Glossary Of Literary Terms

Novels: a long work of prose fiction especially one that is relatively realistic.

Novella: a work of prose fiction longer than a short story but shorter than a novel ( about 40-80 pages).

Short story: a fictional narrative usually a prose rarely, longer than 30 pages and often much briefer.

Narrative Techniques: The style of telling the story.

Point of view: the method of narrating a short story, novel, narrative poem, or work of non-fiction.


Characterization: the presentation of a character whether by direct description, by showing the character in action,or by the presentation of other characters to help to define each other.


Theme: what the work is about; the underlying idea of the work, a conception of human experience suggested by the concrete details. 


Setting:  the time and place of a story, play or poem.


Plot: the episodes in a narrative or dramatic work: that is what happens.


Style: the manner of expression evident, not only in the choice of certain words, but also in the choice certain kinds of sentence structure, characters, setting and themes.


Irony: the contrast between what is said and what is meant.


Imagery: words and phrases that create vivid, sensory experience for the reader. 


Symbols: is a person, place, object or activity that stands for something beyond itself.


Satire: literary technique in which ideas, customs, behavior or institutions are ridicule for the purpose of improving society.


Allusion: reference to a historical or fictional person, place or event with which is assume to be familiar.


Stream of consciousness: the style of fiction that takes as its subject the flow of thought, responses and sensations of one or more characters.


Interior Monologue: a passage of writing presenting a character's inner thoughts and emotions in a direct, sometimes disjointed and fragmentary manner.


Flashback: an account of conservation, an episode or event that happened before the beginning of the story.

Foreshadowing: a writers use of hints or clues that suggest what events will occur in a narrative.

Time frame: a period during which something takes palace or is projected to occur.


Motif: a recurring word, phrase, image, object, idea or action in a work of literature.


Juxtaposition: the act or an instance of placing two or more things side by side.

Types Of Fiction
 
Eight Types:

Science:
Realistic:
Mystery 
Animal 
Folktale
Autobiography
Fantasy 
Humorous

Literary Context

Political: It may be the political movements the poet supported which interest the critic, but more commonly the poem is assessed on political lines: how fairly or effectively it promotes political action or attitudes.

Historical: to explain not only their allusions and particular use of words, but the conventions and expectations of the times. The approach may be evaluative or may simply use it as historical data.

Social: environment also known as the milieu, is the environment of people that surrounds something's creation or intended audience. Social context reflects how the people around something use and interpret it. The social context influences how something is viewed.

Religious:is the setting of a spiritual nature which sets the tone or background of a particular scene/ event in a story, novel or novelette

Ethnic: is the ethnicity/ethnic background of the main characters in a story.

Moral: sets the tone of the ethical or philosophical tone of the story.

Intellectual: gives the academic or educational background of the protagonist.

Cultural : is the overriding values and mores of the main characters in the book/story.