Keystone Literary Terms 2

A person, animal, or inanimate object portrayed in a literary work. (Dynamic, static, protagonist, antagonist, foil, stock, deuteragonist, tertiary)

• Character

• Characterization

• Compare/Contrast

• Conflict/Problem

A struggle or clash between opposing characters, forces, or emotions.

• Compare/Contrast

• Conflict/Problem

• Character

• Characterization

Words and phrases in a sentence paragraph, and/or whole text, which help reason out the meaning of an unfamiliar word.

• Conflict/Problem

• Context Clues

• Defense of Claim

• Dialect

A variety of a language distinct from the standard variety in pronunciation, grammar or vocabulary.

• Dialogue

• Dialect

• Characterization

• Character

Support provided to mark an assertion as reasonable.

• Characterization

• Dialogue

• Defense of Claim

• Climax

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

• Conflict

• Compare/Contrast

• Characterization

• Character

The turning point in a narrative; the moment when the conflict is at its most intense. Typically, the structure of stories, novels, and plays is one of rising action, in which tension builds to this point.

• Climax

• Character

• Characterization

• Conflict/Problem

In its widest sense, this is simply conversation between characters or speakers in a literary work; in its most restricted sense,  it refers specifically to the speech of characters in a drama.

• Dialect

• Dialogue

• Character

• Climax

The generally accepted importance of a work representing a given culture.

• Defense of a Claim

• Dialogue

• Dialect

• Cultural Significance

Place together characters, situations, or ideas to show common and/or differing features in literary selections.

• Compare/Contrast

• Conflict/Problem

• Climax

• Cultural Significance