Short Stories Test

Question 1

allusion

Answer 1

a reference by a writer to a person, place, an event, or an artistic work that is outside of the novel, short story, poem, or essay but the author expects the reader to recognize.

Question 2

antagonist

Answer 2

a person, place, idea, or physical force in conflict/opposing the main character/protagonist.

Question 3

atmosphere/mood

Answer 3

the feeling a reader experiences as they read; it creates an emotional response in the reader and is created by the writer through the use of diction, setting, and imagery. examples are hopeful, tense, nostalgic, fearful, exciting, and relaxed. atmosphere/mood is different from tone.

Question 4

characterization

Answer 4

the techniques used by the author to develop the personalities of fictional characters so that they seem believable. it includes what the character says and thinks, what the character does or doesn’t do, what others say about the character, and what the narrator says about the character.

Question 5

conflict

Answer 5

the internal or external struggle between opposing forces - a clashing of ideas, actions, or desires - that drives the story’s plot/action forward; stories may have more than one conflict. the conflict can be person v. person, person v. self, person v. nature, person v. society, or person v. fate

Question 6

diction

Answer 6

word choice, especially choosing one word over another in order to contribute to style or tone

Question 7

dialect

Answer 7

the language of a particular district, class, or group of people’ dialect includes sounds, grammar, spelling, and diction.

Question 8

figurative language

Answer 8

language not intended to be interpreted in a literal sense. figures of speech (imaginative comparisons include simile, metaphor, personification, and hyperbole.

Question 9

flashback

Answer 9

the point in s story when present action is temporarily interrupted so the reader can witness past events, usually in the form of a character’s memories, dreams, or narration, or even hear commentary directly from the narrator; the use of flashback allows a writer to full in details about a place or character or can be used to delay important details until just before a dramatic moment (build suspense).

Question 10

verbal irony

Answer 10

the speaker or writer of verbal iron says one thing while intending the reader to get an opposite meaning; there is a contradiction between what is said and what is actually meant. an example is sarcasm.

Question 11

dramatic irony

Answer 11

when a character is unaware of important information but the reader/audience is not.

Question 12

situational irony

Answer 12

an event or outcome of evetns opposite of what was or might naturally have been expected by either a character or reader/audience; both characters and reader are suprised.

Question 13

metaphor

Answer 13

a figure of speech that makes an implied or hidden comparison between two things which are unrelated but share some common characteristics; a metaphor makes its comparison outright by saying one thing IS another thing.

Question 14

motif

Answer 14

a word, phrase, object, or action that appears over and over throughout a single piece of literature. it is used by a writer to unify the literary work from beginning to end. the use of a motif is important because it can lead a reader to understand a theme in a work of literature.

Question 15

imagery

Answer 15

mental pictures readers create and experience through a writer’s sensory description; imagery can be the five senses.

Question 16

exposition

Answer 16

it is the first part of the story. in the exposition, we learn about the characters, setting, and the main conflict

Question 17

rising action

Answer 17

conflicts begin to develop, there is advancing movement toward an event or moment when something decisive is going to happen. the reader sees a building of tension.

Question 18

climax

Answer 18

the turning point of the story after which the main character comes face to face with conflict and changes or is changed in some way.

Question 19

falling action

Answer 19

ties up loose ends of the plot that are a result of the story’s climax

Question 20

denouement/resolution

Answer 20

the story comes to a reasonable ending, and conflicts are resolved

Question 21

point of view

Answer 21

the perspective from which the story is told; it’s the relationship of the narrator to the story

Question 22

protagonist

Answer 22

main character of a literary work who faces a struggle or challenge

Question 23

setting

Answer 23

the location, time in history, and social circumstances of a story’s action. setting is revealed by direct description, narration, and sometimes dialogue that reveals the location and time

Question 24

simile

Answer 24

example of figurative language (different from meaning something literally) that compares two seemingly unlike ideas, objects, people using the prepositions ‘like’ or ‘as’.