Second Course
: Literary Terms
NB. For the course of LITERARY TERMS, you are required to prepare the
content of the course by yourselves since we have realized it in the form of a
class presentation. Here is the list of some of the literary terms you are
required to provide for your general acquirement:
Fiction, figurative language (metaphor, personification, simile, irony, symbol),
analogy, fantasy, idiom, imagery, allusion, character, author’s purpose, biography,
autobiography, suspense, symbolism, theme, plot, story, aesthetic. Genre.
Third Course : Literary Genres
The term «Genre » derives from French “genre”, that is kind, sort. It is any form or type of
communication in any mode (written, spoken) with socially- agreed upon conventions
developed over time. Genre is generally known as a category of literature, or other forms of
art based on some set of stylistic criteria, yet genres can be aesthetic, rhetorical,
communicative, or functional. Genre forms by conventions that change over time as cultures
invent new genres and discontinue the use of old ones. Often works fit into multiple genres
by way of borrowing and recombining these conventions. Some literary works show a great
flexibility in using different genres within its texts.
Genres began as an absolute classification set for ancient Greek literature, as set out in
Aristotle’s Poetics. For Aristotle, poetry (epics, odes,etc.) , prose and performance each had
specific design features that supported appropriated content of each genre. For example,
speech patterns for comedy would not be appropriate for tragedy, and even actors were
restricted to their genre under the assumption that a type person could tell one type of story
best. The main literary genres are prose, poetry and drama; each of these is divided into
smaller genres. For example: prose includes fiction such as novels, novellas, short stories and
folktales, and non-fiction such as biography, autobiography, and essays. Poetry includes lyric
poetry, dramatic poetry, and narrative poetry. Drama includes tragedy, comedy, historical
drama, melodrama and farce.
Short Story
1-Definition: A short story is a fictional prose narrative that is shorter than a novel and
that usually deals with only a few characters. The short story is usually concerned with a
single effect conveyed in only one or a few significant episodes or settings. The form
encourages economy of setting, concise narrative, and the omission of a complex plot;
character is disclosed in action and dramatic encounter but is seldom fully developed.
Despite its relatively limited scope, though, a short story is often judged by its ability to
provide a “complete” or satisfying treatment of its characters and theme.
2-History:
Before the 19th century the short story was not generally regarded as a distinct
literary form. But although in this sense it may seem to be a uniquely modern
genre, the fact is that short prose fiction is nearly as old as language itself.
Throughout history, humankind has enjoyed various types of brief narratives:
jests, anecdotes, studied digressions, short allegorical romances, moralizing fairy
tales, short myths, and abbreviated historical legends. None of these constitutes
a short story as the 19th and 20th centuries have defined the term, but they do
make up a large part of the milieu from which the modern short story emerged.
_ Origin: The origins of the short story return back to the oral tradition. That is
to say, the evolution of the short story first began before man could write. To aid
himself in constructing and memorizing tales, the early storyteller often relied on
stock phrases, fixed rhythms, and rhyme. Consequently, many of the oldest
narratives in the world, such as the famous Babylonian tale the Epic of
Gilgamesh (c. 2000 BC), are in verse.
3/ Some short story types:
fable: a short, unadorned prose fiction that teaches a moral lesson. Often
animals are characters.
parable: a short narrative that illustrates a moral, philosophical or spiritual
lesson. A parable may be allegorical.
tale: a short narrative, usually lacking in detail, with unrealistic and sometimes
fantastic characters and events.
story of initiation: a short story depicting a decisive incident that initiates a
character into a higher state of awareness, whether for better or for worse.
The impressionist story: a short story focusing on the impressions registered
by events on the characters’ minds, rather than the objective reality of the
events themselves.
4/ Differences between traditional and modern short stories:
There was a tradition to have the short story like a little mini-novel with lots of
scene-setting at the beginning, traditional rising action and then a flourish at the
end, often with a little pathos or a moral. The story was descriptive; had a plot
and was easy to follow. Nowadays, many short story or flash fiction writers make
their stories unintelligible, like puzzles, with shock endings.
With the entree of Anton Chekhov's short story contributions in the late 1800s, a
departure from what was usually a formulaic beginning-middle-end story
structure came to the foreground. In Chekhov's stories, you now had the
random, unaccountable and absurd, unvarnished by author judgment, or pat
conclusions or climaxes. In this way his stories were life-like and almost painfully
so. Short story writers of the 20th century such as James Joyce and Raymond
Carver up until the present owe a heavy debt to Chekhov for the way he
revolutionized the short story. His could be seen as one of the major early shifts
in modern short stories.
5/ Characteristics of short stories:
Short stories tend to be less complex than novels. Usually, a short story will
focus on only one incident, has a single plot, a single setting, a limited number of
characters, and covers a short period of time.
•Short - Can usually be read in one sitting.
•Concise: Information offered in the story is relevant to the tale being told.
This is unlike a novel, where the story can diverge from the main plot.
