

· exposition--background information, setting, perhaps some information about characters, etc.

· inciting incident--an action or event that sets the story in motion

· rising action--additional conflicts occur, creating an increase in tension.

· climax--the height of tension to the story

· falling action—events leading to resolving the tension

· resolution, also known as the denouement, or the wrapping up of the conflict.

Genre--the classification of literary works according to common elements of content, form, or technique.

Hyperbole --extreme exaggeration

Imagery--description that appeals to the senses, so phrasing will describe sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and tactile impression.

Irony--the expression of a meaning contrary to the stated or ostensible one.

· dramatic irony--the readers know more than the character knows.

· situational irony--the reader expects one thing to happen, and something else actually occurs.

· verbal irony--the character says one thing but means something else.

· cosmic irony-- characters believe they are masters of their own destiny when in reality, they are at the hands of Fate, God, or some larger force.

Metaphors--direct comparisons of two unlike things

Mood—the atmosphere interpreted by the reader as his/her feelings are influenced by setting and description.

Moral--a lesson imparted by the author through theme, characters, actions, etc.

Motivation--what make the characters “tick”, makes them act in a certain way.

Myth--a story that reflects a culture’s beliefs or values; these are usually handed down over time, may involve supernatural forces, and were often used to explain the inexplicable.

Narrative--the description of the events and situations that make up a story as distinct from dialogue.

Narrator--the ‘speaking voice’ of a narrative; the voice and perspective through which a narrative is told, often, particularly in first-person narratives, a character in the work (see Point of View).

Novel--a longer work of fiction that includes chapters and subplots

Novella--an extended short story that may offer more in-depth development of the characters)

Omniscient--describes a third-person point of view that allows an author to convey external details, description and information while also enabling the revelation of characters' internal thoughts, emotions and motivations. Omniscient narrators are able to comment on as well as describe events and themes.

Parable—a short story that teaches a lesson; however, the characters are human and the lesson may also be a religious one.

Persona--a character to speak directly to the reader.

Personification--giving human qualities to inanimate object or abstract concept

Plot--the arrangement of narrative events in a story, organised in such a way as to create interest and involvement for the reader and to establish and emphasise causality. (See Freytag’s Pyramid)

Point of view--the perspective from which a story is narrated. There are two major perspectives, first-person and third-person. See First-person and third-person for more details.

Protagonist—the main character

Realism--a style of writing that seeks to convey the impression of accurate recording of an actual way of life in a recognisable time and place. Closely associated with the rise of the novel in the nineteenth century as the most effective genre for representing contemporary life, society and attitudes.

Round Character--characters, by contrast, are described and developed in such a way as to achieve three-dimensionality, a physical and psychological complexity that mimics that of the real people we come to know in our everyday lives

Setting--the background of location(s) and historical time against which the characters and plot of a story are set. Setting can be discussed in terms of its historical, physical, and geographical aspects.

Simile--comparisons between two different things using “like” or “as” to make the connection.

Short Story--a limited narrative that may have a single climax of events

Static Character—characters that are less thoroughly-drawn; they may be introduced to the narrative primarily to perform a particular narrative or thematic function, and will probably undergo little or no change in the course of the story.

Stock Character—those easily recognized as stereotypical like the greaser, the socialite, the nerd, misunderstood teen, etc.

Story—a narrated sequence of events arranged chronologically.

Style--the characteristic way in which a writer organizes and expresses his or herself in writing; the combination of literary devices that a writer uses to communicate themes and narrative content.

Symbol--the object stands for something other than itself; a symbol can be an object, idea, person, action, or idea, as long as it means more than simply what it is.

· conventional symbol--has a generally accepted meaning for most people within a culture

· universal symbol, also called archetypal symbol, is universal in meaning across various cultures.

Theme--central idea that a story offers.

Third person--a narrative perspective that does not belong to a specific character in the novel.

· Omniscient: all-knowing and able to recount the story fully and reliably and are able to enter the consciousness of characters in order to reveal their thoughts, emotions, beliefs and motivations.

· Limited: narrator (still he/she/they pronouns used) reveals only what a single character thinks, knows, or experiences.

· Objective: The narrator uses dialogue and/or the characters’ actions to speak volumes about the characters’ thoughts and attitude, leaving it up to the reader to make judgments about the characters based on this information alone.

Tone --the author’s attitude toward his/her subject/characters; tone is referred to using adjectives that express emotion.

Understatement –opposite of hyperbole; saying less than one means.