Glossary of literary terms

THE PLOT is a series of interlinked events in which the characters of the story participate/ One should bear in mind that the events in a plot need not always involve physical movement, the movement may be psychological. In the latter case the plot reveals the dynamics m the psychological state of a character. The plot of any story always involves character and conflict. They imply each other.

CONFLICT in fiction is the opposition or straggle between forces or.characters. Conflicts are classified into internal and external. Different types of external conflicts are usually termed in the following way:

1) Man against man, when the plot is based on the opposition between two or more people.

2) Man against nature (the sea, the desert, the frozen North or wild beasts).

3) Man against society or man against the established order in the society.

4) The conflict between one set of values against another set of values. These sets of values may be supported by two groups or two worlds in opposition.

Internal conflicts, often termed as " man against himself, take place within one character. The internal conflict is localized in the inner world of the character and is rendered through his thoughts, feelings, intellectual processes. The character is torn between opposing features of his personality.

The plot of a story may be based upon several conflicts of different types, it may involve both an internal and an external conflict.

Components of the plot structure are: Exposition Complications Climax Denouement.

In the exposition the author introduces the theme (i. e. what the story is about), the characters and establishes the setting (i.e. the place and the time of the action). The exposition supplies some information on either all or some of the following questions Who? What? Where? When?

Exposition is followed by the computations, which generally involve actions, though they might involve thoughts and feelings as well. As a rule this structural component consists of several events (or moments of complications). They become tenser as the plot moves towards the moment of the decision- the climax,

The climax is the key event, the crucial moment of the story, the point of the highest emotional tension.

The last structural component, the denouement, is the unwinding of the actions, the events which follow the climax. It is the point at which the fate of the mam character is clarified.

A story may have no denouement. By leaving it out the author achieves a certain effect-he invites the reader to reflect on all the circumstances that accompanied the character of the story and to imagine the outcome of all the events himself.

In every literary work the writer's feelings and emotions are reflected in the tone, attitude and atmosphere.

ATMOSPHERE is the general mood of a literary work. It is affected by such strands of a literary work as the plot, setting, characters, details, symbols and language-means Thus in " The Oval Portrait" E.A. Рое sets the story in a remote turret of an abandoned castle. The main event takes place at midnight. The oval portrait is in a niche and " in deep shade". Ail these details, the language and the fantastic history of the portrait create the mysterious atmosphere (or mood) of the tale.

The atmosphere may be peaceful, calm, cheerful, cheerless, gloomy, etc

THE AUTHOR'S ATTITUDE is his view of the characters and actions. It reflects his judgment of them. Attitudes may be agreeable, optimistic, involved, detached, impassive, indifferent, critical, contemptuous, ironical, cynical, etc.

The attitude of the author to his subject matter determines the tone of the story.

THE TONE is the light in which the characters and the events are depicted. The tone is, therefore, closely related to atmosphere and altitude.

The tone may be sympathetic or impassive, cheerful от serious, vigorous or matter-of-fact, humorous or melancholy, familiar or official. There are scales in the variations of tone. Thus the tone may be casual, impolite, defiant, offensive, sarcastic, ironical, sneering or bitter.

THE THEME of a story is the main area of interest treated in the story. Various themes may be treated by (he writers: love, family relations, school life, an anti-war theme, human relations in various layers of society, the power of beauty, etc.

THE MESSAGE of the story is the most important idea that the author expresses in the process of developing the theme. The message is closely connected with the theme and is generally expressed implicitly, i.e. indirectly, and has a complex analytical character.