AP Literature Prose Terms#1 Flashcards

5188369900	Plot	the main events of a play, novel, film, or similar work, devised and presented by the writer as an interrelated sequence	0
5188369901	Structure		1
5188369902	Conflict	the struggle between two opposing people, groups of people or forces the struggle between the protagonist and the antagonist	2
5188369903	Protagonist	The main character of a literary work--Hamlet and Othello in the plays named after them, Gregor Samsa in Kafka's Metamorphosis, Paul in Lawrence's "Rocking-Horse Winner."	3
5188369904	Antagonist	A character or force against which another character struggles. Creon is Antigone's antagonist in Sophocles' play Antigone; Teiresias is the antagonist of Oedipus in Sophocles' Oedipus the King.	4
5188369905	Suspense	suspense a feeling of uncertainty and curiosity about what will happen next in a story	5
5188369906	Mystery	something that is difficult or impossible to understand or explain a novel, play, or film dealing with a puzzling crime, especially a murder.	6
5188369907	Dilemma	a situation in which a difficult choice has to be made between two or more undesirable outcomes	7
5188369908	Surprise	an unexpected or astonishing event, fact, etc.	8
5188369909	Indeterminate ending	the conflict is left unresolved or ambiguous at the end of the plot.	9
5188369910	Artistic unity	That condition of a successful literary work whereby all its elements work together for the achievement of its central purpose.	10
5188369911	Plot manipulation	A situation in which an author gives the plot a twist or turn unjustified by preceding action or by the characters involved.	11
5188369912	Deus ex machina	It refers to the incidence where an implausible concept or character is brought into the story in order to make the conflict in the story resolve and to bring about a pleasing solution	12
5188369913	Coincidence	a situation in which events happen at the same time in a way that is not planned or expected	13
5188369914	Rising action	in a plot is a series of relevant incidents that create suspense, interest and tension in a narrative. In literary works, a rising action includes all decisions, characters' flaws and background circumstances that together create turns and twists leading to a climax.	14
5188369915	Climax	a structural part of a plot and is at times referred to as a crisis. It is a decisive moment or a turning point in a storyline at which the rising action turns around into a falling action.	15
5188369916	Falling action	the parts of a story after the climax and before the very end	16
5188369917	Dramatization	To dramatize something is to put it in dramatic form (like a TV show or movie) or make it seem more dramatic, using exaggeration	17
5188369918	Flat Character	two-dimensional in that they are relatively uncomplicated and do not change throughout the course of a work	18
5188369919	Round Character	A round character is extremely realistic, behaving and speaking in a "real life" manner. The character is complex and increases in complexity throughout the story.	19
5188369920	Stock Character	A stock character is a stereotypical person whom audiences readily recognize from frequent recurrences in a particular literary tradition.	20
5188369921	Static Character	a literary or dramatic character who undergoes little or no inner change; a character who does not grow or develop.	21
5188369922	Omniscient Narrator	Third person omniscient is a point of view where the narrator knows all the thoughts, actions, and feelings of all characters	22
5188369923	Third person limited Narrator	the narrator only knows the thoughts and feelings of one character.	23
5188369924	Stream of consciousness Narrator	interior monologue; which is a narrative mode or device that depicts the multitudinous thoughts and feelings which pass through the mind.	24
5188369925	First person Narrator	is a point of view (who is telling a story) where the story is narrated by one character at a time.	25
5188369926	Objective/Dramatic Narrator	the author must describe gestures and actions that indirectly show how a character feels, thinks and deals with internal conflict. Authors will use this p.o.v. to achieve a high degree of realism, since it mimics how we interact in real-life. It's also useful to shield the reader from the true thoughts and feelings of the characters, as in Shirley Jackson's suspenseful "The Lottery".	26
5188369927	Symbol	the practice or art of using an object or a word to represent an abstract idea.	27
5188369928	Allegory	A symbolic narrative in which the surface details imply a secondary meaning. Allegory often takes the form of a story in which the characters represent moral qualities.	28