Literary Terms

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Literary Terms
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• Types of Literature
• prose
• the ordinary form of spoken or
• written language
• writing that is not poetry
• poetry rhythmic, compressed language
• written to appeal to emotion and
• imagination
• drama a story written to be acted for an
• audience

Ex 7th grade, paragraph, essay
Example ?
Example
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• plot the series of related events that
• make up a story

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plot line
Resolution
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• Elements of the Plot
• exposition the beginning of the story that tells
  who the characters are and what the conflict is
• Continued

Example Seventh Grade Victor receives the
packet with information, with the elective
French. His crush Teresa is in French class.
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• Elements of the Plot (Continued)
• Rising/climbing action the part of the story in
  which various problems arise as the
• characters try to resolve the conflict.
  The
• tension of the story builds. (Our textbook
  calls rising action complications.)
• climax the critical point in a story when
• the outcome is decided one way or
• another
• Continued

Example
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• Elements of the Plot (Continued)
• Falling/closing action events that follow the
• climax that contain action or dialogue
• needed to lead to the resolution. The
• tension decreases.
• resolution the characters problems are
• solved and the story ends. The conflict is
• resolved.

Example
Example
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• setting the time and place in which the story
  occurs

Example RTT garden, India, early 1900, rainy
season 7th grade school, California, first day,
modern times
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• character a person or animal who takes
• part in the action of a story, drama, or
• other literary work

Example RTT Rikki Tiki is an animal
character, Nag, human family,
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• A couple of ways
• to think about characters
• protagonist the main character in a work
• of literature. The reader usually
  sympathizes with.
• antagonist a person or thing that fights
• against the main character the bad
• character or force

Example 7th Grade, Victor is the main
character, he has the most conflicts (crush)
RTT Rikki Tiki
Example RTT Nag/Nagaina,
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• More ways to think about characters
• Dynamic/round character a character who
• changes as a result of the storys events
• Static/flat character a character who does
• not change much in the story

Example
RTT the human mother changes her opinion, RTT
learns how to keep a garden safe, 7th grade
Victor, had courage to ask T out
Example Darzee, Teddy, human father
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• conflict a struggle or clash between
• opposing characters or forces (problem/struggle)

Example 7th Grade Victor had a crush on
Teresa and she didnt know it RTT animals
want territory for themselves
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• Types of Conflicts
• external conflict a struggle with some
• outside force

Person vs. person
Person vs. society
Example snakes vs. garden
Example RTT vs. snakes
Person vs. the supernatural
Person vs. nature
Example RTT vs flood
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• Types of Conflicts
• internal conflict a struggle within a
• characters mind. The character has a
• problem deciding what to do or think.

Example RTT - the human mom at first didnt
want RTT, but she changed her mind by the end,
RTT struggles with how to attack Nag
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• theme the truth about life revealed in a
• work of literature message
• The theme is not the same as the subject
• of a story.
• A theme must be written as a sentence.
• A story can have more than one theme,
• but one will often stand out over another.

RTT a lot of conflicts occur because of
territory - people want to protect their
territory and family - - historically, people
fight over boundaries/land
Example
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symbol a person, place, thing, or event
that has its own meaning and stands for
something beyond itself
Example RTT red eyes anger
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flashback an interruption in the action of a
story to tell what happened at an earlier time
Example
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foreshadowing using clues to suggest events that
will happen later in the plot
Example
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• suspense the uncertainty or anxiety you
• feel about what will happen next in a story

Example RTT last porch scene with
Nagiana/RTT, RTT was on Nagianas tail down the
snake nest
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Narrator The person telling the story
Example
Point of view Position from which the story is
told or vantage point
Example
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There are different types of Point of View..
First person point of view One of the characters
tells the story. The pronoun I is used. You
really get to know that one character well, but
then again you only know their side.
Example
Third person omniscient point of view The
all-knowing narrator tells the story. The
narrator is not actually in the story, but sees
it alllike a god. Third person limited point
of view Narrator focuses on the
thoughts/feelings of one character. You see the
action through the eyes/feelings of one character
in the story.
Example
Example 7th Grade
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Characterization The process of revealing the
character through descriptionhow they feel, act,
think, look like etc..
Indirect characterization We find out about
characters indirectly through showing us
thoughts, comments, or actions of the
characters.
Example
Direct characterization The narrator or a
character in the story tells us what we need to
know about a character.
Example
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Mood Overall emotion created by the passage
(sad, scary, hopeful etc.) the feeling you are
left with when reading it Ex)
Tone the attitude that a writer takes toward
the audience, a subject or a character Ex)
allusion a reference to another work of fiction,
a film, a piece of art, or even a real event Ex)
Imagery Using words that appeal to the senses Ex)
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Dialect Way of speaking that is characteristic of
a particular region/group of people Ex)
southern twang
irony a contrast between expectation and
reality
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Figurative language

• There are two basic purposes for studying
  Figurative Language
• To help you recognize the greatness of a writers
  talent as you read
• To teach you how to use those same skills to
  improve your writing.
• Figurative language creates IMAGERY in your mind
  as you read!

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Simile comparison in which one thing is compared
to another unlike thing by using specific words
of comparison like like, as EX) 3SK the rats
were hanging like fruit from a tree
Metaphor Comparing two unlike things. Sometimes
a metaphor is a whole poem or paragraph. EX) the
weather was a warm blanket
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Hyperbole great exaggeration used to emphasize a
point, and is used for expressive or comic
effect EX) there were a million cobra eggs
Personification speaking of something that is
not human as if it had human abilities and human
reactions EX) the sun was smiling
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Alliteration repetition of a single letter in
the alphabet EX) The Kindness Campaign kicked off
on Monday.
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Onomatopoeia Single word that sounds like the
thing it refers to EX) The crackling crunch of
the paper. The hiss of the snake. Bang. Boom.
Achoo.
Idiom Groups of words whose meaning is different
from the ordinary meaning of the words. EX)
That sound drives me up a wall.
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• 6. genre a category of art with a
• distinctive style or form

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irony a contrast between expectation and
reality
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• motivation any force that drives or
• moves a character to behave a particular
• way. What does the character want or
• need?

Physical needs air, food, water, sleep,
shelter Safety needs personal safety, safety of
significant others, living in a safe
environment, ability to get need resourcescould
include employment Love/Belonging friendship,
family relationships, romantic relationship Estee
m self-respect, confidence, achievement,
recognition, respect of others, respect for
others Self-actualization creativity, pursuit
of ones potential, self-acceptance