Lit terms

The environment or surrounding in which an event or story takes place.

• mood
• external conflict
• setting
• plot

An educated guess drawn from evidence or reasoning.

• clue
• textual evidence
• motivation
• inference

Actions, dialogue, and narrative description that reveal a character's personality to the reader.

• Setting

• Characterization

• Personalization

• Flashback

The struggle between a character and an outside force.

• the dark side
• internal conflict
• external conflcit
• life

The struggle occurring within the character's mind.

• Internal Conflict
• External Conlict
• Mind Conflict
• Decision Conflict

_{A universal life lesson about life or human nature. The message of the story.}

• Plot
• Summary
• Central Idea
• Theme

An atmosphere created by a writer's word choice and the details selected; the emotions of a scene; how it makes the reader feel.

• tone
• monotone
• mood
• foreshadowing

Where a writer/narrator gives an advance hint of what is going to happen later on in the story. Any event, action, dialogue or thought that gives a clue to what is going to happen.

• irony
• flashback
• foreshadowing
• theme

When an author interrupts the chronological sequence of a story by inserting past events. 

• flashback
• foreshadowing
• flashshadowing
• foreback

Where a character says the opposite of what they mean.

• Verbal Irony
• Situational Irony
• Dramatic Irony
• Flat iron