Literary Lexicon

PLOT
The sequence of events or
actions in a short story,
novel, play, or narrative
poem
Exposition
The author lays the groundwork for
the story by revealing the
Setting
Relationships between the
characters
Situation as it exists before
conflict begins
Rising Action
The action and events that take
place in the story and build up to the
critical moment when the main
conflict is confronted
Falling Action
Events that occur after the climax
and lead up to the closure and
conclusion of the story
Inciting
Incident/Conflict
Interrupts the peace and balance of
the situation and one or more of the
characters comes into conflict with
an outside force, himself, or another
character
Climax
The most critical moment in the
story; the point at which the main
conflict is at its highest point
Resolution
The problem set up in the inciting
incident is unraveled; there is a
revelation of meaning
Adjusted from Davis/Lucas - 8 th Reading for Blancas-7 th Grade Reading
Revised 5/20/2013

Allusion
Irony
Symbol
A reference to a literary,
mythological, or historical
person, place, or thing
A contrast between appearances and
reality – usually one in which reality is the
opposite from what it seems; when one
thing is expected to happen or be, and the
exact opposite happens
The use of any object, person, place,
or action that both has a meaning in
itself and that stands for something
larger than itself, such as a quality,
attitude, belief, or value
Foreshadowing
Anecdote
Setting
The use in a literary work of
clues that suggest events that
have yet to occur
A short account of a particular incident
or event especially of an interesting or
amusing nature
The background against which action
takes place
The geographical location
The occupations and daily manner of living
of the characters
The time or period in which the action takes
place
The general environment of the characters,
i.e. social, moral, emotional
Suspense
Stereotype
Archetype
The quality of a literary work
that makes the reader uncertain
or tense about the outcome or
situation
The act of putting people into groups
based on race, religion, physical
appearance, social class or some other
easily identifiable characteristic
A typed of character, action, or
situation that occurs over and over in
literature; a pattern or example that
occurs in literature and life
Tone
Theme
Point of View
The writer’s attitude or feeling
toward a person, a thing, a place,
an event or situation
A central message or insight into life
revealed through the literary work; a
lesson about life or people
The perspective from which a story is
told.
Mood
Sensory Language (Imagery)
Detail
The feeling created in
the reader by a literary
work or passage
The words or phrases a writer uses to represent persons, objects,
actions, feelings, and ideas descriptively by appealing to the five
senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch)
Facts revealed by the
author or speaker that
support the attitude or
tone in the work
Emphasis
Emphasis is created by the use of:
When important aspects of a
story are given important
positions and in-depth
development
Repetition – reiteration of a word, sound, phrase, or idea
Parallelism – the arrangement and repetition of words, phrases, or sentence
structures. Parallelism adds rhythm and emotional impact to writing.
Extensive Detail/Description
Mechanical Devices such as capitalization, italics, symbols, and/or different
colors of ink
Adjusted from Davis/Lucas - 8 th Reading for Blancas-7 th Grade Reading
Revised 5/20/2013

CHARACTERIZATION
Motivation
Dynamic Character
The method used by an author to
create a character, including
The character’s physical
appearance
The character’s own speech,
thoughts, actions, and/or feelings
OTHER characters’ speech,
thoughts, actions, and/or feelings
about the character
Direct comments by the author
about the character
A reason that explains a character’s
thoughts, feelings, actions, or
behavior
Protagonist
The central character and focus of
interest who is trying to accomplish
or overcome an adversity and has the
ability to adapt to new circumstances
A character that undergoes a change
in actions or beliefs during the
course of a story
Static Character
A character that does not grow or
change throughout the story, that
ends as he/she began
Antagonist
The character opposing the
protagonist; can be a person, idea, or
force
DICTION
Denotation
Word choice.
An author often chooses a word, because it suggests a
connotative meaning that comes from its use in various
social contexts.
The specific dictionary definition of a word
Connotation
The emotions or associations a word normally arouses in
people using, hearing, or reading the novel
A word may have a POSITIVE connotation, a
NEGATIVE connotation, or a NEUTRAL
connotation
Point of View
First Person
Third Person Objective
Perspective or position from which a
story is told
The narrator uses “I”
throughout the story
The narrator is one of the
characters in the story
The narrator’s vantage point
is “inside” the story
The narrator can reveal his
or her feelings and thoughts
The narrator does not reveal
any of the thoughts of any of
the characters
The narrator does not make
any observations
The story is told in a matterof-fact
manner, with no
emotion involved
Third Person Limited
Third Person Omniscient
The narrator tells the story
through the eyes, mind, and
emotions of only ONE
character
The observations are told in
third person: “he”, “she”, “they”
The narrator peers into the
hearts and minds of several
characters
The narrator comments on
the behavior, thoughts, and
motivations of many
characters
The narrator tells the story,
but from the perspective of a
third-person who knows all
Adjusted from Davis/Lucas - 8 th Reading for Blancas-7 th Grade Reading
Revised 5/20/2013

