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KnebelSSTerms
Short Story Terms
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| fable | a story that uses animals and has a moral lesson |
| parable | a story that teaches a religious lesson |
| tall tale | an exaggerated story |
| legend | a story that has been passed down over the years |
| flash fiction | short story that is less than a 1000 words |
| novella | a story that is longer than a short story, but not as long as a novel |
| plot | the events in the story |
| theme | meaning of the story |
| tone | the attitude of the story |
| fiction | a story that is not true; imaginary |
| protagonist | main character |
| antagonist | the character who opposes the protagonist |
| flashback | to go back in time |
| foreshadowing | to hint at the future |
| conflict | struggle |
| epiphany | sudden insight |
| story of initiation | growing up or coming of age; bildungsroman |
| exposition | introduction of background, setting, characters |
| complication | introduction to significant problem |
| crisis | point where a crucial decision is made |
| conclusion | resolution, denouement |
| point of view | who is telling the story |
| 1st person | uses I, me, we and forms of |
| 2nd person | uses you and forms of |
| 3rd person | uses forms of he, she, they |
| limited pov | one person |
| omniscient pov | all-know narrator |
| objective pov | reports |
| unreliable pov | cannot be trusted |
| innocent or naivepov | childlike |
| stream of consciousness | random flow of thoughts |
| interior monologue | character's thoughts |
| dynamic character | changes |
| static character | stays the same |
| stock character | stereotypical |
| flat character | does not develop |
| round character | fully develops |
| character | person or animal in story |
| focus | the visual component of point of view |
| voice | the verbal aspect of point of view; the person telling story |
| mood | feeling or attitude of story |
| style | author's distinctive manner with diction, imagery, syntax |
| fairy tale | a story that begins with once upon a time and ends with lives happily ever after |
| ballad | a narrative often with a refrain |
| historical fiction | fiction based on real historical events |
| Freytag's pyramid | a diagram of plot structure first created by this scientist |
| climax | turning point in story |
| rising action | events that complicate the situation and intensify the plot |
| falling action | part of plot that moves to resolution after climax |
| resolution or conclusion | conclusion |
| inciting incident | action that sets the plot is motion |
| setting | time and place of story |
| archetype | a symbol, myth, or ritual that recurs in the myth or literature of many cultures |
| situational irony | the opposite of what you expect in a situation |
| dramatic irony | the audience knows but the characters don't |
| verbal irony | to say one thing and mean another |
| bildungsroman | a coming of age story |
| setting | time and place setting |
| foil character | a person who draws attention to another character |