Glossary Structural Devices

Question 1

Story arc

Answer 1

Has a beginning, a middle, and an end, usually with a crisis point that is resolved in the end

Question 2

Exposition

Answer 2

Setting the scene

Question 3

Rising action

Answer 3

Plot/Characters start to develop

Question 4

Climax

Answer 4

The main event of the story

Question 5

Falling action

Answer 5

All loose ends are tied

Question 6

Resolution

Answer 6

The end

Question 7

In Media Res

Answer 7

A narrative work beginning in media res opens in the midst of the plot

Question 8

Anaphora

Answer 8

A rhetorical device that features e repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive statements,phrases, or clauses

Question 9

Motif

Answer 9

A dominant or recurring idea in an artistic work

Question 10

Flash-Back

Answer 10

The main narrative takes place in one time, but there are episodes from the past

Question 11

Flash-Forward

Answer 11

Flash forward to a scene that temporarily takes the narrative in time from the current point

Question 12

Foreshadowing

Answer 12

Warning or indication of (a future event)

Question 13

Repetition

Answer 13

Action of repeating something that has already been said or written

Question 14

Juxtaposition/Antithesis/Contrast

Answer 14

Fact of two things being seen or placed close together with contrasting effect

Question 15

Narrative perspective

Answer 15

Narrative POV is the perspective of the narrator. First person and third person narrative point of view. First, narrator tells story; third narrator is separate but sticks close to main character’s experience and actions

Question 16

Time

Answer 16

Narrative time is a phrase that is sometimes used to describe the relationship between Story Time and Discourse Time

Question 17

Pace

Answer 17

Pace, or pacing is the speed at which a story is told - not necessarily the speed at which the story takes place. Determined by length of scenes, how fast action moves, and bow quickly the reader is provided with information.

Question 18

Narrative focus

Answer 18

The focal point of the paragraph

Question 19

Zooming in/Zooming out

Answer 19

Transition between “close-up” (cinematography) or “zoomed-in” writing with a. Cinematic “long shot” or “distance shot”

Question 20

Dual narrative

Answer 20

Gives two sides of a story alternating between viewpoints

Question 21

Tri-colon

Answer 21

Trickling is a rhetorical term for series of three parallel words, phrases, or clauses

Question 22

Simple sentence (effect)

Answer 22

Used to create dramatic effect such as tension. Might suggest fear and fast-paced action or thoughts

Question 23

Long complex sentences (effect

Answer 23

Can be used to add lots of descriptive detail; or for a character it can be like a stream of thoughts in which they reveal their thoughts

Question 24

Short paragraphs

Answer 24

Impact and to draw attention away from reader

Question 25

Semantic field

Answer 25

A group of words in an text that share the same meaning

Question 26

Listing

Answer 26

Where the writer has ordered a group of things in a long list