6. External Conflict
Any struggle or problem that involves the
character and any other person, thing
or unknown force.
– Man v. Man
– Man v. Nature
– Man v. Society
– Man v. God (Fate)
7. Plot
The action or sequence of events in a
story.
It is usually a series of related events
that build up on one another as the
story develops.
9. Exposition – The background or situation
surrounding the story.
Rising action - the series of struggles that
builds a story toward a climax.
Climax – the most intense point in a
story.
Falling action – part of the story that
works out decisions reached during the
climax.
Resolution – is part of the story in which
the problem is solved.
10. Protagonist - Main character
Antagonist - The person or thing
working against the protagonist
Antagonist and Protagonist
13. Theme
The statement about life the author is
trying to get across in a story.
–In most cases the theme will be implied
rather than directly told.
In The Most Dangerous Game by Richard
Connell, the theme was “the hunter
becomes the hunted.”
14. Allusion
A reference to a literary, mythological, or
historical person, place, or thing.
-- Martin Luther King Jr. alluded to the
Gettysburg address in starting his “I have
a dream” speech by saying “Five score
years ago…”.
--This referenced Abraham Lincoln’s “Four
score and seven years ago.” (Gettysburg
address.)
15. Foreshadowing
• The use in a literary work of clues that
suggest events that will happen later in a
story.
• --In Romeo and Juliet, both main
characters state early on that they would
rather die than live apart.
16. Epiphany
• An event in which the essential nature of
something-a person, situation, object- is
suddenly understood in a new way.
--Think of an “ah ha!” moment, or visually,
a light bulb going above your head going
on.
17. Detail
• Facts revealed by the author or that
support the attitude or tone of the work.
• --A detail gives more information. For
example, a detail about Killeen is that it is
the location of Fort Hood.
18. Archetype
• A type of character, action, or situation
that occurs over and over in literature.
• --An archetype can at times be considered
a generalization or stereotype. “The
princess must always be rescued by a
prince.”
19. Motif
• A main idea in a literary work. A pattern or
strand of imagery or symbolism in
literature.
• --A motif is different from a theme in that it
happens over and over in a story.
20. Imagery
• The words used to represent persons,
objects, feelings, by appealing to the five
senses.
• --Ex. Her face is a garden.
• --He laughed like a hyena.
21. Point of view
• The view or perspective from which a story
is told.
• The author is not the one telling the story,
but the narrator. This can be 1st, 2nd, 3rd
person point of view.
22. Setting
• The time and place of the story.
• --The setting of Batman is Gotham City in
the future.
• --The setting can change throughout the
story.
23. Irony
Is using a word or phrase to mean the
exact opposite of its literal or normal
meaning.
There are three kinds of irony:
24. Dramatic irony, in which the reader or the
audience sees a character’s mistakes, but
the character does not.
Verbal irony, in which the writer says one
thing and means another: “The best
substitute for experience is being thirteen”
Situational irony, in which there is a great
difference between the purpose of an action
and the result.
26. The Grip of Suspense
When we feel suspense, we feel as if
we are hanging in midair, like those
characters in a movie who cling by
their fingertips to cliffs, their feet
kicking out into space. That’s
suspense – and that’s why stories like
The Interlopers by Saki are called
cliffhangers.
27. Characterization
Is the method an author uses to reveal
characters and their personalities.
There are two types of characterization
28. Direct Characterization – In which a writer tells us
directly what a character is like or what their motives
are.
Indirect Characterization – In which a writer shows us
a character but allows us to interpret for ourselves
the kind of person we are meeting.
• Speech
• Appearance
• Private thoughts
• Actions and
• How others in the story feel about them.
30. Symbolism
Person, place, thing, or event that stands
both for itself and for something beyond
itself.
A form of figurative language that is
identified with something else
Public symbols are symbols that are widely
recognized and accepted
34. Symbolism
• Why would the eagle be chosen as a
symbol of the United States?
• What metaphors exist within the
symbol of the eagle when comparing
it to a nation?
35. Symbolism
• Strength of an eagle’s wings…
• Sharp eyes…
• Largeness of the bird…
• Why do you think our forefathers chose the
eagle over Benjamin Franklin’s proposed
turkey?
36. Tone
Tone is the attitude that an
author takes toward the
audience, the subject, or the
character. Tone is conveyed
through the author's words
and details.
37. Mood
Mood is the emotions that you feel while you
are reading. Some literature makes you
feel sad, others joyful, still others, angry.
How does the following passage from O.
Henry's short story, After Twenty Years,
make you feel?
39. Simile
• A comparison of two different things or
ideas through the use of the words LIKE or
AS.
• --He was as tall as a tree.
• --She was sick like a dog.
40. Metaphor
• A comparison of two unlike things NOT
using like or as.
• -- This homework is a breeze.
• --He showered her with gifts.
42. Pun
• A play on words that are identical or similar in
sound but mean two completely different things.
• Shakespeare used puns often in his work.
• Mercutio: “Nay, gentle Romeo, we must have you
dance.”
Romeo: “Not I, believe me. You have dancing
shoes with nimble soles; I have a soul of lead so
stakes me to the ground I cannot move.”
43. More examples of puns
• Every oven in the restaurant was broken.
The patrons got a raw deal.
• Did you hear about the guy whose whole
left side was cut off? He's all right now.
44. Paradox
• When two elements of a statement
contradict one another. It seems
impossible, but may show hidden truths.
• A teenager told me, “All teenagers are
liars.”
45. Oxymoron
• A form of paradox that combines a pair of
opposite terms into one single unusual
expression.
---Pretty ugly.
----Freezer burn.
----Great depression.
46. Idiom
• A phrase or expression that has a different
meaning that its literal meaning.
• -- Call it a day: stop work for the day.
• "It's late and you've accomplished a lot.
Why don't you call it a day?
47. Hyperbole
• An outrageous exaggeration.
---This is the best day ever!!!
---My sister wears so much makeup, she
weighs 50 pounds more after she puts it on.
--- My teacher is so old, she taught cave men
how to start a fire.
