Short Story Terms

For Short Story Quiz

List 4 Examples of Conflict

person vs person, person vs self, person vs nature, and person vs society

What is the exposition?

It lists background info before the story starts

What are two specific things an exposition has to introduce?

The setting and the character

What is another phrase for the complication?

The inciting incident

What is the inciting incident?

The event that starts the plot

What is the rising action?

All of the events that lead up to the climax

What is the climax?

The most important part in the story

What is the falling action?

The action between the climax and the resolution

What is the resolution?

How the story ends

What is the protagonist?

The main character

What is the antagonist?

The person or force that opposes the main character

What is a round character?

3-Dimensional and complicated + we know a lot about them

What is a flat character?

1-Dimensional + we don't know a lot about them + a stereotype

What is a static character?

A character that doesn't change over time

What is a dynamic character?

A character that does change over time

What is direct characterization?

When the author tells a reader what a character is like

What is indirect characterization?

when the author SHOWS things that reveal the personality of the character

What is point of view?

The perspective that the story is told through

What is 1st person point of view?

The narrator is using an "I" voice

What is 2nd person point of view?

The narrator is using a "you" voice

What is 3rd person point of view?

The narrative voice is not a character and tells the story using "he" "she" or "it"

What is an omniscient point of view?

The narrative voice is all-knowing and has insight into the thoughts of every character at any time

What is limited omniscient point of view?

The narrative voice is restricted to the thoughts, feelings, and perspective of only one character.

What is an objective point of view?

The narrative voice only reports the outward actions and spoken words of the characters, but is not able to see inside of them

What is the setting?

The time and place a story is set

What is the theme?

The main idea of the story that makes a universal claim about life

What is a symbol?

A concrete object that represents an abstract idea

What 3 things are irony?

A gap between what is said and what is meant or between what is expected and what happens or between what the characters know and what the readers know

What is a topic?

The broad description of a literary work, expressed in a word or phrase