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Short story terms

Terms in this set (43)

Climax
Highest or most intense point of the story; often, reader has an idea of how story will end after this point
Falling Action
The falling action follows the climax and shows the results of the important decision or action that happened at the climax.
Rising action
The stage of a plot in which tension/suspense builds; leads to the climax of the action
Exposition
Introduces background information about events, settings, characters, etc. to the audience or readers
Resolution
Falling action leads to the resolution, or the end of the story.
Plot
The sequence of events in a story is called the plot. A plot focuses on a central conflict or problem faced by the main character.
Setting
The time and place of the action of a piece of literature.
Point of view/ Perspective
The method of narration used in the piece of literature.
1st person perspective
Story is narrated by a character in the story.
3rd person perspective
Narrative voice is outside the action; not one of the characters
3rd person limited
Narrator tells what only one character thinks, feels, and observes
3rd person OMNISCIENT
All-knowing; the narrator sees into the minds of all the characters
Flashback
An account of something that happened before the beginning of a story.
Characterization
The way an author reveals a character
Direct Characterization
Author TELLS the reader what a character is like
Indirect Characterization
Author reveals information about a character through character's actions, thoughts, and speech as well as how he/she interacts with others
Dynamic Character
Character who undergoes an important inner change
static character
Character who undergoes little or no inner change; a character who does not grow or develop
Round Character
A character who faces a conflict and is changed by it.
Flat Character
A character who has little emotional depth and isn't changed much, if any, throughout the work
Protagonist
Character who is involved in the central conflict of the story
Antagonist
Character or force that is in opposition to a protagonist.
Conflict
A struggle between two opposing forces
External Conflict
Involves a character pitted against an outside force, such as nature, a physical obstacle, or another character
(man vs. man; man vs. nature; man vs. society; man vs. technology)
Internal Conflict
A conflict that occurs within a character
(man vs. self)
Suspense
A state or feeling of anxiety or anxious uncertainty about what may happen next
Theme
An underlying message about life or human nature that a writer wants the reader to understand.
Literary Devices
Climax, metaphor, repetition, simile, tone, etc.
Irony
The use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning
Verbal Irony
Saying one thing and meaning something else
Situational Irony
Contrast between what the reader / character expects and what actually exists or happens.
Dramatic Irony
The reader / viewer / audience knows something that a character does not know.
Foreshadowing
A writer's use of hints or clues to suggest events that will occur later in a story.
Mood
The feeling or atmosphere that a writer creates for the reader.
Symbol
An object that stands for something beyond itself.
Allusion
Indirect reference to a famous place, person, event or other work
Figurative language
Based on or making use of figures of speech/figurative language; metaphorical; not literal
Simile
A comparison of two unlike things using "like" or "as"
Metaphor
A direct comparison of two unlike things; does not use "like" or "as"
Alliteration
Repetition of a particular sound in the first syllables of a series of words or phrases
Onomatopoeia
A word that makes a sound: buzz, hiss, plop, whoosh
Personification
Giving human traits to a non-human object
Hyperbole
An exaggeration so dramatic that no one would believe the statement is true
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