literary terms / short story terminology

Question 1

A fictional prose tale of no specific length, but too short to be published as a volume of its own.

Answer 1

Short Story

Question 2

The storyline or organization of incidents in a story

Answer 2

Plot

Question 3

an introduction to the characters and setting of the plot

Answer 3

exposition

Question 4

the development of complications that create conflict

Answer 4

rising action

Question 5

the highest point of intensity in the story

Answer 5

climax

Question 6

events that lead to a conflict’s resolution

Answer 6

falling action

Question 7

the point at which the conflict is resolved and the story is brought to a natural or surprising end

Answer 7

resolution / denouement

Question 8

a brief and indirect reference to a person, place, thing or idea of historical, cultural, literary or political significance

Answer 8

allusion

Question 9

an imagined person who inhabits a story

Answer 9

character

Question 10

the main character in the story

Answer 10

protagonist

Question 11

the character or force that opposes the main character

Answer 11

antagonist

Question 12

has only one or two sides to their personalities

Answer 12

flat character

Question 13

has many sides to their personalities

Answer 13

round character

Question 14

experience no major change in the story

Answer 14

static character

Question 15

change, grow or learn something by the end of the story

Answer 15

dynamic character

Question 16

the ways in which an author reveals the traits of characters

Answer 16

characterization

Question 17

is a method wherein the author tells the readers about a character

Answer 17

direct characterization

Question 18

requires the reader to infer facts about character traits

Answer 18

indirect characterization

Question 19

the struggle between opposing characters or forces

Answer 19

conflict

Question 20

conversation between two or more characters

Answer 20

dialogue

Question 21

the interruption of the story’ continuity to portray an incident or episode that occurred earlier

Answer 21

flashback

Question 22

a device which gives hints of what is to happen later in the story

Answer 22

foreshadow

Question 23

a recognizable and established category of written work

Answer 23

genre

Question 24

words or phrases that appeal to the senses and conjure up mental pictures

Answer 24

imagery

Question 25

a contradictory statement or situation; a paradox between what happens and what might be expected to happen

Answer 25

irony

Question 26

when a character says one thing but means the opposite

Answer 26

verbal irony

Question 27

when what happens in a story is the opposite of what is expected to happen

Answer 27

situational irony

Question 28

when the reader has information that one or more of the characters does not have

Answer 28

dramatic irony

Question 29

writing the brings to life a specific geographical region

Answer 29

local colors

Question 30

the feeling or atmosphere created in a reader by a literary work

Answer 30

mood

Question 31

a basic recurring theme or idea

Answer 31

motif

Question 32

the voice telling the story; narration fills in details between description and dialogue

Answer 32

narrator

Question 33

the narrator’s position with respect to the characters and the reader

Answer 33

point of view

Question 34

one of the story’s characters narrates using the pronoun I

Answer 34

first person

Question 35

this POV places the reader in a story using the pronoun you

Answer 35

second person

Question 36

the narrator is outside of the story, and sees events through the eyes of only one character

Answer 36

third person limited

Question 37

the narrator is not one of the characters in the story, but rather narrates as though looking in on the story from an all knowing, all seeing perspective

Answer 37

omniscient third person

Question 38

attribution of human feelings and response to inanimate things such as nature

Answer 38

pathetic fallacy

Question 39

a quality that evokes pity of sadness

Answer 39

pathos

Question 40

the story is convincing on its own terms and is true to itself; it does not have to be realistic

Answer 40

plausibility

Question 41

the time and place of a story

Answer 41

setting

Question 42

anxious uncertainty or expectation

Answer 42

suspense

Question 43

something that exists in its own right and yet stands for something else

Answer 43

symbol

Question 44

the central idea of a story, usually implied rather than stated; indirectly expressed insights

Answer 44

theme

Question 45

the attitude an author takes his/her subject, character or reader

Answer 45

tone