Literary Terms

Round Character – multi-dimensional character who – changes in some way during – or because of - the plot events; reader has information about character’s background, previous experiences, thinking process, and can make educated guesses about what that character will do in most situations – aka – “Dynamic Character” 

Flat Character – one-dimensional character who often serves a particular role in a story – sometimes this character represents a stereotype (typical librarian, nosey neighbor, typical racist, greedy person, typical bad guy, typical fool, etc.) This character stays the same (doesn’t grow or mature) throughout the book and his/her actions are very predictable. Aka “Static Character” 

Protagonist – usually a “good guy/girl” often the hero of the story – a round character who is central to the plot, conflict and resolution – there is often more than one protagonist, but there is always a main one

Antagonist – usually a “bad guy/girl” – often a round character, but usually more predictable than the protagonist – also central to plot, conflict and resolution - serves the role of providing a challenge or temptation to the protagonist