Elements of Fiction

Question 1

It is the element that shapes how the events are told in a sequence or a pattern.

Answer 1

Plot

Question 2

A type of plot wherein events are chronologically sequenced (beginning, middle, end)

Answer 2

Classic plot

Question 3

It is where a plot begins in the middle of the story’s action.

Answer 3

in medias res

Question 4

A plot device when what is happening in the present is explained by recalling an event in the past.

Answer 4

flashback

Question 5

A plot device when a hint is provided about what will happen later in the narrative.

Answer 5

foreshadowing

Question 6

The part of the plot where the initial state of things is being described.

Answer 6

Exposition

Question 7

It is where the plot disturbs the initial state of things.

Answer 7

conflict

Question 8

The plot where events increases the intensity of the disturbance

Answer 8

rising action

Question 9

It is the turning point of the plot, the point of its highest intensity.

Answer 9

climax

Question 10

It refers to the unraveling of the consequences of the major decision made at the turning point of the plot.

Answer 10

Falling action

Question 11

A type of plot that doesn’t follow a typical chronological sequence what ordered events in a fragmentary way.

Answer 11

episodic

Question 12

The time in space or the physical and social context where a story takes place.

Answer 12

setting

Question 13

The mood or general feeling about by the setting.

Answer 13

atmosphere

Question 14

A type of narrator that knows reveals everything including what’s in the mind of the characters.

Answer 14

omniscient

Question 15

A type of narrator that gives his or her comments or opinions, in contrast to an objective narrator who does not.

Answer 15

intrusive

Question 16

A type of narrator who cannot be trusted for some reason.

Answer 16

unreliable

Question 17

The feeling hovering over the story is not only created by the setting, but also the narrator’s attitude towards the characters or story that he or she is telling. The narrator’s attitude sets the _____ of the story.

Answer 17

tone

Question 18

Narrative perspective refers to the “eyepiece” or angle from which readers witness the events as told by the narrator.

Answer 18

Point of view

Question 19

In many stories a godlike, omniscient narrator shows everything, but in stories with narrators of _______ omniscience, the perspective is restricted to one character, or angled to the way that one character sees it.

Answer 19

limited

Question 20

A character’s __________ explains his/her actions or decisions.

Answer 20

motivation

Question 21

It is an object that is literally present and serves a literal purpose in the story but also seems to have a deeper, layered, or figurative meaning.

Answer 21

Symbol

Question 22

An irony that occurs when the opposite of what is expected to happen is what actually happens.

Answer 22

situational

Question 23

An irony is created when the intended meaning is the opposite of what is started.

Answer 23

Verbal

Question 24

An irony that refers to the disjunct between what a character knows, and what you as reader is made to know or understand about the story.

Answer 24

Dramatic

Question 25

The story’s _____ is its critical point, its unique insight about its chosen subject.

Answer 25

Theme