Short Story Test

Front 1

antagonist

Back 1

“any force in a story that is in conflict with the protagonist. An antagonist may be another person, an aspect of the physical or social environment, or a destructive element in the protagonist’s own nature.” [LP]

Front 2

chance

Back 2

“the occurrence of an event that has no apparent cause in antecedent events, or in predisposition of character. In an automobile accident in which a drunk, coming home from a party, crashes into a sober driver from behind, we say that the accident was a chance event in the life of the sober driver but that it was a logical event in the life of the drunk driver.” [LP]

Front 3

climax

Back 3

the high point or turning point in the plot, at which the major conflict is usually resolved

Front 4

coincidence

Back 4

“the chance occurrence of two or more events that share a particular correspondence. If the two drivers in the accident that illustrates ‘chance’ had been brothers and were coming from different places, it would be coincidence.” [LP]

Front 5

conflict

Back 5

“a clash of actions, desires, ideas or goals in the plot of a story. Conflict may exist between the main character and some other person or persons (MAN AGAINST MAN), between the main character and some external force—physical nature, society, or ‘fate’ (MAN AGAINST ENVIRONMENT), or between the main character and some destructive element in his own nature (MAN AGAINST HIMSELF).” [LP]

Front 6

denouement

Back 6

or Resolution (French for “unknotting”); following the climax, “that portion of the plot that reveals the final outcome of its conflict or the solution of its mysteries.” [LP]

Front 7

dilemma

Back 7

“a situation in which a character must choose between two courses of action, both undesirable.” [LP]

Front 8

deus ex machina

Back 8

(Latin, “god from the machine”)- “the resolution of the plot by use of a highly improbable chance or coincidence (so named from the practice of some Greek dramatists of having a god descend from heaven—in the theater by means of a stage machine—to rescue the protagonist from an impossible situation at the last possible minute).” [LP]

Front 9

happy ending

Back 9

“an ending in which events turn out well for a sympathetic protagonist.” [LP]

Front 10

unhappy ending

Back 10

“an ending that turns out unhappily for a sympathetic protagonist.” [LP]

Front 11

indeterminate ending

Back 11

“an ending in which the central problem or conflict is left unresolved.” [LP]

Front 12

surprise ending

Back 12

- “a completely unexpected revelation or turn of plot at the conclusion of the story.” [LP]

Front 13

exposition

Back 13

early in a narrative, the 1) introduction of the major characters; and 2) revelation of the setting

Front 14

falling action

Back 14

all of the action following the climax

Front 15

flashback

Back 15

“interpolated narratives or scenes (often [presented] as a memory, a reverie, or a confession by one of the characters) which represent events that happened before the time at which the work opened.” [MHA]

Front 16

foreshadowing

Back 16

a detail within the narrative about something that will happen later in the story. Foreshadowing may contribute to the development of suspense.

Front 17

hero/heroine

Back 17

outmoded literary terms for “protagonist.” These terms have fallen out of favor with the rise of protagonists who possess no character traits traditionally considered “heroic.”

Front 18

mystery

Back 18

“an unusual set of circumstances for which the reader craves an explanation, used to create suspense.” [LP]

Front 19

plot

Back 19

“in a dramatic or narrative work… the events and actions, as these are rendered and ordered toward achieving particular artistic and emotional effects.” [MHA]

Front 20

plot manipulation

Back 20

“a situation in which an author gives his plot a twist or turn unjustified by preceding action or by the characters involved.” [LP]

Front 21

protagonist

Back 21

“the chief character in a plot, in whom our interest centers.” [MHA]

Front 22

rising action

Back 22

all of the action preceding the climax

Front 23

setting

Back 23

the time and place in which the action occurs

Front 24

subplot

Back 24

a secondary story, complete and interesting in itself, contained within the larger plot

Front 25

surprise

Back 25

“an unexpected turn in the development of the plot.” [LP]

Front 26

suspense

Back 26

“a lack of certainty, on the part of a concerned reader, about what is going to happen, especially to characters with whom the reader has established a bond of sympathy.” [MHA]

Front 27

villain

Back 27

like “hero” and “heroine,” a literary term that has fallen mostly out of use, but may be used if an “antagonist is evil, or capable of cruel and criminal actions.” [MHA]

Front 28

author

Back 28

“authors are individuals who, by their intellectual and imaginative powers, purposefully create from the materials of their experience and reading a literary work which is distinctively their own.” [MHA]

Front 29

narrator

Back 29

the character or voice that conveys the story

Front 30

point of view

Back 30

signifies the way a story gets told—the mode (or modes) established by an author by means of which the reader is presented with the characters, dialogue, actions, setting, and events which constitute the narrative [MHA]

Front 31

omniscient point of view (omniscient narrator)

Back 31

usually in the third person, the narrator knows all and is free to reveal anything, including what the characters are thinking or feeling and why they act as they do

Front 32

limited omniscient point of view (limited omniscient narrator)

