Terms

Front 1

what happens in a story

Back 1

plot

Front 2

tells background info and sets up plot events

Back 2

exposition

Front 3

main problem/troubling event that sets the action going

Back 3

crisis

Front 4

series of events leading to the climax

Back 4

rising action

Front 5

The point where the action and/or tension is at its height

Back 5

climax

Front 6

The beginning of the end of the story, crisis resolved, character conflict dealt with

Back 6

falling action

Front 7

French for unknotting means loose ends of the plot tied up, either after the climax, or more commonly, in the very final scenes of the story

Back 7

denouement

Front 8

The main characters in the story

Back 8

protagonist

Front 9

The characters or forces arrayed against the protagonists

Back 9

antagonist

Front 10

The place and time in which a story occurs

Back 10

Setting

Front 11

hints given in the plot as to its outcome

Back 11

foreshadowing

Front 12

also called atmosphere or ambience, the feeling presented in the story through the way the author describes scenes or plot events

Back 12

mood

Front 13

authors attitudes and/or biases that come through in the story weather in character descriptions, or in their dialogue

Back 13

tone

Front 14

message the author is trying to get through the story, also, a term that indicates whether or not the actions of the characters are good or just, from a societal perspective

Back 14

moral

Front 15

A choice that I character must make between two unpleasant outcomes in response to a plot challenge. Often hard choices that involve moral or ethical issues

Back 15

dilemma

Front 16

when an important person place or thing in the story represents both itself and something else – the secondary representation is generally figurative

Back 16

symbolism

Front 17

A feeling of tension that builds throughout the plot usually links to what will happen at the climax

Back 17

suspense

Front 18

A secondary plot or story moment in between the events in the main plot

Back 18

subplot

Front 19

A particular incident or event within the main plot of the story

Back 19

episode

Front 20

and ending in which the reader cannot be certain of the outcome

Back 20

indeterminate ending

Front 21

and ending which does not naturally follow on from the main points in the plot. Most effective when shadowed into its revealed form to mean something completely different from readers expectations

Back 21

Surprise ending

Front 22

and effect which works against the climax, often asked to bring a lofty tone down to earth

Back 22

anti-climax

Front 23

A challenge or hurdle placed in the way of the protagonist

Back 23

complication

Front 24

A term for a characters sudden realization about something. think lightbulb moment – a thought or idea that occurs to a character that changes his or her outlet

Back 24

Epiphany

Front 25

General term for negative interactions between characters

Back 25

conflict

Front 26

internal struggle inside of the characters mind or self -person versus self

Back 26

internal conflicts

Front 27

conflicts between two or more characters

Back 27

person versus person external conflict

Front 28

conflicts between a person and the situation – nature, society, group, etc.

Back 28

person versus environment external conflict

Front 29

character with clichéd or familiar traits with which appear often in escapist type literature

Back 29

stereotype/stock

Front 30

A character who is not based on a stereotypical cliché but on the real life

Back 30

realistic

Front 31

A secondary character whose traits or actions contrast with those of the main character in order to draw attention to them

Back 31

foil

Front 32

The combination of circumstance and personality that makes a character do what they do

Back 32

motivation

Front 33

how the author tells the reader about a character

Back 33

presentation

Front 34

The author actually tells the reader about a characters traits, motivations, etc.

Back 34

Direct presentation

Front 35

The author has other characters tell the reader about another particular character, or shows us to the characters action

Back 35

indirect presentation

Front 36

The viewpoint from which a story is told

Back 36

Point of view

Front 37

I – Solely the point of view of the narrator; reader only knows as much is the narrator

Back 37

first person point of view

Front 38

God mode – narrator knows characters thoughts and feelings

Back 38

third person omniscient

Front 39

narrator knows thoughts and feelings of one character but not necessarily others

Back 39

third person limited omniscient

Front 40

Fly on the wall – narrator is completely outside the action and simply read acts as he sees it happen

Back 40

Objective/dramatic

Front 41

The central idea or thesis of the story, can be stated directly by the author, or indirectly through the outcome of the plot

Back 41

theme

Front 42

A representation of abstract ideas or principles that can serve as an extended metaphor for a particular historical or political event

Back 42

allegory

Front 43

The repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words

Back 43

alliteration

Front 44

A reference to another well-known work of literature

Back 44

allusion

Front 45

form of poetry address to a person absent or diseased, or to some inanimate object or entity

Back 45

apostrophe

Front 46

repetition of vowel sounds within words

Back 46

Assonance

Front 47

traditional short narrative first for me, originally sung, tells a story

Back 47

ballad

Front 48

A quatrain consisting of alternating four and then three stress lines

Back 48

ballad stanza

Front 49

poetry written in and unrhymed iambic penta meter - five beats per line, Shakespeare type verse

Back 49

blank verse

Front 50

Close repetition of consonant sounds before and after different vowels

Back 50

consonance

Front 51

to ridicule a specific type of literature by making it less important than it is

Back 51

parody

Front 52

deals with the rural or country life

Back 52

Pastoral

Front 53

first person narrator of a poem, often authors voice

Back 53

persona

Front 54

sense of movement given by pattern of stressed and unstressed syllable's

Back 54

rhythm

Front 55

A six line stanza

Back 55

sestetA three line stanza a three line stanza

Front 56

three line stanza

Back 56

tercet

Front 57

A formal laminate over the death of a particular person

Back 57

elegy

Front 58

and extended narrative poem, often exalted or heroic in theme

Back 58

epic

Front 59

A short witty statement or poem

Back 59

epigram

Front 60

The use of a replacement, usually more delicate, term to describe something in a more roundabout way

Back 60

euphemism

Front 61

A group of syllables that form one unit of meter

Back 61

foot

Front 62

poetry that has no regular meter or line length

Back 62

free verse

Front 63

short poem, express thoughts/feelings of single speaker

Back 63

lyric

Front 64

A six line stanza

Back 64

sestet

Front 65

appears to contradict itself, is true in the end

Back 65

paradox

Front 66

A.k.a. meosis, deliberate downplaying of something to make it seem less than it is

Back 66

understatement

Front 67

line of words in metered patterns – single line of poetry

Back 67

verse