| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| 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. |
| competing choices | Multiple alternative actions or decisions available to a character that pull in different directions or reflect different values. |
| complexity | The intricate, multifaceted, and often contradictory aspects of character relationships that go beyond simple or straightforward dynamics. |
| conflicting choices | Decisions or actions by a character that contradict each other or reveal opposing values and motivations. |
| contrast | A juxtaposition of different elements in a text that highlights differences and creates emphasis or meaning. |
| foil characters | Characters whose traits, attributes, or values contrast with another character in order to highlight and illuminate those qualities in the other character. |
| inconsistency | Contradictions or misalignments between different aspects of a character, such as between their private thoughts and public behavior. |
| narrator perspective | The point of view and vantage point from which a narrator tells a story, which shapes how characters and events are presented to the reader. |
| private thoughts | A character's internal mental states, beliefs, and feelings that are not expressed outwardly to others. |
| professed values | The beliefs, principles, or moral standards that a character openly claims or demonstrates to others. |
| speaker perspective | The viewpoint and voice of the person speaking in a text, which shapes the tone and interpretation of their words. |
| tension | The psychological or emotional strain created by conflicting desires, beliefs, or behaviors within a character. |
| textual details | Specific words, phrases, descriptions, dialogue, and actions within a text that provide evidence about characters, their perspectives, and motivations. |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| archetypal | Representing a character or symbol that is so universally recognized and recurrent that it embodies a universal pattern or prototype. |
| symbol | A person, place, object, or action that represents something beyond its literal meaning, such as an abstract concept, emotion, or idea. |
| symbolic | Serving as a representation or standing for an idea or concept; having symbolic meaning. |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| bias | A character's prejudice or tendency to favor certain viewpoints, revealed through their language and choices. |
| character motives | The reasons, desires, or intentions that drive a character's decisions and actions. |
| diction | The choice and use of words in a text that conveys meaning and reveals the perspective or attitude of the narrator or speaker. |
| motivation | The underlying reasons or purposes that drive a narrator's or speaker's choices in presenting information and perspective. |
| narrative | A story or account of events presented in a text, including how those events are ordered and connected. |
| narrator | The voice or character who tells the story and whose perspective shapes how events and subjects are presented to the reader. |
| narrator's reliability | The degree to which a narrator can be trusted to provide accurate, truthful, and complete information about events in a narrative. |
| perspective | The viewpoint, background, and beliefs of a narrator, character, or speaker that shape how they perceive and present events or subjects. |
| speaker | The voice presenting ideas or emotions in a text, particularly in poetry or non-narrative works, whose perspective influences the tone and content. |
| 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 |
|---|---|
| ambiguity | The quality of having multiple possible meanings or interpretations, often created by contrasts within a text. |
| chronology | The arrangement of events in the order they occur in time. |
| contradiction | Direct oppositions or inconsistencies between elements in a text that create complexity and tension. |
| contrast | A juxtaposition of different elements in a text that highlights differences and creates emphasis or meaning. |
| flashback | A narrative technique that interrupts the chronological sequence to present events that occurred earlier in time. |
| foreshadowing | A narrative technique that hints at or suggests future events before they occur in the story. |
| in medias res | A narrative technique that begins a story in the middle of the action rather than at the beginning. |
| inconsistency | Contradictions or misalignments between different aspects of a character, such as between their private thoughts and public behavior. |
| narrative | A story or account of events presented in a text, including how those events are ordered and connected. |
| nuance | Subtle variations, shades of meaning, or delicate distinctions in character relationships and interactions. |
| plot | The sequence of events in a narrative that are connected through cause-and-effect relationships, with each event building on the others. |
| stream of consciousness | A narrative technique that presents a character's thoughts, feelings, and sensations in a continuous, unfiltered flow. |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| audience | The intended readers or listeners for whom a writer creates a text. |
| claim | A statement about a text that requires defense with evidence from the text. |
| clarity | The quality of being clear and easily understood; achieved through appropriate language choices for task, purpose, and audience. |
| commentary | Explanatory writing that clarifies the relationship between textual evidence, reasoning, and thesis in a literary argument. |
| composition | The arrangement and organization of elements in writing, including structure, style, and technique used to communicate ideas effectively. |
| 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. |
| purpose | The intended goal or effect a writer aims to achieve with their writing. |
| standard English conventions | Accepted rules and practices in grammar, punctuation, and spelling that are expected in formal writing. |
| syntax | The arrangement and structure of words and sentences in a text that can reveal a narrator's or speaker's perspective and attitude. |
| task | The specific writing assignment or type of writing a student is asked to complete. |
| 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. |
| vocabulary | The choice and use of specific words in writing; deliberate vocabulary choices contribute to achieving a writer's purpose. |