Freshman English Literary Terms review

1. ENG I  LiteraryTerms

2. What is a Short Story?
• a brief work of fiction, often
less than 50 pages
Types of Stories:
• Fiction: prose writing that tells about
imaginary characters and events
• Non-Fiction: true stories

3. Plot
• A series of related
events that present
and resolve a conflict

4. Plot Diagram

5. Modern Plot Diagram

6. Plot Diagram Terms
• Exposition: the part of the story that
introduces the characters, the setting, and
the basic situation
• Rising Action: all of the events of a story
leading up to the climax

7. Plot Diagram Terms (cont)
• Climax
– The most exciting point
in the story, when the
conflict is decided

8. Plot Diagram Terms (cont)
• Falling Action: the events after the
climax
• Resolution: the story is brought to a
close, and a general insight or change is
conveyed

9. Conflict
• The Primary struggle
between the main
character or
characters and an
adverse character,
group or force
• Internal Conflict
– A struggle between a
character and
him/herself
• External Conflict
– A struggle between a
character and an
outside force.

10. Types of Characters
• Character: person or animal that takes
part in the action of a literary work
– Dynamic: character develops and grows
during the course of the story
– Flat: shows only one trait
– Round: Shows many different traits, good
and bad
– Static: character does not change through the
course of the story

11. Main characters
• Protagonist
– Main character
• Antagonist
– Primary adversary of the
protagonist
– Foil: a character who
provides contrast to
another character

12. Setting
• The time and place in
which the action of a
narrative occurs

13. Theme
• The underlying
meaning of a literary
work.
• This is not the
topic/subject but the
author’s statement of
opinion about that
subject.
• Some literary works
have more than one
theme.
Author’s message/lesson
we can learn about the
subject of the story

14. Point of View
• Narrator/Speaker:
the voice speaking in
the story or poem;
who tells the story
• Narrator is NOT the
same as author
• Types of POV:
– First Person
– Third Person,
• Objective
• Omniscient

15. P.O.V.
• First Person
– The narrator offers a
personal account of their
own experiences and
describes what happens to
other characters as the
narrator sees it
• Third Person
– The narrator stands outside
the action (non-
participatory) and presents
• Objective
– Describes only what can be
seen
• Omniscient
– (all-knowing) point of
view
– Can see the thoughts &
emotions of all (or
numerous) characters

16. Storytelling Techniques
• Dialect: the form of language spoken by
people in a particular region or group
• Dialogue: a conversation between
characters
• Drama: a story written to be performed
by actors

17. Storytelling Techniques (cont)
• Flashback: the interruption in a story that
tells about an earlier incident
• Foreshadowing: the use of clues to
suggest events or outcomes yet to happen

18. Storytelling Techniques (cont)
• Imagery: the descriptive or figurative
language used to create pictures in the
mind
• Mood: feeling created in the reader by a
passage

19. Storytelling Techniques (cont)
• Irony: differences in appearance and
reality or expectations and results
•Stereotype: a character that acts to
a narrow set of actions associated
with a particular group

20. Storytelling Techniques (cont)
• Personification: a nonhuman subject is
given human characteristics

21. Storytelling Techniques (cont)
Symbol: anything that stands for itself and
for something else

22. Storytelling Techniques (cont)
• Style: the way an author writes
•Tone: the writer’s attitude
toward audience and subject

23. Additional Terms
• Title
– The name of a work
• Tragedy
– Literary work where the characters meet an
unhappy ending

24. SHORT STORIES
NOT NEARLY THE END