Reference List of Literary Terms for Middle School students.
1. 1st person point-of-view - the events are told by a character in the story.
2. 2nd person point-of-view - "You" is used to tell the story; these tend to be like
Choose Your Own Adventure stories or computer games and are usually in the
present tense.
3. 3rd person point-of-view - the events are told by someone outside the story.
4. act – a division within a play; similar to that of a chapter within a book.
5. allegory – narrative form in which the characters are representative of some
larger humanistic trait (i.e. greed, vanity, or bravery) and attempt to convey some
larger lesson or meaning to life. Although allegory was originally and
traditionally character based, modern allegories tend to parallel story and theme.
6. alliteration - the repetition of similar initial consonant sounds in order to create a
musical or rhythmic effect, to emphasize key words or to imitate sounds.
Example: “He was reluctant to return to the room he called home.”
7. allusion - a reference to a well-known person, place, event, literary work, or work
of art, often used to help make a comparison.
8. anecdote – a short personal account of a particular event (usually amusing).
9. antagonist – the force opposing the protagonist
10. author’s purpose – as a reader we must ask why the text was written: to
entertain, to explain, to inform, or to persuade.
11. biography - a form of non-fiction in which a writer tells the life story of another
person.
12. character - refers to what someone is like – what their qualities are (Someone’s
character refers to their character traits.)
13. character trait – the quality of a character; what a character is like.
14. chorus – in poetry, the refrain; in Greek drama, the group which sings, dances
and offers comments about the actions in the performance.
15. climax – the highest point of action in a story, often the turning point.
16. comedy - type of drama or other art form the chief object of which, according to
modern notions, is to amuse. It is contrasted on the one hand with tragedy.
17. complication (rising action) – the conflict in a story or play intensifies.
Complication builds up, accumulates, and develops the primary or central conflict
in a literary work.
18. connotation - implied meaning of word. BEWARE! Connotations can change
over time.
19. denotation - dictionary definition of a word.
20. denouement – the very end of the story/play in which all questions or mysteries
are solved. It comes after the resolution.
21. dialect - the language of a particular district, class, or group of persons.
22. dialogue – a discussion or conversation between two or more characters.
23. diction - the choice and use of words and phrases in speech or writing.
24. direct characterization – the writer directly states the character’s traits or
characteristics.
25. drama – literature which is meant to be performed by actors.
26. dynamic character – a character who changes over the course of a story
27. external conflict – a problem or struggle between a character and an
outside force:
a. character vs. character
b. character vs. group
c. character vs. nature
d. character vs. society
e. character vs. fate/supernatural
28. exposition - is usually found at the beginning of a story or play, serves to
introduce the main characters, to describe the setting, and sometimes establish the
conflict; it may be short or long, but is almost always flat (little action or
emotion).
29. fable - a brief story, usually with animal characters, that teaches a lesson or
a moral.
30. falling action - The part of the plot that immediately follows the climax and
shows the effects of the climax. It leads up to the resolution/denouement.
31. fiction – writing that tells about imaginary characters and events.
32. figurative language - refers to words, and groups of words, that exaggerate or
alter the usual meanings of the component words. Figurative language does not
mean exactly what it says, but instead forces the reader to make an imaginative
leap in order to comprehend an author's point.
33. flashback - a section in a literary piece that interrupts the sequence of events in
order to relate an earlier incident or set of events.
34. flat character - have only one side - they may be major characters, but they do
not change - flat characters are important to a story because the round character(s)
interact with them.
35. foil – a character who provides a contrast for the main character (protagonist).
36. foreshadowing – an author’s use of hints or clues to give a reader an idea of what
may happen next.
37. free-verse - poetry that has irregular lines and may or may not rhyme.
38. generalization – a vague or indefinite statement that is made to cover many
cases.
Example: “All human beings hope for something.”
39. genre - we divide literary works into genres as a way of classifying them into
particular categories. Literature can be divided into genres according to form,
style, content, or theme.
40. hubris – excessive pride; common flaw the Greek tragic hero
41. hyperbole – use of extreme exaggeration.
42. inciting conflict (initial) – the event which triggers the first problem or conflict.
43. idiom - a word or phrase which means something different from what it
says – it is usually a metaphor. An idiom is an expression peculiar to a
certain group of people and/or used only under certain circumstances.
44. imagery – words or phrases that appeal to one or more of the five senses and help
to create a vivid description for the reader.
45. indirect characterization – the writer allows the reader to draw his/her
conclusions as to what a character is like, based on the appearances, words,
actions, and interactions with other characters.
46. inference – a conclusion drawn by the reader based on available information.
47. internal conflict – a problem within a character (character vs. self).
48. irony - a situation where the opposite of what is expected to occur or exist does
occur or exist.
a. dramatic irony - when the viewer or the reader is aware of a situation of
which the character(s) are not aware.
b. situational irony - when the reverse of the expected happens or when the
person you least expect to do something, does it.
c. verbal irony - when a speaker says one thing but means another, or when
a name or description refers to or suggests the opposite of truth.
