Short Story Literary Terms Study Guide
irony
The contrast between expectation and reality; between what is said and what is meant; between what is expected to happen and what really happens; between what appears to be true and what is really true. ( e.g., a funeral director who helps deliver a baby in a stuck elevator
external conflict
a conflict between a character and another character or between a character and something nonhuman (i.e., man vs. a storm, man vs. dog, man vs. God)
internal conflict
a conflict that happens within a character's mind. For instance, if a person finds a wallet filled with money, he might battle within himself about whether to turn the wallet in or not.
foreshadowing
a hint or clue of what will happen later in a story
theme
a main idea or underlying truth in a story
character
a person in a story
short story
a short fictional story that usually takes up ten to twenty pages.
narrator
a speaker or character who tells the story
conflict
a struggle or clash between opposing forces
symbol (symbolism)
something that stands for something else (dove = peace)
fiction
stories based on a writer's imagination (short stories, novels)
suspense
the anxiety a reader feels about how the story will turn out
exposition
the beginning of the story when we learn about setting, characters, and initial conflict; also called the BASIC SITUATION.
resolution
the end of the story when loose ends are tied up; conflicts are resolved; also called the DENOUEMENT
falling action
the events of a story that follow the climax and lead to the resolution
mood
the feeling a the writer tries to create inside the reader (suspense, humorous, sadness etc.)
protagonist
the main character in a story
climax
the most intense part of the story; the reader sees how the main conflict will be resolved
characterization
the process of revealing a character (appearance, dialogue, thoughts, behavior)
plot
the series of related events in a story
setting
the time, place, and mood of a story
rising action
this is the part of the story when characters try to solve the conflict; this leads up to the climax; also called the complication
