Antagonist: A Review Of Some Literary Terms

LA9 FINAL EXAM REVIEW
Literary Terms
Antagonist: A character, group of characters, or institution that represents the opposition against which the protagonist or protagonists desires or must contend. The antagonist is usually a person or group of people who oppose the main character(s).

Internal Conflict: Conflict that takes place not with another character or object, but inside the mind of one of the characters in the story.

Unreliable Narrator: A narrator in literature, film, or theatre, whose credibility has been seriously compromised. They cannot be trusted based on the opinions that they express as telling the story.

Symbol: A specific object, person, or even an event that stands for something more than what it actually is.
Protagonist: Generally the person who drives the story, the person who takes the step in order to get what they want. The protagonist is also the leading or the main character of the story.

Verbal irony: Verbal irony is the simplest kind of irony. It is when one thing is said, but it actually means something else.

Rising action: A series of related incidents build toward the point of greatest interest. The rising action of a story is the series of events that begin immediately after the exposition and builds up to the climax.

Omniscient: “All-knowing”

Conclusion: Comprises events from the end of the falling action to the actual ending scene of the drama or narrative. Conflicts are resolved, creating normality for the characters, and a sense of catharsis, a release of tension and anxiety for the reader and the characters of the story.

Satire: the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people’s stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical
Yolanda liked the teachers there, especially her grandmotherly fourth grade teacher, Sister Zoe. This teacher told Yolanda that her name was beautiful and insisted that the class be taught how to pronounce it correctly. Yolanda was the only immigrant in the class, and got special tutoring from Sister Zoe to help her learn English. She was seated apart from the other students to practice pronouncing words, such as “Laundromat,” “subway,” and snow.” Yolanda soon learned enough English to learn that the Cuban missile crisis was making everyone very nervous. Yolanda’s school had air-raid drills and she imagined what would happen to their bodies if a nuclear missile hit New York. She learned new words to describe the situation like “radioactive fallout” and “bomb shelter.” Sister Zoe explained how a bomb would explode, and drew pictures on the chalkboard of mushroom clouds and fallout. Yolanda and her family prayed for world peace. Winter came, and the days grew shorter and the weather colder. One day as Yolanda sat at her desk by the window; she saw spots in the air like the ones on the chalkboard. She screamed “Bomb!” and some of the girls began to cry. Sister Zoe just laughed and explained that it was only snow. Yolanda watched the snow that she had heard so much about but never had seen before, as Sister Zoe explained that each flake was unique and