Back 32

the narrator, usually in the third person, is limited to a complete knowledge of one character in the story, revealing what that one character experiences, thinks, feels. The limited omniscient narrator generally falls into one of two types, depending on whether he possesses insight into a major or minor character

Front 33

first person point of view (first person narrator)

Back 33

the story is told by one of its characters, in the first person. The first person narrator may be either a major or minor character

Front 34

objective (or dramatic) point of view

Back 34

the third person narrator is limited to revealing the actions and dialogue of the characters, but does not interpret their behavior or reveal their thoughts [LP]

Front 35

narrator

Back 35

the character or voice that conveys the story

Front 36

point of view

Back 36

signifies the way a story gets told—the mode (or modes) established by an author by means of which the reader is presented with the characters, dialogue, actions, setting, and events which constitute the narrative [MHA]

Front 37

character

Back 37

“characters are the persons represented in a dramatic or narrative work, who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with particular moral, intellectual, and emotional qualities by inferences from what the persons say and their distinctive ways of saying it—the dialouge

Front 38

dialogue

Back 38

and from what they do—the action. The grounds in the characters’ temperament, desires, and moral nature for their speech and actions are called their motivation.” [MHA]

Front 39

characterization

Back 39

the process by which the traits of characters are presented

Front 40

direct characterization (telling)

Back 40

The character is revealed by descriptive portrayal or by direct comments made by the narrator. These comments may even refer to the character's thoughts. But the reader has no access to the character's mind. He remains outside; his views are shaped by the knowing narrator.

Front 41

implicit characterization

Back 41

the character is presented in terms of his or her environment, including descriptive details about the character and the words and thoughts of other characters

Front 42

dramatic characterization

Back 42

the character is revealed through his or her own words and actions.

Front 43

introspective characterization

Back 43

the reader possesses access to the character's mind. His ideas and thoughts are revealed directly.

Front 44

dynamic character

Back 44

“a character who during the course of the story undergoes a permanent change in some aspect of his personality or outlook” [LP]

Front 45

flat character

Back 45

a character who is limited to one or two individual traits

Front 46

foil

Back 46

“a minor character in a work who, by sharp contrast, serves to stress and highlight the distinctive temperament of the protagonist ('Foil' originally signified 'leaf,' and came to be applied to the thin sheet of bright metal placed under a jewel to enhance its brilliance.)” [MHA]

Front 47

round character

Back 47

a complex, multifaceted character

Front 48

static character

Back 48

“a character who is the same…at the end of the story as he was at the beginning” [LP]

Front 49

stock character

Back 49

a character who is more type than individual, one whose nature is familiar to the reader from prototypes in previous narratives, e.g. the hooker with the heart of gold; the jocular sidekick to the action hero

Front 50

irony

Back 50

"In most of the modern critical uses of the term ‘irony,’ there remains the root sense of dissembling or hiding what is actually the case; not, however, in order to deceive, but to achieve special rhetorical or artistic effects.” [MHA]

Front 51

verbal irony

Back 51

a figure of speech in which what is said is the opposite of what is meant

Front 52

dramatic irony

Back 52

an incongruity or discrepancy between what a character says or thinks and what the reader knows to be true

Front 53

irony of situation

Back 53

a situation in which there is an incongruity between appearance and reality, or between expectation and fulfillment, or between the actual situation and what would seem appropriate.” [LP]

Front 54

symbol

Back 54

“something concrete that means more than what it is; an object, person, situation, or action that in addition to its literal meaning suggests other meanings as well” [LP]

Front 55

Four cautions for Symbols

Back 55

1. The narrative itself must provide evidence that a detail is to be taken symbolically.
2. The meaning of a literary symbol must be established and supported by the entire context of the story.
3. To be called a symbol, an item must suggest a meaning different in kind from its literal meaning; a symbol is something more than a representative of a class or type.
4. A symbol may have more than one meaning, instead suggesting a cluster of meanings. [LP]

Front 56

theme

Back 56

“sometimes used interchangeably with ‘motif,’ but the term is more usefully applied to a general concept or doctrine, whether implicit or explicit, which an imaginative work is designed to incorporate and make persuasive to the reader” [MHA]; or, the central idea or unifying generalization implied or stated by a literary work.

Front 57

theme statement- Laurence Perrine's principles for stating theme:

Back 57

1. Theme must be expressible in the form of a statement with a subject and a predicate.
2. The theme must be stated as a generalization about life.
3. The generalization must not be larger than is justified by the terms of the story.
4. Theme is the central and unifying concept of a story. Therefore:
a) it must account for all the major details of the story;
b) it must not be contradicted by any detail of the story;
c) it must not rely upon supposed facts, facts not actually stated or clearly implied by the story.
5. There is no one way of stating the theme of a story.
6. Theme statements should avoid reducing the theme to a familiar cliché. [LP]

Front 58

moral

Back 58

a rule of conduct or maxim for living expressed or implied as the "point" of a literary work. Compare “theme.”

Front 59

motif

Back 59

“a conspicuous element, such as a type of incident, device, reference, or formula, which occurs frequently in works of literature” [MHA]