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Allegory
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Where every aspect of a story is representative, usually symbolic of something else.
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Alliteration
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The repetition of consonant sounds within close proximity usually in consecutive words within the same sentence or line. Ex: The tall timber was on top.
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Antagonist
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Counterpart to the main character and source of a story's main conflict. The person may not be "bad or "evil" but he/she opposes the protagonist in a significant way.
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Anthropomorphism
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Where animals or inanimate objects are portrayed in a story as people, such as by walking, talking, or being given arms, legs, facial features, human locomotion or other anthropoid form (mistakenly called personification)
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Blank verse
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Non-rhyming poetry, usually written in iambic pentameter
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Iambic pentameter
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A poetic meter wherein each line contains ten syllables, as five repetitions of a two-syllable patten in which the pronunciation emphasis is on the second syllable.
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Character
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The people who inhabit and take part in a story. When discussing character, as distint from characterization, look to the essential function of the character or of all the characters as a group, in the story as a whole.
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Characterization
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The author's means of conveying to the reader a character's personality, life history, values physical attributes, etc. Also refers directly to a description therof.
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Climax
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The turning point in a story, at which the end result becomes inevitable, usually where something suddenly goes terribly wrong; the "dramatic high point" of a story
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Conflict
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A struggle between opposing forces which is the driving force of a story. The outcome of any story provides a resolution of the conflict; this is what keeps the reader reading.
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Context
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Conditions, including facts, social/historical background, time and place, etc. surrounding a given situation.
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Creative license
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Exaggeration or alteration of objective facts or reality, for the purpose of enhancing meaning in a fictional context.
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Dialogue
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Where characters speak to one another; may often be used to substitute for exposition
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Exposition
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Where an author interrupts a story in order to explain something, usually to provide important background information
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Dramatic irony
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Where the audience or reader is aware of something important, of which the characters in the story are not aware.
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