Literary Terms and Definitions
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Plot- the events of a story
- Exposition- Introduces the setting, main character(s), and main conflict of the story
- Rising Action- the conflict gets complicated, minor conflicts arise, new characters are introduced
- Climax- the main conflict comes to a point where it is resolved; the most exciting part of the story
- Falling Action/Resolution- we find out what happens because the main conflict is resolved
- Theme- the author's message; the lesson learned; needs to apply to the REAL WORLD, not just the story
- Setting- where and when the story takes place
- Narrator- the person telling the story
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Point of View
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1st person- the narrator is a character in the story
- Positive: we get the thoughts and feelings of the character
- Negative: we have to trust that the narrator is telling the truth
- Uses words like I, WE, OUR, MY
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2nd person- used very little, the reader is a character in the story
- Uses words like YOU, YOUR
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3rd person- the narrator is outside of the story, does not take part in the action
- Positive: we are getting the truth
- Negative: we don't know what the characters are feeling or thinking
- Uses words like HE, SHE, THEY, THEIR
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1st person- the narrator is a character in the story
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Conflict- a problem
- internal conflict- man vs. self; the problem is occuring insdie the character's head (ex. making a choice, overcoming anger)
- external conflict- man vs. man, nature, society; the problem is occuring between the character and someone/something else (two boys arguing, man stuck in the middle of the woods, girl trying to join the football team)
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Types of characters
- static- character stays the same, does not change from the beginning to the end of the story
- dynamic- character learns something and changes during the story
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Figurative Language- things an author can use to help the reader get a clear idea of what he/she is reading
- simile- uses like or as to compare two things
- metaphor- compares two things without using like or as
- personification- gives human qualities to non-human things
- symbol- an object that represents something that cannot be seen, it will be an object that pops up often in the story, any object that is important to the main characters
- onomatopoeia- sound words
- imagery- gives the reader a feeling of the scenery and what it means
- alliteration- a series of words that start with the same consonant sound
- allusion- a reference to a famous person or place