fiction terms kelly road english department – communications 11
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Fiction Terms
Kelly Road English Department – Communications 11
Plot
• What happens in a story
Kelly Road English Department – Communications 11
Exposition
• Tells background information• Sets up plot events
Kelly Road English Department – Communications 11
Crisis
• The main problem or troubling event that sets the action going
Kelly Road English Department – Communications 11
Rising Action
• The series of events leading to the climax
Kelly Road English Department – Communications 11
Climax
• The point at which the action and/or tension is at its height
Kelly Road English Department – Communications 11
Falling Action
• The beginning of the end of the story• Crisis resolved; character conflicts dealt with
Kelly Road English Department – Communications 11
Denouement
• French for “unknotting”• Loose ends of the plot tied up, either after the
climax, or (more commonly) in the very final scenes of the story
Kelly Road English Department – Communications 11
Protagonist
• The main character(s) in a story
Kelly Road English Department – Communications 11
Antagonist
• The characters or forces arrayed against the protagonist(s)
Kelly Road English Department – Communications 11
Setting
• The place and time in which a story occurs
Kelly Road English Department – Communications 11
Foreshadowing
• Hints given in the plot as to its outcome
Kelly Road English Department – Communications 11
Mood
• Also called atmosphere or ambience• The “feeling” presented in the story through
the way the author describes scenes or plot events
• Eg.: It was a dark and stormy night…
Kelly Road English Department – Communications 11
Tone
• The author’s attitudes and/or biases that come through in the story, whether in character descriptions, or in their dialogue
Kelly Road English Department – Communications 11
Moral
• A message the author is trying to give through the story
• Also, a term that indicates whether or not the actions of the characters are good or just, from a societal perspective
Kelly Road English Department – Communications 11
Dilemma
• A choice that a character must make between 2 unpleasant outcomes, in response to a plot challenge
• Dilemmas are often hard choices that involve moral or ethical issues
Kelly Road English Department – Communications 11
Symbolism
• When an important person, place or thing in a story represents both itself, and something else
• The secondary representation is generally figurative
Kelly Road English Department – Communications 11
Suspense
• A feeling of tension that builds throughout the plot
• Usually linked to what will happen at the climax
Kelly Road English Department – Communications 11
Flashback
• A scene inserted into the plot that shows events that occurred at an earlier time
Kelly Road English Department – Communications 11
Subplot
• A secondary plot or story woven in-between the events in the main plot
Kelly Road English Department – Communications 11
Episode
• A particular incident or event within the main plot of a story
Kelly Road English Department – Communications 11
Indeterminate Ending
• An ending in which the reader cannot be certain of the outcome
Kelly Road English Department – Communications 11
Surprise Ending
• An ending which does not naturally follow on from the main points in the plot
• Most effective when foreshadowed information is revealed to mean something completely different from the reader’s expectations
Kelly Road English Department – Communications 11
Anti-Climax
• An effect which works against the climax• Often acts to bring a lofty tone “down to
earth”
Kelly Road English Department – Communications 11
Complication
• A challenge or hurdle placed in the way of the protagonist
Kelly Road English Department – Communications 11
Epiphany
• A term for a character’s sudden realization about something
• Think “lightbulb moment” – a thought or idea that occurs to a character that changes his or her outlook
Kelly Road English Department – Communications 11
Conflict
• General term for negative interactions between characters
Kelly Road English Department – Communications 11
Internal Conflict
1. Internal – struggle inside a character’s mind or self – person vs. self
Kelly Road English Department – Communications 11
External Conflict
1. Person vs. Person – conflict between 2 or more characters
2. Person vs. Environment – conflicts between a person and their situation – Nature, society, group, etc.
Kelly Road English Department – Communications 11
Characterization
• Round – character has many traits• Flat – character has few traits
Kelly Road English Department – Communications 11
Characterization
• Dynamic – character’s traits change over time• Static – character’s traits do not change over
time
Kelly Road English Department – Communications 11
Characterization
• Stereotype/Stock – character with clichéd or familiar traits which appears often in especially escapist-type literature– Eg. James Bond, Robin Hood, Wicked
Stepmother, etc.• Realistic – A character who is NOT based on a
stereotypical cliché, but on “real life”
Kelly Road English Department – Communications 11
Characterization
• Foil – a secondary character whose traits or actions contrast with those of the main character in order to draw attention to them
Kelly Road English Department – Communications 11
Characterization
• Motivation – the combination of circumstance and personality that makes a character do what they do
Kelly Road English Department – Communications 11
Characterization
• Presentation – how the author tells the reader about a character:– Direct – the author actually tells the reader
about a character’s traits, motivations, etc.– Indirect – the author has other characters tell the
reader about another a particular character, or shows us through the character’s actions
Kelly Road English Department – Communications 11
Point of View
• The viewpoint through which a story is told• Types:– First Person – “I” – solely the POV of the narrator;
reader only knows as much as narrator
Kelly Road English Department – Communications 11
Point of View
• The viewpoint through which a story is told• Types Cont’d:– Third Person Omniscient – “God Mode” –
narrator knows characters’ thoughts and feelings– Third Person Limited Omniscient – narrator
knows thoughts and feelings of one character, but not necessarily others
Kelly Road English Department – Communications 11
Point of View
• The viewpoint through which a story is told• Types Cont’d:– Objective/Dramatic – “fly on the wall” – narrator
is completely outside the action, and simply relates it as he/she sees it happening.• Eg. Reality TV/DVD extras footage, etc.
Kelly Road English Department – Communications 11
Theme
• The central idea or thesis of a story• Can be stated directly by the author, or
indirectly through the outcome of the plot
Kelly Road English Department – Communications 11
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