•Usually tries to leave behind a single impression or effect.
•Because they are concise, writers depend on the reader bringing personal
experiences and prior knowledge to the story.
6/ Major elements of the short story:
A- Plot: The action that takes place in the story. It is a series of connected
happenings and their result. In order to have a result, we must have an initial
event, or conflict.
Stages of a Plot:
•Introduction of characters
• The situation: Initial conflict
•The generating circumstances, which create a
•Rising action – heightened anticipation for the reader
•Climax - highest point of anticipation - “make or break” for the main character.
•Falling action and Conclusion. These two are also known as a denouement.
B- SETTING: The background against which the incidents of the story take
place. Not merely a place, it includes the place where, the time when, and social
conditions under which the story moves along.
This can include atmosphere , the tone and feeling of a story, i.e. gloomy,
cheery, etc.
In one form or another, setting is essential to the story. Often, the relevance of
the story is lost in another setting.
C- CHARACTERS: There must be living beings in the story that think or act in
order to keep the story going. They must seem like living and feeling individuals
in order for us to feel strongly about them.
FOUR METHODS OF PRESENTING A CHARACTER:
•Actions or thoughts of the character.
•Conversations the character engages in.
•conversations of other characters about a third character.
•Author’s own opinion. This might be overt, or may be implied.
- A character can be:
Flat: a one-dimensional character who has only a few, easily defined traits. Most
minor characters are flat. Not to be confused with a static character.
Round: a multi-faceted character, especially one who is capable of choosing right
or wrong. Usually a protagonist is a round character; in most short stories no
more than one or two characters are round. Not to be confused with a dynamic
character.
Dynamic: a character who changes, especially one who comes to a major
realisation. The realisation may or may not change the character’s actions, but
the character must never be able to see the world in quite the same way. Not
all protagonists are dynamic. Rarely does a short story have more than one or
two dynamic characters.
Static: a character who undergoes no such change.
Stock: a character type used repeatedly, often a stereotype like the mad
scientist of horror stories or the blonde airhead of teen movies. Stock characters
are usually encountered in popular fiction. However, excellent writers have
sometimes used stock characters in original ways.
D- Points of View: Presentation of a Story
•Author Omniscient (all knowing, all seeing). This is a third person point of view.
The omniscient author, writing in third person, sees whatever he wants to see,
inside or outside his character, in privacy or public, and interprets as he chooses.
•Author participant (first person). The author may be the main character, or
could be a secondary character.
•Author as an observer (3rd, person). Involves objective treatment, as though
the story teller had no inner sight into the character’s thinking or behaviour.
•Multiple story tellers (3rd. Person).
E- Theme: The total meaning of the story. The term can be used in different
ways: for the main idea of a work of literature; an idea which a work explores; or
an argument that a work advances. Therefore, a theme can be identified in a
complete sentence, a noun phrase, or a single word: in George Orwell’s Animal
Farm, “the corrupting influence of power,” “power,” or “Power corrupts.”
7/ Short Story Terminology:
Atmosphere – the general mood, feeling or spirit of a story.
Characterization – the way that the author creates characters.
Protagonist – the main character who is faced with a problem.
Antagonist – the person, place, idea or physical force against the protagonist.
Climax – the point of the highest dramatic intensity; the turning point.
External conflict – happens outside the character.
Internal conflict – happens inside the character; (character vs. himself/herself)
Foreshadowing – clues of hints which prepare the reader for future action or
events.
Irony – contrast or contradiction of what is expected and what results.
Verbal irony – occurs when a character or narrator says one thing but means the
opposite.
Dramatic irony – occurs when the reader knows more than the character.
Situational irony – occurs when the contrast between what appears to be and
what actually exists.
Epiphany _ a sudden moment of realization in a story or play, often triggered by
a mundane event. Originally a religious term for a worldly manifestation of God’s
presence.
Plot – action of the story.
Chronological – places events in order of time from first to last.
Flashback – looks back at events that have already occurred.
Point of View – the angle from which the author tells the story.
First Person Narrative – the narrator uses “I” and participates in the action.
Third Person Narrative – the narrator uses “he” and “she” and is an outside
observer.
Omniscient – narrator can see, know and tell all of the characters of a story.
Limited Omniscient – narrator can only see, know and tell all of one character.
Objective – narrator describes the characters statements but doesn’t reveal
thoughts or feelings.
Unreliable narrator - a narrator who misinterprets the story due to prejudice,
madness, etc.
naïve narrator - a narrator who is too innocent to understand the story fully.
Resolution – the outcome of a story.
Setting – the background where the action takes place.
Suspense – anticipation as to the outcome of events.
Symbol – a similar object, action, person, or place or something else that stands
for something abstract.
8/ Some major short story writers:
Edgar Allan Poe, Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, Franz Kafka, Ernest Miller
Hemingway, William Faulkner, Scott Fitzgerald, Stephen King, Raymond Carver,
Mark Twain, James Joyce...