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Short Story Vocab
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Setting | The time and place of a story. It could be the country, city, building, or room in which the story takes place |
Characters | the people within the story |
Characterization | personality; how a character is described |
Direct | A character’s traits are described directly by the author. |
Indirect | The character’s personality is revealed through speech, actions, or other characters. |
Internal conflict | a struggle within a person; self vs. self |
External conflict | a struggle between at least two separate forces |
1st person | point of view from a character involved in the story |
3rd person | point of view from someone outside of the story |
Suspense | wanting to know what happens next in the story |
Dialogue | conversation between two or more people |
Mood | the story’s atmosphere |
Theme | Message or insight into life as decided by the author, different from the subject, seldom stated directly, conflict, resolution, characterization, setting, and symbolism help determine theme |
Flashback | action that already happened and is being re-told |
Symbol | an object that represents something more than itself |
Imagery | language that affects the senses, allows the reader to create a picture or smell a smell |
Plot | a series of events that make up a story |
Tone | The attitude a writer takes toward his subject. |
Irony | The contrast between what is expected and what actually is. |
Verbal Irony | occurs in a story when the writer or a character says one thing but means something else |
Dramatic Irony | reader has information or an understanding of events that a character doesn’t have |
Situational Irony | what happens is not what is expected to happen |