49. limited narrator - The narrator only knows what he/she experiences or learns
about in some way; the narrator's knowledge grows as the story unfolds; at times,
the reader may know more than the narrator.
50. literal language - refers to words that do not deviate from their defined meaning;
basically, words mean exactly what they say.
51. major character – appear throughout the novel, or in a major section of it - they
are involved in the important actions and conflicts.
52. metaphor - a figure of speech in which something is described as if it were
something else; a comparison made without using “like” or “as”.
53. minor character - enter the novel for a specific reason and may then not be heard
of again - or they may exist throughout the novel "in the shadow" of the major
character - they may be involved in a conflict with a major character and are
essential to the plot, but only so that something can be learned or shown about the
major character.
54. monologue - one character alone talking to the reader/audience/to himself.
55. mood – the atmosphere or feeling an author creates within the piece of writing.
56. moral – a lesson taught by a literary work.
57. motif - a recurring object, concept, or structure in a work of literature that is
concrete and has a symbolic value. For example the color red may reappear
throughout a piece and may have the symbolic value of death.
58. motivation – a reason that explains or partially explains a character’s thoughts,
feelings, actions, or speech.
59. myth - a story that comes from an ancient culture and often includes supernatural
elements. These elements may be anything from talking animals to people with
superhuman powers to the interference of gods and goddesses in human affairs.
Myths traditionally were created to explain the unexplainable.
60. narrative – writing or speech that tells a story.
61. narrative poetry - poetry that tells a story
62. narrator – the speaker or character who is telling the story.
63. nonfiction - writing that tells about real people, places, objects, or events; based
on fact.
64. novel – a book-length, fictional prose.
65. objective details – details that are factual and true to life.
66. omniscient - The "all knowing" narrator knows all of the details about events,
characters, etc. and reveals them to the reader as the story unfolds.
67. orchestra – early Greek stage
68. oxymoron – the close placement of words having opposite or near opposite
meanings in order to create a unique description.
69. parable – a short tale that illustrates a universal truth, a belief that appeals to all
people of all civilizations.
70. parados – early Greek passageways associated with the Greek theater; used by
the chorus to walk to the orchestra
71. personification – a type of figurative language in which a non-human subject
is given human characteristics.
72. playwright – one who writes (composes) plays
73. plot – the sequence of events in a literary work.
74. plot diagram - a graphic organizer used to map the main parts of a story
75. point of view – the perspective from which a story is told.
76. prologue – the first action or speech of the play; in later literature it is the section
that comes before the first chapter of the book.
77. prose – written or spoken form of language without metrical structure; follows
rules of construction.
78. protagonist - the main character in the story.
79. pun – a humorous play on words.
80. repetition – the repeated use of words or phrases in order to emphasize a point.
81. resolution – the events that occur in the falling action of a story’s plot; solves the
problems presented in the climax.
82. round character – a multi-faceted fully developed character; all flaws and good
qualities are pointed out by the author.
83. script – the written form (manuscript) used in drama.
84. setting – the time and location of the events described in a literary work.
85. short story – a brief piece of fiction which can be read in one sitting.
86. simile – a comparison between two things, using “like” or “as”.
87. speaker – the imaginary voice assumed by the writer of a poem, the one
describing the events in a poem.
88. stanza – a group of lines in a poem.
89. static character – a character who does not undergo a change over the course of
a story.
90. satire - (satyr) Greek form of crude comedy; a form of scathing humor
91. skene – the tent or structure used for changing costumes in early Greek theater
92. stereotype - flat characters who exhibit no attributes except those of their class.
93. stock character - flat characters who represent a class or group. Examples: the
braggart soldier
94. subject - what the story or poem is about (the topic)
95. subjective details – details that reveal the author’s feelings, attitudes, or
judgments.
96. subgenre – a subdivision of a genre such as realistic fiction or science fiction.
97. suspense – mental uncertainty, excitement that comes with discovering the
outcome.
98. symbol /symbolism – anything that stands for or represents something else.
99. thespian – an actor
100. theatron – in the Greek drama, the place where the audience sat in the open air
structure.
101. theme – a central message, idea, or concern that expressed in a literary work and
is abstract.
a. recurring - a theme which appears more than once in the same piece
b. universal – a theme which applies to many forms of literature
102. tone – the attitude of an author toward the subject that he/she is writing about.
103. tragedy - a branch of drama that treats in a serious and dignified style the
sorrowful or terrible events encountered or caused by a heroic individual. By
extension the term may be applied to other literary works, such as the novel.
104. tragic flaw – a problem with a protagonist’s character such as too much pride.
This flaw will cause the protagonist’s destruction or one to suffer.
105. tragic hero - A protagonist who comes to a bad end as a result of his own
behavior, usually caused by a specific personality disorder or character flaw.
106. voice – an author’s style of writing.