Literary Terms

Exposition

• the sequence of events.
• the introduction of the characters, setting, and basic conflict.
• the part of the plot that begins to 
• the turning point in a story or drama.

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.3

CCSS.RL.11-12.5

CCSS.RL.8.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.5

Rising Action

• the sequence of events.
• the introduction of the characters, setting, and basic conflict.
• the part of the plot that begins to 
• the turning point in a story or drama.

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.3

CCSS.RL.11-12.5

CCSS.RL.8.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.5

Climax

• the sequence of events.
• the introduction of the characters, setting, and basic conflict.
• the part of the plot that begins to 
• the turning point in a story or drama.

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.3

CCSS.RL.11-12.5

CCSS.RL.8.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.5

Falling Action

• the sequence of events.
• the introduction of the characters, setting, and basic conflict.
• the part of the plot that begins to 
• The action that follows the climax

Tags

CCSS.L.11-12.6

CCSS.L.8.6

CCSS.L.9-10.6

CCSS.W.11-12.2D

CCSS.W.9-10.2D

Third Person Omniscient

• told by a character who uses the  pronoun “I”.
• the narrator uses pronouns such as “he” and“she” to refer to the characters but only knows some of the information.
• the narrator is outside of the general characters and knows ALL of their thoughts and actions.

Resolution

• the sequence of events.
• the introduction of the characters, setting, and basic conflict.
• the part of the plot that begins to 
• reveals the outcome of the conflict.

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.3

CCSS.RL.11-12.5

CCSS.RL.8.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.5

Antagonist

• when a character struggles against some outside force
• exists within the mind of a character who is torn between different courses of action.
• the main character in a literary work
• a character or force in conflict with a main character

Tags

CCSS.L.11-12.4C

CCSS.L.6.4C

CCSS.L.7.4C

CCSS.L.8.4C

CCSS.L.9-10.4C

Mood

• the feeling created in the reader by a literary work or passage
• a reflection of a writer’s or speaker’s
• the growing interest and excitement readers experience while awaiting a climax or resolution in a work of literature.
• using language that normally signifies the opposite

Situational Irony

• Something happens that we wouldn't expect to happen
• using language that normally signifies the opposite
• What is said is different than what is meant
• The reader knows something the characters do not

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.3

CCSS.RL.11-12.5

CCSS.RL.8.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.5

Dramatic Irony

• The reader knows something the characters do not
• using language that normally signifies the opposite
• Something happens that we wouldn't expect to happen
• What is said is different than what is meant

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.10

CCSS.RL.11-12.3

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.10. RL.11-12.10