| A | B |
|---|
| the main character in a literary work | protagonist |
| a character struggles against another character or against societ | external conflict |
| a general name given to literary techniques that involve surprising, interesting or amusing contradictions | irony |
| the central message, concern, or purpose in a literary work | theme |
| a scene within a story that interrupts the sequence of events to relate events that occurred in the past | flashback |
| the time and place of the action of a story | setting |
| the attitude a writer takes towards his character(s) and/or story | tone |
| a conversation between characters | dialogue |
| a feeling of anxious uncertainty about the outcome of a literary work | suspense |
| the feeling created by a literary work or passage | mood |
| a character or force in conflict with a main character | antagonist |
| an author's use of clues to hint at what might happen later in the story | foreshadowing |
| a high point of interest or suspense, when we find out whether the protagonist will will the conflict | climax |
| the narrator knows and tells what each person feels and thinks | omniscient point of view |
| a character struggles with some force of nature (such as a storm or an earthquake or a wild animal) | natural conflict |
| the sequence of events in which each event results from a previous one and causes the next | plot |
| a division or type of literature | genre |
| the last part of the story where the loose ends are tied together and the story is closed | resolution |
| told by a character who uses the first person ("I") | first-person point of view |
| anything that stands for or represents something else | symbol |
| an event occurs that directly contradicts the expectations of the characters or the reader | irony of situation |
| the perspective or vantage point from which a story is told | point of view |
| a character struggles within himself/herself | internal conflict |
| the narrator relates the inner thoughts and feelings of only one character, and everything is viewed from this character's perspective | limited third-person point of view |
| a character whose actions are inspiring or noble | hero/heroine |
| a person or animal that takes part in a literary work | character |
| words are used to suggest the opposite of their usual meaning, as when a weak person is called a "born leader" | verbal irony |
| a contradictions between what a character thinks and what the audience or reader knows to be true | dramatic irony |
| a struggle between opposing forces | conflict |
