Short Story Terminology

1
Short Story Terminology

• Allegory a story in which people, things and
  actions represent an idea or a generalization
  about life often contains strong moral lessons
• Allusion a reference in literature to a person,
  event, or literary work
• Apostrophe the addressing of someone or
  something, usually not present, as though present
  (O Captain! My Captain!... Death, be not proud)

2
Short Story Terminology

• Catastrophe the concluding action of a drama,
  especially a classical tragedy, following the
  climax and containing a resolution of the plot.
  The finale even in a romance or a dramatic piece
  a denoument, as a death in a tragedy, or a
  marriage in a comedy

3
Short Story Terminology

• Character a person or thing in a story
• Antagonist is the person or thing working
  against the protagonist
• Dynamic one that undergoes some type of change
  because of the action of the plot
• Flat embodies one or two qualities, ideas, or
  traits that can be readily accessible to readers
  (could be stereotypes dumb blonde or evil
  stepmother)
• Main central character to the story see
  protagonist
• Minor less important character in a literary
  work, but still is needed for explanation or
  development of plot

4
Short Story Terminology

• Protagonist central character who engages the
  readers interest and empathy
• Round display inconsistencies and internal
  conflicts found in most real people
• Static one that doesnt change throughout the
  work, readers knowledge of character does not
  grow

5
Short Story Terminology

• Tragic Hero A tragic hero has the potential for
  greatness but is doomed to fail. He is trapped in
  a situation where he cannot win. He makes some
  sort of tragic flaw, and this causes his fall
  from greatness. Even though he is a fallen hero,
  he still wins a moral victory, and his spirit
  lives on.
• TRAGIC HEROES ARE    
• BORN INTO NOBILITY
• RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR OWN FATE
• ENDOWED WITH A TRAGIC FLAW
• DOOMED TO MAKE A SERIOUS ERROR IN JUDGEMENT
• EVENTUALLY, TRAGIC HEROES  
• FALL FROM GREAT HEIGHTS OR HIGH ESTEEM
• REALIZE THEY HAVE MADE AN IRREVERSIBLE MISTAKE
• FACES AND ACCEPTS DEATH WITH HONOR
• MEET A TRAGIC DEATH
• FOR ALL TRAGIC HEROES
• THE AUDIENCE IS AFFECTED BY PITY and/or FEAR

6
Short Story Terminology

• Character Development how a character develops
  throughout the story
• Character Sketch short, but detailed
  description of a character
• Characterization creation of characters for a
  play or story
• Direct telling the audience/reader exactly what
  you want them to know about the characters
  (Killer is a really mean guy.)
• Indirect showing the reader the character
  instead of telling them about the character

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Short Story Terminology

• Climax high point of the story is the turning
  point, and usually the most intense point in the
  story
• Conflict the problem or struggle in a story
  that triggers the action. There are five basic
  types person vs. person, person vs. society,
  person vs. self, person vs. nature, person vs.
  fate/God
• Connotation creating associations while also
  using explicit definitions

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Short Story Terminology

• Denotation dictionary definition
• Denouement the outcome, solution, unraveling,
  or clarification of a plot in a drama final
  revelation or outcome
• Dialect a type of information diction, dialects
  are spoken by definable groups of people from a
  particular geographic region, economic group, or
  social class. Writers often use dialect to
  contrast and express differences in educational,
  class, social, and regional backgrounds of their
  characters

9
Short Story Terminology

• Dialogue the conversations carried on by the
  characters in a literary work
• Epiphany in fiction, when a character suddenly
  experiences a deep realization about himself or
  herself a truth which is grasped in an ordinary
  rather than melodramatic moment
• Flashback going back to an earlier time in a
  story for the purpose of making something present
  clearer

10
Short Story Terminology

• Foil character in a work whose behavior and
  values contrast with those of another character
  in order to highlight the distinctive temperament
  of that character ( usually the protagonist)
• Foreshadowing to be a sign of something to
  come indicate or suggest before hand
• Imagery the words of phrases a writer selects
  to create a certain picture in the readers mind,
  usually based on sensory detail.

11
Short Story Terminology

• Irony combination of circumstances or a result
  that is opposite of what is or might be expected
  or considered appropriate
• Dramatic where the reader/audience sees a
  characters mistake or misunderstandings, but
  the character does not
• Situational there is a great difference between
  the purpose of a particular action
• and the result.
• Verbal where the writer says one thing and
  means another

12
Short Story Terminology

• Legend an unverified story handed down from
  earlier times, especially one popularly believed
  to be historical
• Metaphor a figure of speech containing an
  implied comparison, in which a word or phrase
  ordinarily and primarily used of one the applied
  to another ( all the worlds a stage)
• Mood the feeling a piece of literature arouses
  in the reader happiness, sadness, peacefulness

13
Short Story Terminology

• Motif an often-repeated idea or theme in
  literature
• Myth a traditional story that attempts to
  explain a natural phenomenon or justify a certain
  practice of belief of a society
• Narrator a person who relates a story or
  account a person who reads descriptive or
  narrative passages, as between the scenes of a
  play

14
Short Story Terminology

• Paradox a statement that seems contrary to
  common sense, yet may, in fact, be true
• Plot the action or sequence of events in a
  story contains 5 basic elements exposition,
  rising action, climax, falling action, and
  denouement

15
Short Story Terminology

• Point of View the vantage point from which the
  story is told
• 1st Person point of view where a central
  character or another minor character tells the
  story using I
• 3rd Person Point of view where a voice outside
  of the story tells the story using he or she
  to describe characters and actions
• Limited / Objective when the narrator limits
  the action and information/or the reader receives
  to that which centers on and can be known by
  only one character in the story
• Omniscient having infinite knowledge knowing
  all things (usually 3rd person)

16
Short Story Terminology

• Repetition the act of repeating something over
  and over again
• Setting to place in a given locale to make up
  or arrange on the stage
• Simile a comparison of two unlike things in
  which a word of companion (like or as) is used

17
Short Story Terminology

• Stream of Consciousness a style of writing in
  which the thoughts and feelings of the writer are
  recorded as they occur
• Symbol a person, place, or thing or even used
  to represent something else
• Syntax the ordering of words into meaningful
  verbal patterns such as phrase, clause, and
  sentences poets often manipulate syntax,
  changing conventional word order, to place
  certain emphasis on particular words

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Short Story Terminology

• Theme the statement about life a particular
  work is trying to get across to the reader
• Tone the overall feeling, or effect, created by
  a writers words. May be serious, mock-serious,
  humorous, or satirical