MAIN LITERARY TERMS

THEME =the central idea of the text ; it raises a question about human nature or
experience.

SUBJECT = the sequence of events the characters are involved in .

PLOT = the sequence of conflicts that lead to a climax and resolution that makes
sense ; the plot can be :
chronological – when the events are presented in chronological order
disrupted –when the events are presented as they come to the mind of
the narrator
frame story – a story within a story …(ex. ”The Canterbury Tales”)
*The parts of the plot are :
- The exposition ( the information telling us how and why the characters became
involved in the conflict)
- The initiating action (the event that brings the opposing forces into conflict )
- The rising action (the gradual advancement of the conflict ;the problems faced
by the characters )
- The CLIMAX (The point of highest interest ,in which the protagonist takes –
consciously or not- the action that will determine the future course of events )
- The dénouement or resolution = the incidents by which the conflict caused by
the initiating action is resolved .

CHARACTERS can be : round (complex )

or flat (simple , dominated by one feature )

static (doesn’t change from the beginning to the end )

or dynamic ( it undergoes changes for the better / worse )
A character can be governed by public values (courage ,modesty, faith….) or by
private values ( intelligence ,beauty)
A character can one of these :
- a god (he/she is divine , superior to other beings )=> a myth
- a godlike (he/she is a superior human being whose actions are marvellous)
=> a legend,afairy-tale or a folk-tale
- a hero (he/she is a leader whose actions , either good or bad , are
courageous) =>an epic or a tragedy
- a non-hero (one of us , not superior to other people )=> a realistic novel or
a comedy
 - an anti-hero ( he/she is of inferior intelligence to us ; the story is one of
bondage , frustration , absurdity ) => modernist , postmodernist and absurd
literature

SETTING = the background ( time, space ,season, weather elements, physical

props, clothing ,cultural elements )against which the conflict and actions occur . It
is strictly connected with the plot, atmosphere , characters, the tone and even the
message of the work.

POINT OF VIEW = the approach from which the story is told .It determines what
information the reader receives and how it is presented .
• A first person narrative ( the story is told by one of the characters from a
‘first person’s approach’ )
• *a third person narrative ( the story is told by the author or an observer ,from
a ’third person’s perspective )

First person narrative approaches :

Diary narration = a1st pers. narrative recording responses to events as they occur
( Samuel Pepys )

Detached autobiography = the story is told by one of the characters tells the story
long after the events occurred , in a frame of mind greatly changed since the time
of the story ,even due to the lesson learned from the experience .(ex. Ch. Dickens
“Great Expectations”)(-1st person)

Subjective narration =(1st pers.) the story is told by one of the characters shortly
after the conclusion of the events ,still under their influence, in a subjective
manner . He is addressing us ,not the general publicor another character .(ex.
Mark Twain”Huckleberry Finn”)

Direct interior monologue- the mental processes rendered:

directly as they occur , in the 1st person

Third person narrative approaches

Omniscient point of view = the narrator ( the author ) pretends to know
everything about the characters and the action ; the reader has to take his/her
information for granted .(ex. Th. Hardy “Tess..”)(-third person)
Objective narration = ( 3rd pers.) the narrator reduces his role to that of an
eyewitness ,chooses not to present inner life , dealing with the surface of
things , the way a camera does .( ex Ernest Hemingway)

Observer narration = (1st pers.+3rd pers.) it is a single character-point of view ,of

a subordinate one , indirectly involved in the action ;he assumes several roles : he
may be a confident of the main character, or an eye-witness, or he may find out
things from other characters .(ex. Nick Carraway in “S. Fitzgerald’s ”Great
Gatsby” or Mr. Lockwood in E .Bronte’s” Wuthering Heights ”)

Multiple point of view = the main character is explained by means of the response
of the other characters (ex. H. James “ The Portrait of A Lady”)

Indirect interior monologue ( stream of consciousness)= the mental processes

rendered indirectly as if explained , in the 3rd person).

Dramatic monologue = we overhear somebody speaking aloud to another

person ,which allows the character to reveal ,explain or betray himself/herself( ex.
E.A.Poe ”The Tell-Tale Heart”)
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Tone = the attitude of the author vs. the subject/character(s).It can be sympathetic,
critical, ironical, sad , bitter, funny, sarcastic etc.

Message = the lesson learned

Allegory = a narrative in verse or prose , in which characters , action and

sometimes setting represent abstract concepts apart from the literary sense of the
story ; the characters are often personifications of abstract ideas .(ex. Dante’s
‘Inferno’)
Archetype = a symbol , story pattern , or character type that recurs frequently in
literature evoking associations with the original one ( ex. ‘Cain and
Abel’>’Absalom, Absalom’)

Alliteration = the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning or within the

word ( ‘the furrow followed free’- S. T .Coleridge)

Assonance = the repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different

consonant sounds in stressed syllables (ex. :‘can hate be bate ?’)
Blank verse = unrhymed iambic pentameter (ex. :Milton- ‘Paradise Lost’:
‘I may assert Eternal Providence / And justify the ways of God to men .’ )

Epic = a narrative poem (usually handed down in oral tradition ) dealing with
heroes and adventures (ex.: ’The Odyssey’)

Epithet= a descriptive expression mentioning a quality of a person or object being

described (ex .: ‘the silent moon’)

Foreshadowing =a clue given to the reader for what is going to happen .

Free verse = a type of poetry , free from conventional verse forms(metre , rhyme)
but using rhythm (ex. W .Whitman’s ’Song of Myself’)

Internal rhyme= a type of rhyme that matches stressed syllables or words in the
middle and the end of a line .(ex:‘ We were the first that ever burst /Into that silent
sea .)

Metaphor = a comparison from which the real term was replaced by the
comparing one :’ A precious stone into the silver sea ‘ = England (Shakespeare)

Myth = a traditional story connected to the beliefs of a people (it has less
historical background than the legend ex. Prometheus # King Arthur)

Parable = a brief fictional work that illustrates or teaches a lesson of lie (ex: ’The
parable of the prodigal son )

Syntactical parallelism= the repetition of the same syntactical structure in two or

more subsequent sentences ( ‘ So long as man can breathe and eyes can see/
So long lives this , and this gives life to thee.’- Shakespeare , Sonnet18)

Parody = an imitation of a serious work ( Cervante ’s ‘Don Qixote’= a parody of

romances of chivalry)

Personification = attributing an abstract or lifeless thing human qualities (ex:

‘Nor shall Death brag thou wonders in HIS shade….’ – Shakespeare, Sonnet18)

Satire = social and political criticism by means of witty ridiculing a character with
the intention of self-reform; irony and sarcasm are forms of satire ( irony triggers
laughter , sarcasm is more biting and bitter – ex: J. Swift)
Soliloqui = a long monologue of a character in which he/she speak their mind
(‘Hamlet’ – ‘To be or not to be….’)

Symbol= a concrete image that signifies something bigger / greater / loftier