Short Story Terms

Genre

A form or category of literature, such as epic, tragedy, comedy, and satire.

Fable

A short, unadorned prose fiction that teaches a moral lesson. Often includes animals as characters.

Parable

A short narrative illustrating a moral, philosophical, or spiritual lesson, sometimes allegorical like the parable of the prodigal son.

Tale

A short narrative with unrealistic, fantastic characters and events, usually lacking in detail.

Realism

Fiction and drama from the late nineteenth century focusing on ordinary middle-class life and its daily concerns.

Story of Initiation

A short story depicting a decisive incident that initiates a character into a higher state of awareness.

Conflict

The central problem or issue in a plot, involving the main character struggling against another character(s) or obstacle.

Flat Character

A one-dimensional character with a few easily defined traits, often minor characters.

Round Character

A multi-faceted character capable of choosing right or wrong.

Dynamic Character

A character who changes, especially through a major realization.

Static Character

A character who undergoes no significant change.

Stock Character

A character type used repeatedly, often a stereotype like the mad scientist or the blonde airhead.

Third-Person or Non-Participant Narrator

A narrator who is not a character in the story.

Objective

Narrative that only describes and does not enter characters' thoughts.

Limited or Selective Omniscience

Narrative that sees into one character, major or minor.

Omniscience

Narrative that sees into different characters.

First-Person or Participant Narrator

A narrator who is a character in the story.

Ironic Point of View

A first-person narrator who does not understand the story's implications.

Unreliable Narrator

A narrator who misinterprets the story due to prejudice, madness, etc.

Naïve Narrator

A narrator too innocent to fully understand the story.

Local Color or Regionalism

Fiction or poetry focusing on specific features of a particular region.

Allegory

A narrative serving as an extended metaphor.

Allusion

A reference in a literary work to a person, place, or thing in history or another work of literature.

Irony

A literary term where a person, situation, statement, or circumstance is not as it seems.

Dramatic Irony

When the reader knows something a character does not.

Verbal Irony

When the writer says one thing but means another.

Motif

A recurring object, concept, or structure in a work of literature.