Essential Vocabulary

Week 10Character Words

Theme Definition: the insight about human life

that is revealed in a literary work; a repeating idea or message in literature• A “golden thread” woven throughout the story

-The theme is what the author is saying through the story (it’s a deeper truth about reality)

- The plot how he says it : it is the story he uses to get this point across

Characterization

Definition: the process by which the writer reveals the personality of a character

Direct Characteriztion

Definition: the writer tells the personality of the character• Example: “You’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch.”

Indirect Characterizatio

n Definition: the writer reveals the

personality of a character through the character’s

• behavior• appearance• speech• thoughts*The reader must infer what the character is life from the clues that are given.*

IronyDefinition: in general, a discrepancy

between appearances and reality- There are three types of irony.- 1. verbal irony- 2. situational irony- 3. dramatic irony

Verbal Irony Definition: When someone says the

opposite of what he or she means• Also known as sarcasm• Example: A woman walks into a job

interview and she is sloppily dressed with only two teeth in her head and the interviewer says, “You have a beautiful smile!”

Situational Irony Definition: When what happens is the

opposite of what was expected to happen• It rains on your wedding day.• No smoking sign on your cigarette break.• You find 10,000 spoons when all you need is a

knife.• You meet the man of your dreams, then you meet

is beautiful wife.• You get a death row pardon two minutes too late.• Old man wins the lottery and dies the next day.

Compliments of Alanis Morissette , “Isn’t It Ironic”

Dramatic Irony Definition: When the reader

or audience knows something that a character does not know• Example: In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo says that his “grave is like to be his wedding bed.” Little does he know that his marriage will be the cause of his untimely death. We as an audience knows because we heard the prologue at the beginning of the play.

Foreshadowing Definition: the use of hints and clues to

suggest what will happen later in a plot

• I told myself there would be no more bodies, but I didn't believe a word of it.

• An old man is sitting at his desk looking at his stamp

collection. When he opens the drawer for his magnifying

glass, his fingers brush against a revolver. He finds the magnifying glass and closes the drawer...

Symbol Definition: A person, place, thing, or

event that has meaning in itself and that also stands for something more than itself

Literary Point of View

Definition: the vantage point from which the writer tells the story

First-Person Point of View

Definition: One of the characters in the story tells the story, using pronouns such as I and we

Example: “If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born and what my childhood was like, and how my lousy parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.”Catcher in the Rye-J.D. Salinger

Third-Person-Limited Point of View

Definition: using only one character’spoint of view; an unknown narratortells the story, referring to charactersas he, she, and they-Example:

When Jane and Elizabeth were alone, the former,who had been cautious in her praise of Mr.Bingley before, expressed to her sister how verymuch she admired him. "He is just what a youngman ought to be," said she, "sensible, goodhumoured, lively; and I never saw such happymanners! -- so much ease, with such perfect

goodbreeding!"

-Pride & PrejudiceBy Jane Austen

Omniscient Point of View

Definition: an all-knowing narrator tells the story using the third-person pronouns

• Example: Anna Karenina is told from multiple points of view. Some sections are told from Anna's point of view: "All the same, he's a good man, truthful, kind and remarkable in his sphere," Anna said to herself, going back to her room, as if defending him before someone who was accusing him and saying that it was impossible to love him. "But why do his ears stick out so oddly? Did he have to have his hair cut?"