Literary Terms and Concepts

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Archetype

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A model image, personage, or theme that recurs in stories and myths throughout history and literature.

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Aside

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Words spoken by an actor on stage that is intended to be heard only by the audience and not by the characters on the stage.

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Author’s craft

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Intentional and deliberate use of organizational patterns, text and graphic features, syntax, devices, and diction to create an effective written work; may vary by genre.

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Author’s purpose

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The reason an author writes about a particular topic (e.g., to persuade, to entertain, to inform, to explain, to analyze, etc.); the reason an author includes particular details, features, or devices in a work.

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Characterization

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The method in which an author constructs a character by explicitly stating aspects of his/her personality and appearance (direct characterization) or by revealing aspects through actions, thoughts, speech, other characters, etc. (indirect characterization).

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Conflict

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In literature, the opposition of persons or forces that brings about dramatic action central to the plot of a story. Conflict may be internal, as a psychological conflict within a character, or external (e.g., man versus man, man versus nature, or man versus society).

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Connotative meaning

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The emotions or set of associations attached to a word that is implied rather than literal (e.g., feeling blue).

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Context

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The words, sentences, or passages that precede or follow a specific word, sentence, or passage.

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Denotative meaning

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The dictionary definition of a word; the literal or cognitive meaning.

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Dialogue

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The lines spoken between characters in fiction or a play; the main way in which plot, character, and other elements are established.