Senior English – Some Important Prose Terms
allegory - a story with two meanings, a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning.
allusion - a brief reference to a person, event, or place, real or fictitious, or to a work of art or fiction.
atmosphere (mood) - words and details that create a feeling in the reader.
character – a character’s role in a story may be to advance the plot, understand the setting, develop the protagonist’s personality, act as a foil (to emphasize opposite traits of another character), or develop a theme in a story.
character types – there are many character types:
· antagonist – a character or force in conflict with the main character.
· foil - used to contrast opposing traits with another character.
· dynamic character - a character who changes significantly during the story (not necessarily aging.)
· flat character – a simple or one-sided character in a story; only one personality trait.
· round character – a character who shows varied and sometimes contradictory traits; often similar to real-life people.
· protagonist - the main character of the story.
· static character – a character who remains primarily the same throughout the story.
· stereotype – a predictable, one-dimensional character: often used to satirize or ridicule ideas, people or institutions in society.
characterization - methods a writer uses to develop the personality of a character; attained by description of the character's actions, gestures and general demeanour.
· direct presentation- the author tells us direct details like “mike was a smart man.”
· indirect presentation - the author shows the character's actions, or words through dialogue, or another character's dialogue.
climax - the moment where the conflict reaches its point of greatest intensity and is thereafter resolved.
conflict - a force of opposition and struggle found in fiction; may be internal or external.
crisis - the turning point of uncertainty and tension resulting from earlier conflict in a plot; it usually leads to or overlaps with the climax.
diction - vocabulary chosen by the writer; can reflect the level of education and attitudes of characters.
dilemma - a situation that requires a choice between two equally unfavourable options.
figurative language - the use of figurative speech (e.g. imagery, personification, alliteration, metaphors) in writing to attain a special effect.
genre – refers to the type of story (e.g. science fiction, romance, etc.)
irony - a literary device whereby the appearance of things differs from reality, whether in terms of meaning, situation, or action.
point of view – the perspective from which we see the characters and events of the story. it involves several different ways in which a story is told:
· first person - “I”
· limited omniscient - third person, reveals thoughts and feelings of one character.
· omniscient - third person, “all seeing”.
· objective - records the details of the story as a video camera would, devoid of thoughts and emotions.
satire - the literary art of diminishing a person or topic or human quality by making it appear ridiculous. This often involves irony or sarcasm.
setting - includes the time, place, and atmosphere (mood) of the story.
style - the way authors express what they have to say; can be formal or familiar, plain or pretentious; the manner in which the writer uses language to create a story's reality.
suspense - the reader's state of excitement and anticipation regarding an outcome, such as the ending of a mystery novel.
symbol - something that represents something else; an object, action, person or image that means something more than its literal meaning.
theme - a central idea or purpose in a literary work that usually gives insight into human nature or human experience; not usually directly stated, but implied through the story.