Introductory Literature Vocab Terms

Literary Device: Tools or strategies employed by the author to communicate meaning or emotion in a work of fiction

Literary Analysis:  Systematic study of fiction to identify the literary devices used by the author and their effect on the meaning of the work

Theme:  The issue or issues raised by an author in a piece of fiction and the attitudes expressed by the author about these issues. 

Plot:  The sequence of events in a literary work.  Usually, the events of a plot progress because of conflict, or struggle between opposing forces.  This conflict may be external, pitting a character against some outside force, or internal, occurring within a character.

Conflict: The struggles or problems faced by the characters in a story.
Internal Conflicts: happen within the mind of a character
External Conflicts: These happen between the character and someone or something else. These include conflicts with People – Nature –  the Unknown – Technology – and Society

Exposition:  Initial chapters, scenes, or passages that introduce the characters, establish the setting, and create the conflict in a piece of literature

Setting:  Generally, the time and place of the action in a story.  Setting may also include the
--Political –Economic – Religious -- Social – Intellectual – Artistic aspects of the time and place.

Characterization:  The technique an author uses to create and reveal the personalities of the characters in a written work.  The author may use four basic methods of characterization:
--Description of the physical appearance of the character
--Description of the character's thoughts, speech, emotions, or actions
--The speech, thought, feelings, or actions of other characters
--Direct commentary about the nature of the character

Point of View:  The perspective from which a literary work is written.  These include:
--First Person:  The narrator is a character in the story, narrating the action as he or she views it
--Third Person:  The narrator describes the events and characters from outside the action

Symbolism:  The use of a person, place, or object that stands for something outside of itself.  Certain symbols are commonly used in literature, such as a journey to represent life or night to represent death.

Irony:  The contrast between expectations and reality.  This incongruity often has the effect of surprising the reader.  The techniques of irony may include hyperbole, understatement, or sarcasm.
--Situational:  The character expects one thing to happen, but something else actually happens
--Verbal: The character says one thing, but means another
--Dramatic: The reader knows something that the character does not

Figurative Language:  Language that communicates meaning beyond the literal meanings of the words.  These include simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole

Tone:  The attitude a writer takes toward a subject.  The author's tone may be playful, sarcastic, serious, humorous, ironic, bitter, or objective

Mood:  The atmosphere and feeling that a writer creates in a work through the choice of setting, imagery, details, descriptions, and evocative words