Literary Terms

When and where a story takes place

• style

• setting

• inference

• hyperbole

The distinctive way a writer writes (word choice, arrangement, sentence length, etc.)

• style

• theme

• inference

• narrator

The message about life or human nature that is the focus in the story (the moral of the story)

• inference

• protagonist

• theme

• foreshadowing

a conclusion reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning

• imagery

• dialogue

• allusion

• inference

the main character in a story, often a good or heroic type

• protagonist

• antagonist

• plot

• mood

the actions that make up the story

• narrator

• point of view

• plot

• mood

the person or character telling the story

• narrator

• character

• flashback

• imagery

how the story makes the reader feel

• climax

• plot

• theme

• mood

One of the people or animals in a story

• antagonist

• character

• simile

• irony

The person or force that works against the hero of the story (protagonist)

• allusion

• metaphor

• simile

• antagonist