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Short Story Terms-KA
KA-Literary
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Antagonist | Opposes The Main Character.Sometimes Called A Villain. |
| Characters | Persons, Animals, Or Things In A Literary Work. |
| Climax | The Point Of Greatest Emotional Interest, Intensity, Or Suspense In A Narrative. |
| Conflict | A Struggle Between Opposing Forces. |
| Denouement | Anything That Happens After The Resolution Of A Plot.Tying Up Of Loose Ends. |
| Exposition | Basic Information At The Beginning Of A Story That Includes Character & Background Information Essential To The Story. |
| External Conflict | Character struggles against an outside force: Man vs. Man; Man vs. Nature; Man vs. Society; Man vs. Supernatural; Man vs. Fate. |
| Falling Action | All events leading to the resolution of the central conflict. |
| Flat Characters | Characters who have only one or two "sides" representing only one or two personality. |
| Foreshadow | The use or hints or clues in a narative to suggest what action is to come. |
| Genre | Any divison or type of literature: poetry, prose, and drama. |
| Internal Conflict | Character struggles against himself: Man vs. Himself |
| Irony | The general name given to literary techniques that involve surprising, interesting, or amusing contradictions. |
| Main Character | Most important character in a literary work (protagonist). |
| Mood/Atmosphere | The feeling that a literary work gives its readers; details of the setting are especially effective in establishing this. |
| Narrative Hook | Introduces the central conflict. |
| Plot | The sequence of related events in a literary work. |
| Plot Diagram | Narrative Hook, Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, Resolution, Denouement |
| Protagonist | Sometimes called the main character of a piece of literature. |
| Resolution | The final outcome of the central conflict. |
| Rising Action | All events leading up to the climax. |
| Round Characters | Characters who are complex and have many personality traits. |
| Setting | The physical and sometimes historical background against which the action of a narrative takes place. |
| Short Story | A brief work of fiction written in prose. |
| Symbol | Anything that has a meaning of its own, yet stands for or represents something else. |
| Theme | The basic meaning or main idea about life that an author wants the reader to understand. |
| Fiction | Writing from the author's imagination rather than fact. Prose writing that tells about imaginary characters and events. |
| Fantasy | Highly imaginative writing that contains elements not found in real life. |
| Tone | The attitude a writer takes toward his subject, characters, and readers. |
| Dialogue | Conversation between two characters in a literary work. |
| Narrator | Anyone who recounts a narrative, either in writing or orally. The author or teller of a story. |
| Point Of View | The vantage point from which a narrative is told. |
| Flashback | An interruption in the sequence of events to remember something of the past. |
| Allusion | A reference to a well-known person,place, event, literary work, or work of art. |
| Characterization | The personality a character displays. The means by which an author reveals personality, either directly or indirectly. |
| Denotation | The literal or dictionary meaning of a word. |
| Diction | A writer's choice of words, particularly for clarity, effectiveness, and precision. |
| Direct Characterization | The author reveals directly the character and personality traits of a character by stating directly what he wants the reader to know. |
| Dynamic Characters | Characters who experience some change in personality or attitude from the beginning to the end of a story. |
| Farce | An exaggerated comedy that relies of improbable situations, physical humor, and broad. |
| First Person Point of View | The reader sees and knows only what the narrator sees and knows. The narrator is limited to his own involvement or experience. |
| Foil | A character who is contrasted with another and is a direct opposite, thus intensifying the impact of that other character. |
| Folk Tale | A story composed orally and the passed from person to person by word of mouth. |
| Prose | All forms of written or spoken expression without regular rhythm. |
| Static Characters | Characters who remain the same throughout a story. They do not develop or change beyond the way they are presented. |
| Third Person Omniscient P.O.V | The narrator can tell the reader everything about one character, including what will happen in the future. |
| Unreliable Narrator | Leaves reader without guidelines essential in his fair judgement about the characters and their actions with any confidence that his conclusions are those intended by the author. |
| Aside | Words spoken by a character in a play that are not intended for other characters on the stage to hear. |
| Epithet | A word combination that describes and characterizes a person or thing in order to help the reader or listener recognize and remember the person or thing. |
| Hero/Heroine | Character whose actions are inspiring or noble. Often heroes struggle to overcome foes or escape difficult situations. |
| Minor/Secondary Character | Character who is not as important as the major or main character. |
| Stock/Stereotype Character | Character that is easily recognizable by its predictable characteristics. |
| Verbal Irony | Words use to suggest the opposite of their usual meaning. |
| In Media Res | In the middle. |
| Invocation of the Muse | To ask for inspiration and guidance from the 9 goddesses of art, science, and literature in telling the story. |
| Epic Simile | Long, drawn out comparison. |
| Epic | A long narrative poem about the adventures of gods or of a hero. |
| Myth | A traditional story of unknown origins, usually with a historical basis, but serving to explain some phenomenon of nature, the origin of man, or the customs, institutions, religions, or rites of a people. |
| Oral Tradition | The passing down of stories and legends from generation to generation order to preserve their existence before the written language. |
| Characteristics of an Epic | Long, narrative poem that tells a story, The entire story tells the history of the hero's race and nation, Written in elevated style- formal language. |
| Characteristics of the Epic Hero | Kingly- high born, shows pride in his own reputation, forceful leader, demonstrates courage, strength, and endurance. |