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Last updated 2/25/05

LITERARY TERMS YOU SHOULD KNOW

The HSPA and your English class curriculum require that you be able to read literature and analyze
it (look at each of its parts) in order to evaluate it (determine its worth and quality). In order to do
that you need to be family with the following literary terms.

STORY GRAMMAR

characters – The people or living creatures in the story  

mood - The feeling or attitude of a section of the story

NARRATOR - The person telling the story 

            point of view - the viewpoint of the narrator of the story (Who is telling the story? )
       
                    Is the story being told by a major character experiencing the action?
                    (First Person Major Participant)

                    Is the story being told by a minor character who only observes the main events from a distance?
                    (First Person Minor Participant)

                    Is the story being told by a "storyteller / narrator" who is not a character in the story but who knows
                    the thoughts and actions of all or some of the characters?
                    (Omniscient or Limited Omniscient)

                    Is the story being told by a character who knows little or nothing about the main characters?
                    (Familiar Observer or Objective Observer)

PLOT - Details of a story (what happens)

Conflict - a problem in the story that has to be solved

            rising action – the build up of tension as the conflict becomes greater
            and seemingly unsolvable.

            Climax - The point of the story where the action builds to its highest point

            Denouement – The point at which the conflict in the story is solved and the final outcome
            of the story is revealed (the ending).

Chronological order - told in time order

Flashback - Going back to an earlier time

Foreshadowing - Clues about what will happen in a story

SETTING - Time and place of a story

THEME - The message of a story

TONE – The attitude of the total / entire text ( casual, formal, funny, serious, angry)

TYPES OF WRITTEN TEXT

AUTOBIOGRAPHY ( au to bi og ra phy ) - A story a person writes about their own life.

BIOGRAPHY - A story of  a person’s life other than the author.

FICTION - A story that is not true

NONFICTION - A story that is true

PROSE – Printed text written in ordinary language.

POETRY –  Printed text written with a specific rhythm, and possibly rhyme, unlike ordinary language.

NARRATIVE POEM - A story told in a poetic form

WRITING TECHNIQUES

METAPHOR 
            Writing a comparison of two things by saying one thing IS the other. Example: Romeo told Juliet, "You are my sunshine."

SIMILE
            Writing a comparison of two things using the words "like" or "as." Example: The chair felt as hard as a rock.

SYMBOL
           Something that stands for (represents) something else in a story.