argumentative terms: writing about literature

sources and abbreviations:
Silvan Barnet, A Short Guide to Writing about Literature (SG);
Laurence Perrine, Thomas Arp, eds.,
"A Glossary of Fictional Terms", Story and Structure (SS)

anagnorisis (recognition).   When a character perceives what has happened (SG 157).

antagonist.   Any force that is in conflict with the protagonist. An antagonist may be another person, an aspect of the physical or social environment, or a destructive element in the protagonist's own nature (SS 554).

antecedent action.   What has happened in the past (SG 166).

aside.   A character speaks in the presence of others but is understood not to be heard by them (SG 175).

characterization.   What the characters do and say, by what other characters say about them, and by the setting in which they move (SG 179).

climax.   The turning point or high point in a plot (SS 555, SG 165).

conflict.   A clash of actions desires, ideas, or goals in the plot of a story. This may include "man against man", "man against environment" or "man against himself" (SS 555, SG 166).

convention.   The tacit and sometimes unconscious agreement between artist and audience that allows objects and actions to become what they are not in reality (SG 174).

crisis (or crises).   Moments or events which cause tension that lead to the play's climax (SG 165).

denouement (unknotting).   The slackening of tension after the climax at the end of the play or that portion of a plot that reveals the final outcome of its conflicts or the solution of its mysteries (SS 555, SG 165).

dilemma.   A situation in which a character must choose between two courses of action, both undesirable (SS 555).

exposition.   The part of the play which tells the audience what it has to know about the past or antecedent action (SG 166).

falling action.   That segment of the plot which comes between the climax and conclusion (SS 556).

hamartia (tragic flaw or tragic error).   The character trait or action which causes the tragic hero to come to grief (SG 157-158).

irony.   (dramatic, SG 155-157)
ironic deeds or situations. Actions that have some consequence more or less the reverse of what the doer intends.
ironic speech. The speaker's words mean one thing to him but something more significant to an audience.
sophoclean irony. Pervasive use of ironic deeds and speeches.

peripeteia (reversal).   When a deed or action backfires or has a reverse effect. (see also Ironic deeds or situations, SG 157).

plot.   The sequence or incidents or events of which a story is composed (SG 164-169, SS 557)

prologue.   A device to introduce the antecedent actions and characters in a play (SG 166-167).

protagonist.   The central character in a story (SS 557).

rising action.   The development of plot in a story that precedes and leads up to the climax (SS 557, SG 165).

setting.   The context in time and place in which a story takes place (SS 557, SG 176-178).

soliloquy.   A solitary character speaks his thoughts aloud (SG 175)

symbol (literary).   Something that means more than what it is; an object, person, situation, or action that in addition to its literal meaning suggests other meanings as well (SS 558).

theme.   The central idea or unifying generalization implied or stated by a literary work (SS 558).