Literature Tutorials

Literary Terms

Forms of Prose Fiction

• 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.

Elements of Prose Fiction

• Narrative Techniques- the presentation of speech; the presentation of thought.
• Point of view- this refers to the method of narrating a short story, novel, narrative poem or work of nonfiction.
• Characterization- the presentation of a character whether by direct description, by showing the character in action, or by the presentation of other characters who halos to define each other.
• Setting- the time and place of a story, play, or poem.
• Theme- the main idea, or message, of an essay, paragraph, movie or book. The message may be about life, society or human nature.
• 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 of certain kinds of sentence structures, characters, settings and themes.

Literary Devices

• Imagery- words and phrases that create vivid, sensory experiences for the reader.
• Symbol- a person, place, object or activity that stands for something beyond itself.
• Irony- the contrast between what is said and what is meant.
• Satire- this is a literary technique in which ideas, customs, behaviours or institutions are reticule for the purpose of improving society.
• Allusion- this refers to a historical or fictional person, place, or event with which the reader is assumed to be familiar.

Structural Devices

• Stream of consciousness- a style of fiction that takes as its subject, the flow of thought, the responses and sensation of one or more character.
• Interior Monologue- this refers to when the character speaks his/her thoughts aloud.
• Flashback- an account of conversation. an episode or event that happened before the beginning of a story.
• Foreshadowing- a writers use of hints or clues that suggest what events will occur later in a narrative.
• Time frame- the time in which a story, play or poem takes place, whether past, present or future.
• 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.

8 Types of Fiction

1. Science fiction
2. Realistic fiction
3. Mystery
4. Animal fiction
5. Autobiography
6. Humorous
7. Fantasy
8. Folktale

Literary Context

• Social- this refers to the circumstances surrounding the story, situation; what happens in society of which the story takes place. 
• Political- this reflects the environment in which something is produced indicating its purpose and agenda.
• Historical- this reflects the time in which something takes place or was created and how that influences how you interpret it.
• Cultural- this consists of the worlds of the texts or the circumstances which surface the plot and characters of the texts.