Short Story Terms

Question 1

A brief work of fiction where, usually, the main character faces a conflict that is worked out in the plot of the story

Answer 1

Short story

Question 2

A person in a story, poem, or play

Answer 2

Character

Question 3

Fully developed, has many different character traits

Answer 3

Round character

Question 4

Stereotyped, one-dimensional, few traits

Answer 4

Static

Question 5

Changes as a result of the story’s events

Answer 5

Dynamic

Question 6

How the author develops the characters, especially the main character

Answer 6

Characterization

Question 7

The author directly states what the character’s personality is like

Answer 7

Direct characterization

Question 8

Showing a character’s personality through his/her actions, thoughts, feelings, words, appearance or other character’ observations of reactions

Answer 8

Indirect characterization

Question 9

Main character of the story that changes

Answer 9

Protagonist

Question 10

A major character who opposes the protagonist

Answer 10

Antagonist

Question 11

Types of antagonists:

Answer 11

People
Nature
Society

Question 12

A struggle between two opposing forces

Answer 12

Conflict

Question 13

Types of Conflict

Answer 13

Internal and External

Question 14

Takes place in a character’s own mind

Man vs. Him(her)self

Answer 14

Internal

Question 15

A character struggled against an outside force 
Man vs. Man
Man vs. Nature
Man vs. technology, progress
Man vs. Society
Man vs. Supernatural

Answer 15

External

Question 16

Series of related events that make up a story

Answer 16

Plot

Question 17

Section that introduces characters, the setting, and conflicts

Answer 17

Exposition

Question 18

The time and place of the story’s action

Answer 18

Setting

Question 19

Consists of a series of complications 
Occur when the main characters take action to resolve their problems and are met with further problems:
-Fear
-Hostility
-Threatening situation

Answer 19

Rising Action

Question 20

The turning point in the story: the high point of interest and suspense

Answer 20

Climax

Question 21

All events following the climax or turning point in the story. These events are a result of the action taken at the climax

Answer 21

Falling Action

Question 22

The end of the central conflict: it shows how the situation turns out and this ties loose ends
(Denouement)

Answer 22

Resolution

Question 23

Vantage point from which the writer tells the story

Answer 23

Point of view

Question 24

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

Answer 24

First person

Question 25

You

Answer 25

Second person

Question 26

He,she,it

Answer 26

Third person

Question 27

(Enters on one character's thoughts and actions (third person))

Answer 27

Limited Omniscient

Question 28

All knowing narrator. Can center on the thoughts and actions of any and all characters (third person)

Answer 28

Omniscient

Question 29

The central message or insight into life revealed through a literary work The "main idea" of the story

Answer 29

Theme

Question 30

The present scene in the story is interrupted to flash backward and tell what happened in past time

Answer 30

Flashback

Question 31

Clues the writer puts in the story to give the reader a hint of what is to come

Answer 31

Foreshadowing

Question 32

An object, person, or event that functions as itself, but also stands for something more than itself Example: scales' function is to weigh things, but they are also a symbol of our justice system

Answer 32

Symbol

Question 33

Involved imaginative comparison between two unlike things

Answer 33

Figurative Language

Question 34

Comparing two unlike things using like or as | "I wandered lonely as a cloud"

Answer 34

Simile

Question 35

Comparing two unlike things (not using like or as) | "Life is a roller coaster, it has lots of ups and downs

Answer 35

Metaphor

Question 36

Giving human qualities to non-human things

Answer 36

Personification

Question 37

A contrast between expectation and reality

Answer 37

Irony

Question 38

Saying one thing but meaning something completely different

Answer 38

Verbal Irony

Question 39

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

Answer 39

Situational Irony

Question 40

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

Answer 40

Dramatic Irony

Question 41

``` Reference to a statement, person, place, or events from: Literature History Religion Mythology Politics Sports ```

Answer 41

Allusion

Question 42

Uncertainty or anxiety the reader feels about what is going to happen next in a story

Answer 42

Suspense

Question 43

``` Language that appeals to the senses Touch Taste Sight Sound Smell ``` Example: Creating a picture in the reader's mind through our senses.

Answer 43

Imagery