Literary Analysis Flashcards

What is the primary difference between first-person and third-person omniscient narration?

Answer: Third-person omniscient narrators can access multiple characters' thoughts; first-person is limited to one perspective

An omniscient narrator has access to any character's inner thoughts and feelings, while first-person narration is confined to the narrator's own experience.

When a narrator's account is contradicted by other evidence within the story, that narrator is called:

Answer: Unreliable

An unreliable narrator provides a skewed or contradictory account, requiring readers to look beyond stated facts for the truth.

What is the 'denouement' of a narrative?

Answer: The resolution and untangling of the plot after the climax

The denouement follows the climax and resolves the story's conflicts, moving the narrative toward a conclusion.

A 'foil' character in literature is primarily used to:

Answer: Highlight a protagonist's traits by contrast

A foil contrasts with the protagonist in personality or values, making the protagonist's defining qualities more vivid.

Which of the following best describes 'stream of consciousness' as a narrative technique?

Answer: A technique depicting a character's continuous, unfiltered flow of thoughts

Stream of consciousness records the associative, unfiltered flow of a character's inner thoughts, as pioneered by Virginia Woolf and James Joyce.

What is the purpose of foreshadowing in a narrative?

Answer: To hint at events that will occur later in the story

Foreshadowing plants early clues that anticipate later plot developments, building suspense and structural unity.

A 'frame narrative' is best defined as:

Answer: An outer story that contains and introduces an inner story

A frame narrative uses an outer story to introduce one or more inner stories, as seen in The Canterbury Tales and One Thousand and One Nights.