FIGURES OF SPEECH
Simile
Personification
Words or phrases that describe
one thing in terms of something
else; always involve some sort of
imaginary comparison between
seemingly unlike things; not
meant to be taken literally.
A comparison of two different things or ideas
through the use of the words LIKE or AS
Metaphor
Writing that gives animals,
inanimate objects, or
abstract ideas human
characteristics.
A comparison of two unlike things not using like or as
Pun
A play on words that are
identical or similar in sound but
have sharply different meanings.
Puns can have serious as well as
humorous uses.
Idiom
An accepted phrase or expression having a meaning
different from the literal
Analogy
Comparison between two similar things
Hyperbole
A deliberate,
extravagant, and often
outrageous exaggeration;
may be used for either
serious or comic effect
Proverb
An often used short
saying that expresses a
general truth or rule
CONFLICT
A struggle between two opposing
forces
Character vs. Self
(Internal)
When a character must make a
decision about a problem or struggle
he is having within himself
Character vs. Nature
(External)
When a character has a problem with
a force of nature such as cold,
storms, earthquakes, etc.
Character vs. Character
(External)
When a character has a problem with
another character
Character vs. Society
(External)
When a character has a problem with
a tradition or rule of society
Character vs. Fate
(External)
When a character has a problem with
something he can’t do anything about,
such as God, luck, death, etc.
Comparison
Showing the similarities between two
of more things
Contrast
Showing the differences between
two or more things
Venn Diagram
Type of graphic organizer used to
show how things are alike and how
they are different
Adjusted from Davis/Lucas - 8 th Reading for Blancas-7 th Grade Reading
Revised 5/20/2013

Genre
Types of writing
Expository Writing
Informs or explains about a topic
Narrative
Type of writing that tells a story
Periodical
Any newspaper or magazine
published regularly
Folktale
Story passed down from one
generation to the next
Fable
Brief tale, usually about an animal, that
teaches a moral or a lesson
Legend
Story from the past, often about a
famous person or event, based at least
somewhat on historical fact
Myth
Story that attempts to explain something
about the world
Biography
Writing of or about another
person’s life
Autobiography
Writing about one’s own life
Structure-Short book or
chapters
Content-Real people,
places, events
Purpose-tell thoughts,
feelings, observations to
others; inform, explain,
entertain
Diary
Structure-Dated entries in
order of time
Content-Real people,
places, events
Purpose-To record
thoughts, feelings,
observations for self
Persuasive
Intended to change or influence opinion
Rhetorical Fallacies
An argument that seems convincing but is
based on bad logic, emotional
manipulation or both.
Argument
A case built for or against something
Factual Claim
Can be proven with data, observations,
and reliable sources
Common Knowledge
Information that is known by many
people or that can be found in a
number of different sources
Commonplace Assertion
Statement that many people assume
to be true but which may or may not
be so
Exaggeration
An overstatement of a fact or an
idea; often meant to frighten
Categorical Claim
A claim based on an incorrect
comparison between two things
Generalizations
Broad statement based on
examples or instances
Ad Hominem
An attack on a person or people
making a claim instead of
addressing the claim itself
Poetry
Type of literature, usually written in lines
and stanzas, that combines words, sounds,
imagery, and rhythm to create meaning
Rhyme
Repetition of sounds at the ends of words,
as in spot and dot
Rhythm
Arrangement of stressed and unstressed
beats
Lyric
Expresses the thoughts and feelings of a
single speaker, often in highly musical verse
Narrative Poetry
Poetry tells a story in verse.
Narrative poems often have
elements similar to those in short
stories, such as plot and
characters
Haiku
A three-line Japanese verse form.
The first and third lines each
have five syllables and the second
line has seven
Free Verse
Is defined by its lack of strict
structure. It has no regular
meter, rhyme, fixed line length, or
specific stanza pattern
Ballads
Songlike poems that tell stories. They
often deal with adventure and romance
Concrete
Poems that are shaped to look like
their subjects. The poet arranges the
lines to create a picture on the page
Limericks
Humorous, rhyming, five-line poems
with a specific rhythm pattern and
rhyme scheme
Rhyming Couplets
Pairs of rhyming lines, usually of the
same meter and length
Adjusted from Davis/Lucas - 8 th Reading for Blancas-7 th Grade Reading
Revised 5/20/2013

