Literature Keystone Terms

A story, actual or fictional, expressed orally or in text. 

• narrative
• folk tale
• spoken-word poetry
• monologue

A person, animal, or thing telling the story or giving an account of something.

• narrator
• character
• protagonist
• antagonist

The structure of a story. The sequence in which the author arranges events in a story. The structure often includes the rising action, the climax, the falling action, and the resolution.

• plot

• exposition

• theme

• main idea

The position of the narrator in relation to the story, as indicated by the narrator’s outlook from which the events are depicted (e.g., first person, third person limited, third person omniscient, etc).

• point of view

• narrative

• author's purpose

• plot

Which word is an organizational device used in literature to present action that occurred before the current or present time of the story?

• Symbolism
• Simile
• Hyperbole
• Flashback

What is the best definition of the word foreshadowing?

• An organizational device used in literature to present action that occurred before the current or present time of the story.
• An object or idea given human qualities or a human form  
  
• An organizational device used in literature to create expectation or to set up an explanation of later developments.
• A device in literature when an object or thing represents an idea.
  

the author's or speaker's attitude toward the subject of the poem

• tone
• mood
• simile
• theme

The process or result of identifying the parts of a whole and their relationships to one another.

• bias
• theme
• irony
• analysis

A person, animal or inanimate object portrayed in a literary work.

• character
• plot
• setting
• climax

The method an author uses to reveal characters and their various traits and personalities (e.g., direct, indirect). 

• characterization
• imagery
• hyperbole
• metaphor