Reliable Narrator
a person whose account we can trust
Unreliable Narrator
may be sick, ill-informed, deliberately or innocently misleading, or incapable of understanding what is happening
Narrator
the one who tells the story
Omniscient
allows the author to relate the thoughts and feelings of all the characters in a godlike manner
Limited Omniscient
allows the author to tell the thoughts of only one character
Objective View
the perspective in which the author is recording action from a neutral point of view
Romanticism
an 18th and 19th century literary movement that is frequently characterized by remote settings, emotional intensity, interest in irrationality, hero that rebels, nature interest, emotion/imagination
Intrusive Narrator
an omniscient who frequently breaks into the plot with comments
Foreshadowing
the use of hints or clues in a story to suggest what action is to come
Simile
a comparison between two different things using either “like” or “as”
Foil
a character whose qualities or actions usually serve to emphasize the actions or qualities of the main character, the protagonist, by providing strong contrast
Dialect
a distinctive variety of language spoken by members of an identifiable regional group, nation, or social class
Metaphor
a comparison of two things that are basically dissimilar but are brought together in order to create a sharp image
Local Color
details and descriptions common to a certain place
Sarcasm
the use of harsh words to deride someone; the only apparent by the way something is said rather than the words that are used
Personification
a figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human characteristics
Byronic Hero
a self-tormented outcast who is cynical and contemptuous of societal norms and is suffering from some unnamed or mysterious sin
Frame Story
a story in which another story is enclosed or embedded or one which contains several such tales
Willing Suspicion of Disbelief
a term coined by Coleridge; the deliberate putting aside of the audience’s or reader’s critical beliefs in order to accept the unreal world the author creates
Pun
an expression that achieves emphasis or humor by utilizing two distinct meanings for the same word or two similar sounding words
Bildungsroman
signifies a novel of formation or a novel of education; development of the protagonist’s mind and character in the passage from childhood through varied experiencese into maturity
