Short Story Exam Terms

Question 1

Rising action

Answer 1

A related series of incidents that lead up to the climax

Question 2

Setting

Answer 2

Place where a story/event takes place

Question 3

Antagonist

Answer 3

“Bad guy” opposes the protagonist

Question 4

Irony

Answer 4

The use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning

Question 5

Theme

Answer 5

The subject of a piece of writing

Question 6

Tone

Answer 6

The general attitude of a place, piece of writing or situation

Question 7

Realism

Answer 7

Representing familiar things as they actually are.

Question 8

Resolution

Answer 8

The action of solving a problem

Question 9

Protagonist

Answer 9

Main character-doesn’t always have to be the good guy

Question 10

Characterization

Answer 10

How the author develops the characters especially the main character(indirect and direct)

Question 11

Climax

Answer 11

The most exciting or important part of a story

Question 12

Conflict

Answer 12

A struggle between two opposing forces ex man vs man

Question 13

Empathy

Answer 13

The ability to understand and share the feelings of another

Question 14

Exposition

Answer 14

Section that introduces characters, setting and conflicts

Question 15

Foreshadowing

Answer 15

A warning or indication of (a future event)

Question 16

Falling Action

Answer 16

The part of a literary plot that occurs after the climax has been reached. These events are a result of the climax

Question 17

Mood

Answer 17

Suggestive of a particular feeling or state of mind

Question 18

Narrator

Answer 18

A person who narrates something, especially a character who recounts the events of a novel or narrative poem

Question 19

Plot

Answer 19

Series of related events that make up a story.

Question 20

Flashback

Answer 20

A scene in a movie, novel, etc., set in a time earlier than the main story.

Question 21

First Person Point of View

Answer 21

One of the characters is actually telling the story “I”

Question 22

Third person omnisient

Answer 22

Third person omniscient is a point of view where the narrator knows all the thoughts, actions, and feelings of all characters. “He & She”

Question 23

Third Person Objective

Answer 23

In third-person objective, the narrator simply describes what is happening to the characters in the story and does not show us anyone’s thoughts or feelings

Question 24

Suspense

Answer 24

A quality of work that makes a reader feel uncertain or tense about the events.

Question 25

Science Fiction

Answer 25

fiction based on imagined future scientific or technological advances, frequently portraying space or time travel and life on other planets

Question 26

Autobiography

Answer 26

an account of a person's life written by that person.

Question 27

Biography

Answer 27

an account of someone's life written by someone else

Question 28

Symbol

Answer 28

An object,person or event that stands for something more than itself

Question 29

Allusion

Answer 29

Reference to a statement,person, a place, or events for history,politics, sport etc.

Question 30

Genre

Answer 30

a category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, characterized by similarities in form, style, or subject matter.

Question 31

Fable

Answer 31

a short story, typically with animals as characters, conveying a moral

Question 32

Myth

Answer 32

a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon

Question 33

Figurative Language

Answer 33

Involves some imaginative comparison between two unlike things ex simile, personification, metaphor

Question 34

Mystery

Answer 34

a novel, play, or movie dealing with a puzzling crime, especially a murder

Question 35

Dramatic Irony

Answer 35

Occurs when the reader knows something the important that the characters in the story do not know.

Question 36

Situational Irony

Answer 36

A contradiction between what we expect to happen and what really happens

Question 37

Verbal Irony

Answer 37

saying one thing but meaning something completely different.

Question 38

Third Person Limited

Answer 38

Centers on one characters thoughts and actions"He & She"

Question 39

Developing character

Answer 39

Same as a dynamic character just called this sometimes

Question 40

Dynamic character

Answer 40

one who changes throughout the story

Question 41

Flat character

Answer 41

A character who reveals only one, maybe two, personality traits in a story or novel, and is stereotyped

Question 42

Foil character

Answer 42

A character that is used to enhance another character through contrast. Cinderella's grace and beauty as opposed to her nasty, self-centered stepsisters is one clear illustration of a foil

Question 43

Round character

Answer 43

A well developed character who demonstrates varied and sometimes contradictory traits. Round characters are usually dynamic (change in some way over the course of a story)

Question 44

Static character

Answer 44

A character that does not change

Question 45

Stock character

Answer 45

A special kind of flat character who is instantly recognizable to most readers. Possible examples include the "geek with the pen protector," "silly blond," or "book worm." These characters definitely fit the mold of a stereotypical character. They are not the focus nor developed in the story.

Question 46

Archetype character

Answer 46

A character type that pop up across all genres of literature ex the hero, the villan