analyzing fiction definitions

Question 1

theme

Answer 1

idea about the world, expressed by a literary text, of general importance to people

Question 2

setting

Answer 2

time and place in which events of a story happen

Question 3

atmosphere/mood

Answer 3

emotional content of a scene or setting, usually described in terms of feeling: sombre, gloomy, joyful, expectant

Question 4

characterization

Answer 4

representation of people in fiction, the characters and the way the writer develops them to represent certain human qualities

Question 5

protagonist

Answer 5

main character of a short story or novel

Question 6

antagonist

Answer 6

character in a work of fiction whose actions oppose those of the main character

Question 7

foil

Answer 7

a character who emphasizes the qualities of another one through implied contrast between the two

Question 8

dynamic

Answer 8

character who changes significantly throughout a story

Question 9

static

Answer 9

character who does not change throughout a story

Question 10

round

Answer 10

character with sufficient complexity to be convincing, true to life

Question 11

flat

Answer 11

character that is stereotyped or shallow, not as complex as a real person

Question 12

plot

Answer 12

a series of casually related events or episodes that occur in a narrative

Question 13

exposition

Answer 13

part of a plot devoted to supplying background info. (sometimes through flashbacks), explaining events that happened before the current action

Question 14

rising action

Answer 14

part of the plot where the development of complications and conflicts leading to the climax

Question 15

climax

Answer 15

point which the action of a plot builds as the conflicts become increasingly intense or complex; the turning point

Question 16

falling action/denouement

Answer 16

part of the story after the climax, in which the consequences of the conflict are revealed; where the conflict is resolved

Question 17

conflict

Answer 17

antagonism between opposing characters of forces that causes tension or suspense in the plot

Question 18

closed ending

Answer 18

a story ending which all important conflicts are resolved and all significant questions are answered

Question 19

open ending

Answer 19

a story ending which some important conflicts are left unsolved or significant questions are not answered

Question 20

flashback

Answer 20

part of a narrative that interrupts the chronological flow by relating events from the past

Question 21

foreshadowing

Answer 21

early clues about what will later happen in a story

Question 22

situational irony

Answer 22

lack of agreement between expectation vs. reality in relation to a specific situation

Question 23

dramatic irony

Answer 23

a difference between what a character knows and what the better-informed reader knows to be true
-audience knows something that the character doesn’t

Question 24

point of view

Answer 24

the angle or perspective from which a story is reported or interpreted

Question 25

1st person

Answer 25

story is told by one of the characters in the story

Question 26

3rd person omniscient

Answer 26

narrator knows everything about the characters and events and can move about in time and place into the minds of all the characters

Question 27

3rd person limited omniscient

Answer 27

story is limited to the observations, thoughts and feelings of a single character (no “I”)

Question 28

reliable

Answer 28

narrator who is sincere and trust worthy

Question 29

unreliable

Answer 29

narrator who presents bias or incorrect info. that may mislead or distort a readers judgements about other characters or actions