Short Story Terms

Front 1

a brief work of fiction where, usually, the main character faces a conflict that is worked out in the plot of the story.

Back 1

short story

Front 2

a person in a story, poem or play.

Back 2

character

Front 3

fully developed, has many different character traits.

Back 3

round

Front 4

stereotyped, one-dimensional, few traits.

Back 4

flat

Front 5

does not change.

Back 5

static

Front 6

changes as a result of the story's events.

Back 6

dynamic

Front 7

how the author develops the characters, especially the main character.

Back 7

characterization

Front 8

the author directly states what the character's personality is like.

Back 8

direct characterization

Front 9

showing a character's personality through his/her actions, thoughts, feelings, words, appearance or other character's observations or reactions.

Back 9

indirect characterization

Front 10

main character of the story that changes.

Back 10

protagonist

Front 11

a major character who opposes the protagonist.

Back 11

antagonist

Front 12

a struggle between two opposing forces.

Back 12

conflict

Front 13

series of related events that make up a story.

Back 13

plot

Front 14

section that introduces characters, the setting, and conflict.

Back 14

exposition

Front 15

the time and place of the story's action.

Back 15

setting

Front 16

the turning point in a story: the high point of interest and suspense.

Back 16

climax

Front 17

all events following the climax or turning point in the story.

Back 17

falling action

Front 18

the end of the central conflict.

Back 18

resolution

Front 19

vantage point from which the writer tells the story.

Back 19

point of view

Front 20

the central message or insight into life revealed through a literary work.

Back 20

theme

Front 21

the present scene in the story is interrupted to flash backward and tell what happened in an earlier time.

Back 21

flashback

Front 22

clues the writer puts in the story to give the reader a hint of what is to come.

Back 22

foreshadowing

Front 23

an object, person, or event that functions as itself, but also stands for something more than itself.

Back 23

symbol

Front 24

involves some imaginative comparison between to unlike things.

Back 24

figurative language

Front 25

comparing two unlike things using like or as.

Back 25

simile

Front 26

comparing two unlike things not using like or as.

Back 26

metaphor

Front 27

giving human qualities to non-human things.

Back 27

personification

Front 28

a contrast between expectation and reality.

Back 28

irony

Front 29

saying one thing but meaning something completely different.

Back 29

verbal irony

Front 30

a contradiction between what we expect to happen and what really does happen.

Back 30

situational irony

Front 31

occurs when the reader knows something important that the characters in the story do not know.

Back 31

dramatic irony

Front 32

reference to a statement, person, a place, or events from literature, history, religion, mythology, politics, or sports.

Back 32

allusion

Front 33

uncertainty or anxiety the reader feels about what is going to happen next in a story.

Back 33

suspense

Front 34

language that appeals to the senses.

Back 34

imagery