Literary Terms: Conflict and Characterization

Conflict

• A struggle between two forces in a literary work
• External conflict: struggle between a character and an outside force (e.g. character vs. character, character vs. nature, etc.)
• Internal conflict: struggle within a character (e.g. character vs. self)

Character

• A person or animal that figures in the action of a literary work
• Types of characters:
  • Flat character: exhibits one dominant quality
  • Round character: exhibits complexity of traits associated with real people
  • Static character: does not change during the course of the action
  • Dynamic character: undergoes a change during the course of the action (matures)
  • Stock character: a character found again and again in different literary works (e.g. the very bad guy, the sidekick)

Characterization

• Techniques employed by writers to develop characters
• Five methods:
  • Direct description of a character's physical appearance or personal traits
  • Dialogue spoken by the character
  • Portrayal of the character's actions
  • Reactions of another character
  • Presentation of a character's thoughts and feelings

Protagonist and Antagonist

• Protagonist: the main character
• Antagonist: character pitted against the main character (not necessarily the bad guy)

Thematic Nomenclature

• Name gives a clue to a character's traits (e.g. Fat Bastard, Bud Fox, Dr. Evil)

Plot

• A series of interrelated events during which some conflict or problem may be resolved

Point of View

• The place from which the story is told
• Two major types:
  • First person: "I" and "We" (participant or witness to the action)
  • Third person: "he", "she", "it", and "they" (narrator stands outside the action)
    • Third person omniscient: narrator knows all including what all characters are thinking
    • Third person limited omniscient: narrator focuses on actions, thoughts, and feelings of a single major character
    • Third person objective: narrator stands outside the action and does not comment on it

Setting

• When and where the story takes place
• Can create a context and atmosphere

Dialogue

• Conversation involving two or more characters

Theme

• Central idea in a literary work (topic, message, lesson, moral)
• Universal statement (truth) about life

Irony

• Difference between appearance and reality
• Three major types:
  • Dramatic irony: something is known by the reader, but unknown by some or all characters
  • Verbal irony: statement is made that implies its opposite
  • Irony of situation: an event occurs that violates the expectations of the readers, characters, or audience

Foreshadowing

• Hints given by the author that indicate what will happen later in the story

Suspense

• Feeling of expectation; anxiousness; edge of your seat

Symbol

• A thing that stands for both itself and something else (e.g. a flag, an eagle)

Ending

• Determinate ending: conflict is resolved
• Indeterminate ending: conflict is not resolved

Imagery

• Words or phrases that name something that can be seen, heard, touched, tasted, or smelled

Rite of Passage

• Coming of age: when a main character goes through an event or series of events and is changed

Tone

• Emotional attitude toward the reader or the subject implied by a literary work
• The attitude an author takes toward the audience, a subject, or a character

Atmosphere

• The general emotional effect of a story or a scene from a story

Mood

• The attitude of the characters toward what is happening
• Similar to tone and atmosphere

Frame Story

• A story in which one story is told within another

Rising Action

• The part of the action that precedes the climax

Climax

• The point of the highest tension in the action of the story

Allusion

• A reference to a statement, person, place, event, or thing that is known from literature, history, religion, myth, politics, sports, science, or pop culture

Frame of Reference

• The time period that a work of literature takes place in
• Gives the reader insights into culture

Test your knowledge of literary terms, including conflict and characterization in literature. Explore types of external and internal conflicts, and learn about character types.