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Questions and Answers
What is the literary term for a person represented in a film, play, or story?
What is the literary term for a person represented in a film, play, or story?
What is the purpose of a dilemma in a story?
What is the purpose of a dilemma in a story?
What is an indeterminate ending?
What is an indeterminate ending?
What is the term for a story that is not based on real people or facts?
What is the term for a story that is not based on real people or facts?
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What is the term for a character that is complex and many-sided?
What is the term for a character that is complex and many-sided?
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What is the central idea or purpose of a story?
What is the central idea or purpose of a story?
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What is literature defined as?
What is literature defined as?
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What is a literary genre?
What is a literary genre?
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What is the purpose of plot in a story?
What is the purpose of plot in a story?
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What is the protagonist in a story?
What is the protagonist in a story?
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What is fantasy in literature?
What is fantasy in literature?
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What is drama in literature?
What is drama in literature?
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Study Notes
Definition of Literature
- Literature refers to works of creative imagination, including poetry, drama, fiction, and non-fiction.
- It is a means of expressing a nation's social, political, economic, intellectual, and cultural heritage through language.
Genre and Literary Genre
- Genre refers to any works that share certain characteristics.
- Literary genre is a style of literary writing, and there are four main genres: poetry, drama, fiction, and non-fiction.
Types of Literary Genres
- Poetry: verse and rhythmic writing with imagery that evokes an emotional response from the reader.
- Prose: written language in its ordinary form, rather than poetry.
- Drama: the genre of literature that is subject to compositions of dramatic art, often for theatrical performance.
- Fantasy: fiction that involves the formation of mental images with strange or otherworldly settings or characters.
Story Elements
- Plot: the sequence of incidents or events that make up the story.
- Conflict: a clash of actions, ideas, desires, or wills that drives the plot.
- Protagonist: the central character in the conflict, who can be sympathetic or unsympathetic.
- Antagonist: the forces arranged against the protagonist, which can be persons, things, society, or even their own features.
Suspense and Surprise
- Suspense: the quality in a story that makes readers ask "What is going to happen next?" and encourages them to read on.
- Mystery: an unusual set of circumstances that the reader strongly wants an explanation for.
- Dilemma: a position in which the protagonist must choose between two undesirable courses of action.
- Surprise: an unexpected event caused by something unexpected happening.
- Surprise ending: a sudden new turn or twist at the end of the story.
Types of Endings
- Happy ending: when the story ends as the protagonist wishes, with the problem resolved.
- Unhappy ending: when the story ends as the opposite of what the protagonist wishes, often referred to as "depressing" fiction.
- Indeterminate ending: an ending in which no definitive conclusion is arrived at, creating an artistic unit.
Character Presentation
- Direct presentation of character: when the author tells the reader straight out about the character's traits.
- Indirect presentation of character: when the author shows the character in action, letting the reader infer their traits.
Types of Characters
- Flat characters: characterized by two traits that can be summed up in a sentence.
- Round characters: complex and many-sided characters.
- Stock character: a stereotyped figure with a fixed mental picture.
- Static character: remains the same throughout the story.
- Developing character: undergoes permanent changes in character, personality, or outlook.
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Description
Explore the world of literature, including literary genres, definition, and characteristics. Learn about the role of literature in expressing a nation's heritage and culture.
