Short stories,
Protagonist
The main character in a story, the one with whom the reader is meant to identify. The person is not necessarily “good”, but is the person whom the reader is most invested in.
Antagonist
Counterpart to the main character/protagonist and source of a story’s main conflict. It may not even be a person
Plot
Sequence of events in the story.
Setting
Time and place in which the story occurs.
Conflict
A struggle between opposing forces which drive the story. This is what keeps the reader reading! The outcome of the story is usually a resolution of the conflict. The opposing force does not have to be a person. The basic types of conflict are: Man vs. Self, Man vs. Man, Man vs. Nature, Man vs. Society or Man vs. Machine.
Climax
The dramatic high of the story. Right before the climax is the turning point, usually where something goes wrong. The climax then ensues and comes to a resolution. A resolution does not necessarily mean the problem has been solved; only that the high point has ended.
Motifs, Themes and Symbols
A motif is a recurring important idea, structure or image; it differs from a theme in that it can be expressed as a single word or fragmented phrase. e.g. comparing a person’s stages of life to seasons of the year.
A theme usually must be expressed as a complete sentence. A theme is a main universal idea or message conveyed by the piece. e.g. Little Red Riding Hood’s theme may be “Don’t talk to strangers”.
A symbol is an object, colour, person, character or figure used to represent abstract ideas. A symbol, unlike a motif, must be tangible or visible.
Mood
The atmosphere or emotional condition created by within the setting. Mood refers to the general sense or feeling which the reader is supposed to get from the text and is not necessarily referring to the characters’ state of mind.
Point of view
The identity of the narrator’s voice, the point of view from which the reader sees the story. It may be first person (there is no narrator) or third person (the story is told by a character or direct observer in the story).
Poem,
Allegory
Where an entire story is representative/symbolic of something else, usually a larger abstract concept or important historical/geopolitical event (e.g. Animal Farm is an allegory of Soviet totalitarianism).
Alliteration
The repetition of consonant sounds, usually used consecutively in the same sentence (e.g. Silly Sally saw sixty slithering snakes).
Allusion – A reference to a famous person or event in life or literature.
i.e. She is as pretty as the Mona Lisa.
i.e. She is as pretty as the Mona Lisa.
Assonance - the repetition of similar vowel sounds in a sentence.
Climax - the turning point of the action in the plot of a play or story. The climax represents the point of greatest tension in the work.
Dramatic irony
Where the audience or reader is aware of something important, of which the characters in the story are not aware. Situational irony is different in that the readers are not aware; the results are unexpected and mocking in relation to what was expected (the usual use of the term irony). Verbal irony is an expression that is opposite of what it is intended to mean (e.g. the Ministry of Love is actually a place of torture and brainwashing in the novel 1984).
Foreshadowing - hints of what is to come in the action of a play or a story
Hyperbole - a figure of speech involving exaggeration.
Metaphor - A comparison in which one thing is said to be another.
i.e. The cat's eyes were jewels, gleaming in the darkness.
Onomatopoeia - the use of words to imitate the sounds they describe.
i.e. The burning wood crackled and hissed.
Personification - is giving human qualities to animals or objects.
i.e. The daffodils nodded their yellow heads.
Simile - figure of speech involving a comparison between unlike things using like, as, or as though.
i.e. She floated in like a cloud.
Hope it will help. ^^
No comments:
Post a Comment