Fiction term notes

Characters motives

Reasons for acting

Third person limited

The narrator is outside the story but focuses on and reports the thoughts and feelings of only one character

Direct characterization

The narrator makes direct statements about it characters traits or personality.

Chronological order

The order in which events occur

Characters

The people who take part in the action of the story

Plot

The sequence of events in a story

Setting

The time and place of the stories actions

Climax

The turning point in the story, the moment of highest tension or suspense. Normally happens towards the end of the story.

Rising action

Includes events and complications that intensify the conflict, it builds up to the climax

Types of conflict

Internal conflict, external conflict

Unreliable narrator

A first person narrator who is not reliable, or cannot be trusted because he or she is not always perceptive about what is going on in the story, or because he or she is deliberately not telling the whole truth.

Short story

A short prose narrative built on a plot that includes the basic situation, complications, climax, and resolution.

Symbol

An object or story element that stands for a larger meaning, this will often develop a theme.

Foreshadowing

Hints about what will happen later in the story, often used to create suspense

Short story extra notes

Intended to be read in a single setting, narration and character portrayals are compressed, leaves the reader with a unified strong impression called its main effect, usually focus on one central conflict.

Irony

Is a contradiction between appearance and reality

Theme

Is a statement literature makes about a topic. And states a "truth" about life or society and/or reveals something about human beings, or humanity.

in medias res

Latin for in the middle of things, refers to the stories that open in the middle of a situation.

Situational irony

Occurs when an action or event in a story contradicts the expectations of a character or the reader

Dramatic irony

Occurs when the audience knows something that the characters do not now

Surprise endings

Often present in situational irony because they involve a sudden turn of events that contradicts what the reader has been led to expect. This type of irony usually help convey the stories theme.

external conflict

Person versus person, person versus society, person versus nature, person versus supernatural, and person versus government

Flashbacks

Sections of the narrative that break from chronological order to describe the time before the present time of the story, often used to give insight into a characters motives.

Falling action

Sets up the stories ending, The intensity of the conflict lessons and events wind down. Often leading to the resolution.

Resolution

Shows the outcome of the conflict

Internal conflict

Takes place in the mind of a character, the character struggles to make a decision or overcome feelings

Exposition

The author introduces the setting and the characters. This section often includes an establishment of the main conflict

Character traits

The characters qualities, things that make their personality

Mood

The general feelings the story conveys

Point of view

the perspective from which a story is told

Indirect characterization

Readers learn what characters are like by analyzing what they say and do, as well as how other characters respond to them

Pacing

Refers to the "speed" with which a narrator relates events

First person

The narrator is a character in the story who participates in the action and uses the pronouns I and me

Third person omniscient

The narrator is outside the events of the story and tells and thoughts and feelings of more than one character