Elements of Literature - Short Stories Flashcards
What is plot?
A series of related events that make up the storyline of a narrative
What are the 5 stages of plot?
- Introduction
- Rising Action
- Climax
- Falling Action
- Denouement (conclusion/resolution)
What is the introduction? (3)
start of the story that describes the background info of the characters and the setting
usually found in the 1st or 2nd paragraph of the story
1.b) Inciting Incident: beginning of rising action; where the story really starts
What is the rising action? (3)
Part where complications or problems happen (usually one incident that starts them all)
Complications tend to come in series, each event linked to what happened before and what happened after
Reader excitement builds throughout as plot thickens with complications
What is the climax? (3)
The part with a turning point or emotional high
Seems the story is heading in one direction but one event (climax) changes the story and takes it in a completely different direction
Usually the most exciting moment found in the middle of the story
What is the falling action? (3)
Part that starts wrapping up loose ends
Conflicts not yet resolved but on their way to it
Characters seem to be working out their problems and an end is in sight
What is denouement? (2)
This is the end usually found in the last couple of paragraphs
A good resolution solves the conflict but (especially in modern fiction) it doesn’t necessarily solve everything in the characters’ lives
What is setting?
Setting of the story consists of the details about the time in which it occurs and the place where it happens
What is setting, in relation with time?
Includes many aspects of time
Specific time (what day, year, hour, minutes, holiday season, time of day, etc)
Universal time (the story and its conflicts could happen in any year and at any time)
Basically all details about when the story takes place
What is setting, in relation to place?
Can have many settings
Can take place in a park, a friends house, school, at home and all places mentioned and visited in the story
What is atmosphere? (3)
The feeling created by the setting
Not mood, it is strictly the feeling in the air that the author creates, not about how you feel
Atmosphere is created by mood (if author wants to create a mood of happy, she uses sensory detail to create the atmosphere to convey the mood)
What is conflict?
A struggle or problem that a character experiences in a short story
Causes complications in the rising action of a story
What are the different types of conflict? (5)
Person vs person (physical or psychological problem with another character)
Person vs self (character is struggling with an issue in their head; internal)
Person vs nature (battling something in nature; could be an animal, a tree, a storm, etc)
Person vs group (physical or psychological problem with a group)
Person vs technology (character is struggling with some element of modern technology (something man made))
What is a theme?
Some idea or insight about human life and human nature that gives meaning to the story
Often the main idea, the moral of the story, the message the author wants to tell us
What is the difference between a theme and a thematic statement?
Theme is usually one word
Theme statement is a sentence that takes a stance on that one word
What are characters?
The story’s actors, the people that experience the conflicts
What are the 2 ways to reveal character?
Direct characterization: the author tells us outright what a character is like
Indirect characterization: the author hints at what the character is like; reader needs to observe the words and actions of the character to deduce what the character is like
What are 5 indirect ways writers can reveal character?
- By appearance
- By actions
- By speech (dialogue)
- By private thoughts (interior monologue)
- By the responses of other characters
What are the types of characters? (4)
Flat character: like a paper doll with only one surface; we see only one side to their personality and they have only one or two key personality traits
Round character: complex, has many sides to their personality
Static character: personality that does not change much throughout the story; same person at the beginning as they are at the end
Dynamic character: a character that changes as the storyline progresses; personality that has changed from beginning to end
Characters can be different types - there can be a static round character, a flat static character, a round dynamic character etc
What is the point of view?
The vantage point or perspective from which a writer tells a story
What are the kinds of POV? (4)
1st person: the main character is telling the story from their perspective
2nd person: the narrator tells the story to another character, “you”
3rd person: a character in the story is telling the story but we do not get inside their head
Omniscient: a godlike observer who knows everything that is going on in the story and who can see into each other’s heart and mind; an outsider that is not a character in the story
