written or spoken language in its ordinary form, without metrical structure.

a tool used by writers to hint at larger themes, ideas, and meaning in a story or piece of writing

the portrayal of fictional or non-fictional events through the performance of written dialog (either prose or poetry).

a story originating in popular culture, typically passed on by word of mouth.

classification of a literary work by its form, content, and style into categories such as poetry, drama, short story, novel, fiction, and non-fiction.

the message of the literature; the underlying meaning of the text.

refers to a body of books, narratives and other texts considered to be the most important and influential of a time-period or place.

time periods when major changes influenced culture, art, politics, and society (Enlightenment, Gothic, Transcendentalism, Naturalism, Regionalism, Romantic, Victorian, Modern, Postmodern, Realism) each of these eras had unique literary characteristics

a story with a fully developed theme but significantly shorter and less elaborate than a novel.

Fort Sumter became a flashpoint because it: