Fiction Terms

Question 1

A person or animal in a story.

Answer 1

Character

Question 2

The qualities that make a person special or different from others.

Answer 2

Characteristics/Traits

Question 3

How a narrator presents or describes a character.

Answer 3

Characterization

Question 4

The main character in a story, usually a good person.

Answer 4

Protagonist

Question 5

A character in the story admired for their courage, achievements, and noble characteristics.

Answer 5

Hero

Question 6

The character who works against the protagonist.

Answer 6

Antagonist

Question 7

A character who does not change; they remain the same throughout the story.

Answer 7

Static Character

Question 8

A character who changes throughout the story.

Answer 8

Dynamic Character

Question 9

A character with one- or two-character traits.

Answer 9

Flat Character

Question 10

A complex character with many different traits and emotions.

Answer 10

Round Character

Question 11

A character who has traits often associated with a specific group of people.

Answer 11

Stereotyped Character

Question 12

A character who appears in many stories, always with the same traits.

Answer 12

Stock Character

Question 13

Two characters in the same story who have opposite traits.

Answer 13

Character Foil

Question 14

The dramatic struggle between two forces in a story.

Answer 14

Conflict

Question 15

It is a struggle that takes place in a character’s mind.

Answer 15

Internal Conflict

Question 16

It is a struggle between a character and an outside force.

Answer 16

External Conflict

Question 17

The events that occur in a story.

Answer 17

Plot

Question 18

The introduction of a story. The writer establishes characters and settings.

Answer 18

Exposition

Question 19

The events that led up to the climax. The conflict is established.

Answer 19

Rising Action

Question 20

The most interesting part of the plot. The character comes face-to-face with their conflict and must act.

Answer 20

Climax

Question 21

Events that take place after the climax, when many problems are solved, and questions answered.

Answer 21

Falling Action

Question 22

The ending of the story.

Answer 22

Resolution/Denouement

Question 23

When an exciting plot finishes with a disappointing or boring ending.

Answer 23

Anti-Climax

Question 24

An ending that may not be clear because it is open to interpretation by the reader.

Answer 24

Indeterminate Ending

Question 25

An unexpected turn of events in a story. The reader was unable to predict the event.

Answer 25

Surprise Ending

Question 26

The time and place of a story.

Answer 26

Setting

Question 27

When events follow a normal timeline.

Answer 27

Chronological Order

Question 28

When the writer goes backward in time (memory).

Answer 28

Flashback

Question 29

When a narrator gives a clue about what will happen later in the story.

Answer 29

Foreshadowing

Question 30

A moment in your story where the character experiences or realizes something that causes them to change.

Answer 30

Formative Moment

Question 31

The truth that is revealed to the character during a formative moment.

Answer 31

Epiphany

Question 32

When you don’t know what will happen next in a plot.

Answer 32

Suspense

Question 33

When a narrator uses figurative language or outside sources to describe a character or plot.

Answer 33

Indirect Presentation

Question 34

The narrator uses literal language to describe a character or plot.

Answer 34

Direct Presentation

Question 35

A type of story.

Answer 35

Genre

Question 36

A short story, often with animals as characters, teaches a clear lesson.

Answer 36

Fable

Question 37

An old, famous, traditional story that may or may not have happened in real life.

Answer 37

Legend

Question 38

An old, famous, traditional story with gods and monsters.

Answer 38

Myth

Question 39

A story with a plot that cannot occur in the real world, often involving magic or supernatural events.

Answer 39

Fantasy

Question 40

A story about a detective who solves a crime or a series of crimes.

Answer 40

Mystery

Question 41

A story.

Answer 41

Narrative

Question 42

The character who tells the story.

Answer 42

Narrator

Question 43

The action or process of telling a story.

Answer 43

Narration

Question 44

The perspective from which the story is told/narrated.

Answer 44

Point-of-view (POV)

Question 45

The story is narrated by a character.

Answer 45

First-Person POV

Question 46

When the narrator refers to the main character directly as “you.”

Answer 46

Second-Person POV

Question 47

When the narrator is telling the story as an outsider. They know what the characters say and do, but not what they think or feel.

Answer 47

Third-Person POV Objective

Question 48

When the narrator tells the story as an outsider, they know what ONE character thinks and feels.

Answer 48

Third-Person POV Limited

Question 49

When the narrator tells the story as an outsider, they know what ALL the characters think and feel.

Answer 49

Third-Person POV Omniscient

Question 50

When the narrator uses words that give no opinions or feelings about the plot or characters.

Answer 50

Objective View

Question 51

When the narrator uses words that state his/her opinions about the plot or characters.

Answer 51

Subjective View

Question 52

A conversation between characters.

Answer 52

Dialogue

Question 53

When a sentence has a subject that completes an action.

Answer 53

Active Voice

Question 54

When the subject of a sentence receives the action expressed by the verb.

Answer 54

Passive Voice

Question 55

Local language or words.

Answer 55

Dialect

Question 56

The main idea or message in a story, poem, or article.

Answer 56

Theme

Question 57

When a person says or writes one thing but means the opposite.

Answer 57

Verbal Irony

Question 58

When the audience knows something that the characters (in a play or story) do not know.

Answer 58

Dramatic Irony

Question 59

A situation in a person’s action has an outcome opposite of what they expected.

Answer 59

Situational Irony

Question 60

When there is a strange or funny difference between what people think is happening and what is actually happening.

Answer 60

Irony

Question 61

When the audience knows something that the characters (in a play or story) do not know.

Answer 61

Allegory

Question 62

A short, popular saying that gives advice about how people should live or expresses a belief that is generally accepted as true.

Answer 62

Proverb

Question 63

When a writer uses humor to make fun of something (person, institution) to create positive change.

Answer 63

Satire

Question 64

A long story about a hero and their exciting events or adventure.

Answer 64

Epic

Question 65

When a writer makes his or her writing different from others and does it often.

Answer 65

Style