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| dialogue, description, etc., that gives the audience or reader the background of the characters and the present situation. |
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| A series of difficulties forming the central action in a narrative |
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| is the struggle found in fiction. Conflict/Plot may be internal or external and is best seen in (1) Man in conflict with another Man: (2) Man in conflict in Nature; (3) Man in conflict with self. |
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| A turning point in the action of a story that has a powerful effect on the protagonist. Opposing forces come together decisively to lead to the climax of the plot. See also plot. |
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| a decisive moment that is of maximum intensity or is a major turning point in a plot. |
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| the final resolution of the intricacies of a plot, as of a drama or novel. |
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| the adversary of the hero or protagonist of a drama or other literary work |
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| the leading character, hero, or heroine of a drama or other literary work. |
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| in literature or drama, a character who undergoes a permanent change in outlook or character during the story |
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| a literary character who remains basically unchanged throughout a work |
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| a character in fiction whose personality, background, motives, and other features are fully delineated by the author |
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| an easily recognized character type in fiction who may not be fully delineated but is useful in carrying out some narrative purpose of the author |
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| Any character in any type of narrative literature that serves the same purpose as a chorus in drama by remaining detached from the main action and commenting upon or explaining this action to the audience |
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| having complete or unlimited knowledge, awareness, or understanding; perceiving all things |
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| the narrator knows only the thoughts and feelings of a single character, while other characters are presented only externally |
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| the grammatical person used by a speaker in statements referring to himself or herself |
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| the person used by a speaker in referring to the one or ones to whom he or she is speaking |
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| Characterized by or expressive of the action or emotion associated with drama or the theatre |
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| A person who tells a story; in literature, the voice that an author takes on to tell a story. This voice can have a personality quite different from the author's |
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| a person who writes a novel, poem, essay, etc.; the composer of a literary work |
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| a figure of speech in which what is said is the opposite of what is meant |
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| irony that is inherent in speeches or a situation of a drama and is understood by the audience but not grasped by the characters in the play |
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| an outcome that turns out to be very different from what was expected, the difference between what is expected to happen and what actually does |
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| the idea that fate, destiny, or a god controls and toys with human hopes and expectations; also, the belief that the universe is so large and man is so small that the universe is indifferent to the plight of man |
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| a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance |
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| a figure of speech in which two unlike things are explicitly compared, as in “she is like a rose.” |
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| the attribution of a personal nature or character to inanimate objects or abstract notions, esp. as a rhetorical figure |
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| a figure of speech that consists of the use of the name of one object or concept for that of another to which it is related, or of which it is a part, as “scepter” for “sovereignty,” or “the bottle” for “strong drink,” |
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| a figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole or the whole for a part, the special for the general or the general for the special, as in ten sail for ten ships |
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| a digression in the form of an address to someone not present, or to a personified object or idea, as “O Death, where is thy sting?” |
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| an extravagant statement or figure of speech not intended to be taken literally, as “to wait an eternity.” |
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| A form of irony in which something is intentionally represented as less than it is |
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| a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth |
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| A play on words, sometimes on different senses of the same word and sometimes on the similar sense or sound of different words |
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| a word or phrase in a literary text that appeals directly to the reader's senses |
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| the setting or locale of a story |
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| an arrangement of a certain number of lines, usually four or more, sometimes having a fixed length, meter, or rhyme scheme, forming a division of a poem |
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| a word, phrase, image, or the like having a complex of associated meanings and perceived as having inherent value separable from that which is symbolized, as being part of that which is symbolized, and as performing its normal function of standing for or representing that which is symbolized |
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| The author’s attitude, stated or implied, toward a subject |
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| the explicit or direct meaning or set of meanings of a word or expression |
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| the associated or secondary meaning of a word or expression in addition to its explicit or primary meaning |
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| an expression whose meaning is not predictable from the usual meanings of its constituent elements, as kick the bucket or hang one's head |
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| type of informational diction spoken by definable groups of people from a particular geographic region, economic group, or social class |
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| very informal usage in vocabulary and idiom |
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| the language, esp. the vocabulary, peculiar to a particular trade, profession, or group |
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| he accent, inflection, intonation, and speech-sound quality manifested by an individual speaker |
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