Structural Terms Flashcards
Dialouge
Conversation between 2 or more characters
Flashback
A section in a text that is set before the events of the main story
Future tense
A verb that describes something that will happen in the future, e.g “they will laugh”
Narrator
The person who tells the story
Past tense
A verb that describes something that happened in the past, e.g “they laughed”
Point of view
The way a character regards events or people
Present tense
a verb that describes that is happening now, e.g “the laugh” or “they are laughing”
Sequence
The order in which things happen
Setting
Where the events take place
Structure
The organisation of the text
Narrative voice
The narrators perspective in the story
Structural feature
A feature that helps to structure the text
Narrative
A written story or account
Perspective
A particular view of something
Empathize
To understand and share
Narrow focus
The writer focusing on a specific (often small details) section of the text
Wide perspective/ focus
Often deals with bigger details (setting, more than one character, etc.)
Switch focus
When the writer changes there focus from 1 character to another, 1 setting to another, what a character is thinking to what a character is doing
Cyclical structure (circular)
Where a story ends in a similar way to how it begins, this could be through the setting, the action, the characters, language choice, etc.
Climax
The most exiting part of the story
Anti-climax
A disappointing part of the story where its not as exciting as you hoped
Rising action
Where the tension/ action is rising to an exciting point of the story
Falling action
The mood of the story starts to fall away/ get mundane
Contrast
A clear difference between two things
First-person perspective
The point of view of a character involved in the action of a story, using “I”
Pace
The speed at which something happens
Symbolism
The use of symbols to represent something else
Third-person perspective
The point of view of someone not involved in the action of a story, using “he”, “she” or “they”
Connotations
The underlying
Slang
Informal words used mostly in within a particular social group
Jargon
Specialist language
Opening: dialogue
The reader is thrown straight in, without orientation or warning
Opening: description
Establishes mood and atmosphere, and creates a visual picture for the reader
Opening: character
Gives the reader someone to empathise with or imagine straight away
Opening: mystery
Pulls the reader in by making them want to know what happens next
Thematic statement
Lets the reader know that the deal to follow fits into a wider context
Opening: action
Can create a sense of immediate danger and throw the reader into the middle of an event
