Literary Terms:

1.  Allegory -  a piece of literature that has a hidden meaning beneath the real or literal meaning.  i.e. story where characters name is Kindness or Patience.

2.  Alliteration - repetition of initial consonant sounds. i.e. Fast Freddy.

3.  Anology - a comparison of two things, alike in certain respects. i.e. sprots to life.

4.  Antagonist - the character or force against which the protagonist is pitted.  i.e. the traditional bad guy.

5.  Character - the people and sometimes the animals who participate in a literary work. can be major or minor.

6.  Characterization - methods used by an author to make characters come alive.

7.  Climax - turning point in the action when interest and intensity are peaked.  Where the reader knows how the story is going to end.

8.  Conflict -the struggle between opposing forces. There are five types:
    a.  Man vs. Man
    b. Man vs. Nature
    c. Man vs. Society
    d. Man vs. Himself
    e. Man vs. Supernatural (the unknown or evil)

9.  Cliche - a worn out expression.

10. Comedy - a story that ends happily or with humor.

11. Dialogue - written conversation between tow or more characters.

12.  Fiction -  stories created by the author; fantasy, not real.

13. Flashback - an interruption from a point in a story to an episode that hapened at an earlier time.

14. Foreshadowing - the writer's use of hints or clues to indicate events that will occur later in the story.

15. Genre - kind, category, type of literature; i.e. fantasy, science fiction, sports, adventure, biography, etc.

16. Hyperbole - a great big exaggeration.  used for emphasis. i.e. "raining cats and dogs"

17. Imagery - descriptive words and phrases that re-create vivid sensory experiences; creates word stories.

18. Idiom - a phrase that does not match the ordinary dictionary meaning. i.e. "he flew the coop."

19. Inference - drawing a reasonable conclusion from a limited amount of information.

20. Irony - saying one thing but meaning another.  A contrast between appearance and reality.  Sarcasm.

21. Mood - the atmosphere or feeling that the writer creates for the reader.

22. Motivation - why characters do what they do as a result of their characteristics and position in which they find themselves.

23. Narrator - the one telling the story.  There are three types:
    a.  First person
    b.  Third person
    c.  Third person omnicient

24. Nonfiction - prose writing that is about real people, places, events.  Factual stories.  Real.

25. Plot - A plan of action for a story.  What happens in a story. There are four elements:
    a.  introduction
    b.  rising action
    c.  climax
    d.  denoument (falling action or whatever happens after the climax)

26. Protagonist - the central or main character.  The good guy.

27. Structure - The way the story, play is arranged.  Most often chronological arrangement: A,B,C,D.  Flashback is arrangement D,A,B,C.

28.  Suspense - the element that keeps the reader wanting to know what happens next.  Suspense can be created through use of mystery, conflict, or characterization.

29. Theme - Idea bout life expressed in literary work.  It is a comment on life, not a moral or rule to live by.  It may be stated directly, but most often, it is implied.  Not all stories have themes.

30. Tone - author's attitude about his subject.  It is revealed by choice of words, details, descriptions of characters and events.