| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| agency | A character's ability to make choices and take action that affects the plot and reveals their significance. |
| antagonist | A character, force, or entity that opposes the protagonist and creates conflict in the narrative. |
| character choices | Decisions made by a character through speech, action, or inaction that reveal their values and personality. |
| character motives | The reasons, desires, or intentions that drive a character's decisions and actions. |
| character perspective | A character's point of view, beliefs, values, and way of understanding the world as revealed through their thoughts, words, and actions. |
| complexity | The intricate, multifaceted, and often contradictory aspects of character relationships that go beyond simple or straightforward dynamics. |
| conflict | A struggle or opposition between characters, forces, or ideas that drives the narrative forward. |
| contrasting characters | Characters who have opposing qualities, values, or characteristics that highlight differences and reveal meaning in a narrative. |
| internal conflicts | Psychological or emotional struggles within a character's mind, such as conflicting desires, beliefs, or values. |
| nuance | Subtle variations, shades of meaning, or delicate distinctions in character relationships and interactions. |
| protagonist | The main character in a narrative who typically drives the action and with whom the reader often identifies. |
| textual details | Specific words, phrases, descriptions, dialogue, and actions within a text that provide evidence about characters, their perspectives, and motivations. |
| value systems | The principles, beliefs, and priorities that guide a character's decisions and actions, often causing tension when characters hold different values. |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| atmosphere | The overall tone and emotional quality of a narrative, often created through descriptive details and setting. |
| character | A person or entity in a narrative whose actions, thoughts, and relationships drive the story forward. |
| environment | The physical surroundings and conditions that a character inhabits within a literary work. |
| setting | The time, place, and social context in which a narrative takes place, which can function to establish conflict, reveal character, or drive plot development. |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| adjective | A descriptive word that modifies a noun and conveys the perspective or attitude of the narrator or speaker toward what is being described. |
| adverb | A descriptive word that modifies a verb, adjective, or other adverb and conveys the perspective or attitude of the narrator or speaker. |
| character | A person or entity in a narrative whose actions, thoughts, and relationships drive the story forward. |
| diction | The choice and use of words in a text that conveys meaning and reveals the perspective or attitude of the narrator or speaker. |
| narrative | A story or account of events presented in a text, including how those events are ordered and connected. |
| narrative distance | The physical, chronological, relational, or emotional separation between the narrator and the events or characters in the narrative. |
| narrator | The voice or character who tells the story and whose perspective shapes how events and subjects are presented to the reader. |
| perspective | The viewpoint, background, and beliefs of a narrator, character, or speaker that shape how they perceive and present events or subjects. |
| point of view | The perspective from which a narrative is told, determined by the narrator's position, knowledge, and relationship to the events and characters in the story. |
| speaker | The voice presenting ideas or emotions in a text, particularly in poetry or non-narrative works, whose perspective influences the tone and content. |
| stream of consciousness | A narrative technique that presents a character's thoughts, feelings, and sensations in a continuous, unfiltered flow. |
| syntax | The arrangement and structure of words and sentences in a text that can reveal a narrator's or speaker's perspective and attitude. |
| tone | The attitude or emotional quality conveyed by the speaker, narrator, or author toward the subject matter. |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| archetypes | Recurring patterns in dramatic situations that are so common they create predictable expectations for how stories will progress and resolve. |
| conflict | A struggle or opposition between characters, forces, or ideas that drives the narrative forward. |
| contrast | A juxtaposition of different elements in a text that highlights differences and creates emphasis or meaning. |
| dramatic situation | The combination of setting, action, and conflict that develops a narrative and places characters in opposition or struggle. |
| narrative | A story or account of events presented in a text, including how those events are ordered and connected. |
| plot | The sequence of events in a narrative that are connected through cause-and-effect relationships, with each event building on the others. |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| body paragraphs | Paragraphs in an essay that develop reasoning, justify claims, and provide evidence and commentary linked to the thesis. |
| claim | A statement about a text that requires defense with evidence from the text. |
| coherence | The logical linking of ideas within sentences, paragraphs, and across a text so that the writing flows clearly and meaningfully. |
| cohesive | Logically connected and unified, with clear relationships between ideas, claims, and evidence within a paragraph or essay. |
| commentary | Explanatory writing that clarifies the relationship between textual evidence, reasoning, and thesis in a literary argument. |
| defensible claim | An argument or interpretation that can be supported and justified through evidence and logical reasoning. |
| evidence | Specific details, quotes, examples, or references from a text used to support and develop a line of reasoning in a literary argument. |
| interpretation | An explanation or understanding of the meaning or significance of a literary text or its elements. |
| line of reasoning | The logical sequence of claims that work together to defend and support the overarching thesis statement. |
| parallel structure | The use of similar grammatical forms or patterns to express related ideas, creating balance and clarity in writing. |
| pronoun references | The use of pronouns to refer back to previously mentioned nouns, creating connections between ideas in a text. |
| repetition | The deliberate reuse of words, phrases, or ideas to emphasize meaning and create coherence in writing. |
| synonyms | Words with similar meanings used to reinforce ideas and maintain coherence without unnecessary repetition. |
| textual evidence | Specific details and quotes from a text that support and defend a claim in literary analysis. |
| thesis | The overarching central claim or argument that an essay defends and develops throughout. |
| thesis statement | A statement that expresses an interpretation of a literary text and makes a defensible claim that can be supported through textual evidence and reasoning. |
| topic sentence | A sentence that states a claim and explains the reasoning connecting the various claims and evidence in a paragraph. |
| transitions | Words or phrases that connect ideas and show relationships between sentences, paragraphs, or sections of writing. |