T Title
P Paraphrase
C Connotation
A Attitude
S Shift
T Title
T Theme
Before you even think about reading the poetry or trying to analyze it, speculate on what you think the poem might
be about based upon the title. Jot down what you think this poem will be about.
When you paraphrase a poem, write in your own words exactly what happens in the poem. Look at the number of
sentences in the poem—your paraphrase should have exactly the same number.
Although this term usually refers solely to the emotional overtones of word choice, for this approach the term refers
to any and all poetic devices, focusing on how such devices contribute to the meaning, the effect, or both of a
poem. You may consider imagery, figures of speech (simile, metaphor, personification, symbolism, etc), diction,
point of view, and sound devices (alliteration, onomatopoeia, rhythm, and rhyme). It is not necessary that you
identify all the poetic devices within the poem. The ones you do identify should be seen as a way of supporting the
conclusions you are going to draw about the poem.
Examination of diction, images, and details suggests the speaker's attitude and contributes to understanding. You
may refer to the list of words on Tone that will help you. Remember that usually the tone or attitude cannot be
named with a single word think complexity.
Rarely does a poem begin and end the poetic experience in the same place. As is true of most us, the poet's
understanding of an experience is a gradual realization, and the poem is a reflection of that understanding or
insight. Watch for the following keys to shifts:
• key words, (but, yet, however, although)
• punctuation (dashes, periods, colons, ellipsis)
• stanza divisions
• changes in line or stanza length or both
• irony
• changes in sound that may indicate changes in meaning
• changes in diction
Now look at the title again, but this time on an interpretive level. What new insight does the title provide in
understanding the poem?
What is the poem saying about the human experience, motivation, or condition? What subject or subjects does the
poem address? What do you learn about those subjects? What idea does the poet want you take away with you
concerning these subjects? Remember that the theme of any work of literature is stated in a complete sentence.
Playwright
the author of a play
Actors
people who perform
the drama
Acts
units of action
Scenes
acts are divided into
these parts
Stage
Directions
information about
where the action
takes place or how it
is done
Theater
place where plays are
performed
Characterization
playwright’s method for
creating believable
characters
Dialogue
a conversation between or
among characters
Monologue
a long speech by a single
character that reveals his
or her thoughts and
feelings
Set
everything on stage that
suggests the time and
place
Props
small items that the actors
use or carry to make their
actions seem real
Comedy
a drama with a happy ending. Comedies are written to entertain and make people
laugh. Comedies often point out faults in people or society.
Tragedy
an unhappy drama that ends with the downfall of the main character. The main
character can be an average person or a person of great importance. Often, the
main character is a heroic figure
Drama
is written about serious subjects such as events that happen in everyday life.
Dramas may not have a comedic or a tragic tone. Drama often takes place on a
stage in a theater. Stage plays require actors, costumes, lights, and sets. Other types
of drama are not performed on stage.
Screenplays
are scripts for films. Screenplays include directions not only for actors but also for
camera operators. They usually have more scene changes than a stage play
Teleplays
are scripts for television. They also include directions for camera operators and
have more scene changes than a stage play
Radio Plays
are scripts for radio broadcasts. They include sound effects. Radio plays do not
require sets, costumes, or directions for actors or camera operators about
movement
Adjusted from Davis/Lucas - 8 th Reading for Blancas-7 th Grade Reading
Revised 5/20/2013