Literary Terms - English II

Literary Terms For The Novel and Short Story

1. Plot is the events or series of events that make up a story.
2. Theme is the overall, general, philosophical guiding principle that motivates the action of the story.
3. Characterization is the revelation of or description of character.  It is accomplished through dialogue or description by the author or by another character or by the narrator.
4. Dialogue is the speech between characters in a novel, story, or play.
5. Place (Locale) is the scene of the action.
6. Setting is the scenic environment of the story, including types of buildings.
7. Mood is the temper of mind of the reader or of the character through the events of the story.
8. Time is the time period in which the action takes place.
9. Viewpoint is the stance from which the story is told.  It can be omniscient or limited.  It can also be first or third person.
10. Symbolism is using characters, events, settings, or objects to represent more than themselves.
11. Foreshadowing is the giving of information that, at the time given, has no apparent purpose, but becomes important later in the story.  Foreshadowing, at times, can create tension in the mind of the reader, or it can reveal character, or it can aid in the climax.
12. Suspense is an uncertainty or anxiety as to outcome.  It is a state aroused by circumstances of the plot.
13. Emotion is an agitation of mind or disturbance that creates identification and/or continued interest.
14. Crisis is a serious action that upsets the equilibrium of events.
15. Conflict is the clash and subsequent struggle for mastery involving events or characters.
16. Climax is the culmination of action in a work.  It is the maximum disturbance of equilibrium the moment of intense strain and tension from which there is no escape.
17. Anti-climax is a series of events that are less important than the ones preceding them.
18. Denouement is the conclusion or final wrap-up of a story.

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The Tragic Hero

1. Superior person.
2. His tragic flaw makes him human.
3. His noblest effort involves him in guilt and misery.
4. He makes an error in judgment.
5. Suffers a physical defeat but wins a moral victory.

Curriculum Outline - Comprehensive Review

SOPHOMORE ENGLISH CURRICULUM OUTLINE 2012/2013

GRAMMAR:  Chapters 12-19, 21-25, Part 4 (Business Letter)

VOCABULARY:  units I-VI (excluding unit III) definitions, sentence completions, 

word parts, spelling (lists 1-25)

LITERATURE:  novel terms, poetry terms and scansion, elements of drama, 

              parts of a classical oration, literary periods, genres, and styles

A Separate Peace

“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” (508)

“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”  (handout)

“Nature”  (handout)

“Psalm of Life” (258)

“To Helen” (handout)

Of Plymouth Plantation (excerpts) (78)

“Huswifery” (100)

“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” (108)

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (excerpts) (141)

Poor Richard’s Almanac (excerpts) (146)

“Speech to the Virginia Convention” (187)

Letters from an American Farmer (excerpts) (208)

The Scarlet Letter

“The Devil and Tom Walker” (242)

“Thanatopsis” (267)

“The Raven” (326)

Moby Dick, “The Chase” (361)

“Because I Could Not Stop for Death” (420)

“I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died” (422)

“Song of Myself” (canto 1) (436)

“A Noiseless Patient Spider” (444)

“The Outcasts of Poker Flat” (581)

“The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” (569)

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

“To Build a Fire (609)

“An Episode of War” (477)

 “Richard Cory” (669)

“Lucinda Matlock” (669)

 “Mending Wall” (887)

“The Road Not Taken” (handout)

“Chicago” (839)

"From the Dark Tower" (936)

“The Negro Speaks of Rivers” (927)

“The Tropics in New York” (930)

“The Night the Ghost Got In” (898)

“The First Seven Years” (988

The Crucible (1233)

The Old Man and the Sea

Poetry Notes

Poetry Notes