Intro to Fiction

Conflict

Thwarted, endangered, or opposing desires

Tension

Sense of suspense, anticipation, interest

Plot

The devlopment of the story’s conflict

Theme

A central unifying idea, or conflict about connection, identity, morality, philosophy

Moral

A message or recommendation about how to live

Characterization

Traits shown through a character’s behavior or appearance

Subtext

The true meaning beneath a character’s words and actions

Flat Character

A character defined by a single trait or value

Complex Character

A character defined by multiple traits and values

Dynamic Character

A character who changes in a meaningful way

Static Character

A character who does not change in a meaningful way

Peripeteia

A reversal of situation or recognition near the end of a story

Epiphany

A sudden realization

Concrete detail

A description that appeals to the senses

Significant detail

Description that conveys an idea or judgement

POV detail

Description that signals a character’s attention

Symbol

An object or action infused with other associations

First person

The narrator is a character, “I“

Third Person

The narrator is not a character, “he”, “she”, “they”, name

Second Person

The narrator calls the protagonist “you“

Limited

When the narrator is limited to a single character’s consciousness

Omniscient

When the narrator goes beyond the consciousness of a single character

Psychic Distance

How close/far the narrator is to/from a character’s consciousness

Stream of Consciousness

The extreme end of close psychic distance

Objective

The extreme end of far psychic distance

Unreliable Narrator

A narrator whose judgement we are made to distrust

Frontstory

The current story line or narrative “present”

Backstory

Previous events or narrative “past”

Summary

Quick recap of a time span or series of events

Scene

A portion of narrative action shown by the moment

Traits of romanticism

Emphasizes high emotion, Sacrifices plausibility, Often uses showy ornate language, intrusive author, direct moral statement

Traits of realism

Lifelike stories, Plainer language, invisible authors, emphasizes internal struggle, no direct moral statements

Social Realism

Realisti literature placed in the context of socioeconomic issues that are on going, or have already happened