Short Fiction

Question 1

Plot

Answer 1

Author’s selection and arrangement of the series of events/actions in a story

Question 2

Conflict

Answer 2

A struggle between opposing forces

Question 3

Exposition

Answer 3

sets the scene with background information about the who, what, when, and where needed to understand what comes next (context).

Question 4

Rising Action

Answer 4

more conflicts, usually increasing in significance and severity

Question 5

Characterization

Answer 5

The process by which an author makes a fictional character seem real to the reader.

Question 6

Dialog

Answer 6

What a character says to other characters in the story

Question 7

Dialog

Answer 7

What a character says to other characters in the story

Question 8

Crisis

Answer 8

Point of no return - any chance to avoid the climax is now off the table

Question 9

Climax

Answer 9

Moment of greatest and most significant conflict/tension

Question 10

Falling Action

Answer 10

The ‘fall out’ or consequences of the climax and everything that led to it are now being sifted thought by the characters who remain

Question 11

Resolution

Answer 11

any remaining “loose ends” are tied up, any lingering questions are answered, and maybe the characters (and readers by extension) learn something

Question 12

In Medias Res

Answer 12

Latin for starting a story not at the beginning but “in the midst of things” and then filling in the blanks usually provided by Exposition as the story progresses.

Question 13

Flashback

Answer 13

a scene from the fictional past is inserted into the fictional present to dramatize the story out of chronological order.

Question 14

Foreshadowing

Answer 14

Symbolic clues which suggest a negative outcome for the characters is forthcoming

Question 15

Suspense

Answer 15

A pleasurable and exciting form of anxiety that comes from uncertainty about what will occur

Question 16

Epiphany

Answer 16

“a sudden revelation of truth” for a character (usually occurs in the falling action or resolution).

Question 17

Initiation (Coming of Age) Story

Answer 17

a story in which a character–often a child or young person–first learns a significant, usually life-changing truth about the universe, society, people, or themselves.

Question 18

Flat Character

Answer 18

Relatively simple, maybe even stereotypical
Few dominant traits
Predictable

Question 19

Round Character

Answer 19

Complex
Multi-dimensional
Act in ways that readers might not expect but can accept as possible

Question 20

Static Character

Answer 20

Do not change
Do not learn anything
Not significant consequences for them

Question 21

Dynamic Character

Answer 21

Change
Learn something (maybe)
Major consequences
growth/deteriorate as a result

Question 22

Protagonist

Answer 22

Main character
Not necessarily a “hero”
We may not always sympathize with them, like them, or agree with what they do
It would be boring and unrealistic if we did though
They are Round Characters: multi-sided and complex
They are almost always Dynamic Characters: they undergo a significant change of some kind as a result of what occurs in the story.

Question 23

Antagonist

Answer 23

Character who is the greatest source of conflict for the Protagonist:
Another character who is at odds with the protagonist
Protagonist himself/herself is own worst enemy
Society/status quo (no one and everyone)

Question 24

Setting

Answer 24

The time and place in which the story is happening
It can serve as just a backdrop, or it can completely determine and drive the events of the story
It can even function as an antagonist

Question 25

Point of View

Answer 25

The perspective from which people and events are viewed is called

Question 26

First Person Point of View

Answer 26

Uses I/Me/We/Us to refer to themselves and therefore participates in the story as a character. Most often through the eyes of a major character (typically, the Protagonist)

Question 27

Third Person Point of View

Answer 27

Uses he/she/it/they to talk about the characters, but they never refer to themselves Doesn’t participate in the story as a character and will suffer no consequences for what may occur.

Question 28

Omniscient Narrator

Answer 28

Can access the thoughts of all characters

Question 29

Limited Omniscient Narrator

Answer 29

Shows us the thoughts of only 1 character (maybe 2 tops)

Question 30

Objective Narrator

Answer 30

Can only tell us what characters do and say, not what any characters are actually thinking

Question 31

Unreliable Narrator

Answer 31

While we can generally rely on what a 3rd person narrator relates to us during a story, since they have nothing personal at stake or any culpability… and they may be just as blind to their own inherent biases, true motivations, and limitations of their perspective as we can be.

Question 32

Irony

Answer 32

A situation or statement characterized by a significant difference between what is expected or understood and what actually happens or is meant.

Question 33

Verbal Irony

Answer 33

what a character says is not what is true Sarcasm Intentional lies Unintentional mistakes

Question 34

Dramatic Irony

Answer 34

the readers know something for a fact that at least one character does not

Question 35

Situational Irony

Answer 35

what the character(s) and the readers expect is not what occurs

Question 36

Cosmic Irony

Answer 36

what the character aspires to is not what the universe will allow (fate/divine intervention/bad luck)

Question 37

Symbolism

Answer 37

A symbol is a person, place, or object that suggests more than its literal or obvious meaning or function. Concrete/literal - abstract/figurative