This document provides definitions and explanations of key literary terms used in analyzing short stories and plots. It discusses the five stages of plot: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. Other terms defined include setting, protagonist, antagonist, conflict, narrator, point of view, irony, foreshadowing, theme, and many common literary devices. The document is intended as a reference for understanding short story elements and analyzing narrative structure.

1. Short Story Unit
Literary Terms

2. Plot
The sequence of events
that make up a story,
usually centering around a
main conflict

3. The Five Stages of Plot

4. Exposition
 The first stage of plot!
 In the Exposition, the scene is set:
– this part of the story introduces the
characters , tells the reader the
setting , and provides all of the
necessary background
information

5. Setting
 The

setting of the
literary work is the
time and place of
the action.

Time can include not only
the historical period—past,
present, or future—but also a
specific year, season, or time
of day.
Place—though usually
physical—may also
involve the social,
economic, or cultural
environment of the
story

6. Rising Action
 The second stage of plot!
 This is where the action usually begins. In
the Rising Action, the conflict is
introduced (either between characters, or
with an outside force). This conflict will build
up pressure until the Climax

7. Climax
 The climax is the  Generally, this is the
highest point of
conflict in the
story!!
point after which
everything is different.
All of the pressure or
events of the Rising
Action have stacked
up to this moment,
when something
must change.

8. Falling Action
 This stage begins the downward
slope the conflict lessens, and the
plot moves towards closure

9. Resolution/Denouement
 In the final stage of plot, the conflict
concludes, and loose ends are tied up.

10. Conflict
A conflict is a struggle between opposing
forces.
There are two types of conflict:
INTERNAL
-Conflict that
occurs inside
the character
-man Vs. self
EXTERNAL
–Conflict that occurs
outside of the
character
-man Vs. man
-man Vs. nature
-man Vs. society
-man Vs. fate

11. Protagonist
The protagonist is the main
character in a literary work.
He/she is NOT necessarily
the “good guy”, just the main
character

12. Antagonist
An antagonist is a character or
force in conflict with the main
character
This is NOT necessarily the
“bad guy”, just the person or
thing that is working against the
main character

13. Narrator
The person
from whose
perspective a
story is told

14. Point of View
 The perspective or angle from which a story
is being told
 There are several types:
– First-Person-Point-of-View: When the narrator
telling the story is one of the characters, and tells
the story as a personal account
– Third-Person-Point-of-View: When the
narrator is not one of the characters (has no
name, and does not participate in any of the
action of the plot)

15. Point of View (continued)
 There are also two types of Third-Person-
Point-of-View:
– Third-Limited -Point-of-View: When the
Thirdnarrator sees the world through one character’s
eyes and reveals only that character’s thoughts
– Third-Omniscient -Point-of-View: When the
Thirdnarrator sees into the minds of more than one
character. Omniscient = all knowing

16. Irony
 The difference between appearance and
reality or the expectation and result.

There are THREE kinds of Irony:
-Verbal Irony: a word or phrase used to suggest the
opposite of its actual meaning. “You look so
good in that dress,” said her best friend.
-Dramatic Irony: When there is a contradiction
between what a character thinks and what the
readers know is true. You know something the
character doesn’t know. (You know the
murderer is hiding in the closet but the character
doesn’t know.)

17. Irony (continued)
-Situational Irony: When an event directly
contradicts expectations of the reader or of
the characters

18. Foreshadowing
 Clues in a literary work that suggest events
that have yet to occur
This literary device
helps to create
suspense, keeping
readers wondering
about what will happen
next.

19. Theme
 The central message or insight into
life revealed through a literary work
– This is the deeper meaning, the main
lesson/message/moral that the author
hopes the reader will understand at the
end of the story

20. Denotation Vs. Connotation
 Denotation:
The dictionary
meaning of a word,
independent of
other associations
that the word may
have
 Connotation:
Suggested
meaning. An
emotional
association with a
word in addition to
the word’s actual,
explicit meaning.
Ex., house, woman,
Hollywood, joking

21. Mood
 The feeling created in the reader
by a literary work
Tone
 The attitude toward the subject
that an author conveys in a piece of
writing

22. Simile
 A comparison between two unlike things
using “like” or “as”.
 Similes are used to make descriptions of
objects or people more powerful.
Example:
Without a simile: “It was dark outside.”
With a simile: “The night was as dark as thick,
black velvet.”

23. Metaphor
 A comparison between two unlike things,
without using the words “like” or “as”.
 Instead, one thing is spoken of as though it is
something else completely.
Example (from the Langston Hughes poem
“Dreams”):
“…if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly”

24. Personification
 A type of figurative language, where a non-
human object is given human characteristics
Examples:
-The desk coughed and grunted as I shoved
it across the old wooden floor.
-The tea kettle whistled once the water was
boiling.

25. Imagery
 The descriptive or figurative language
used in literature to create word
pictures for the reader.
 These word pictures/images, are
created by details of sight, sound, taste,
touch, smell, or movement.

26. Symbol
 Something that has a literal meaning, but
also stands for or represents an abstract
idea.
Example: The American Flag– on a
literal level, it is just a flag, a piece of
cloth. However, it also stands for this
particular county, for freedom, etc.

27. Allusion
 When one literary work references a well-
known person, place, event, work of art, or
another literary work to make a point.
Example: In Taylor Swift’s song “Love
Story”, she alludes to the play “Romeo and
Juliet”.

28. Dialogue


A dialogue is a
conversation between
characters.
It is often used to
reveal things about a
character’s thoughts,
motivations, and
personality to the
reader, and to
advance the action of
the plot.
Example:
After walking into the
kitchen, Susie cried,
“Mom, how could you
eat the last cupcake?!”
Mom replied, “I was
hungry, and you
weren’t here. It was
delicious, my dear!”

29. Diction
 Word choice, including vocabulary
used, word appropriateness, and
vividness of language

30. Characterization
 The way a writer reveals a character’s
personality and traits.
 There are two methods:
– Direct Characterization: The author directly
states a character’s personality and/or physical
traits
– Indirect Characterization: Uses a character’s
thoughts, actions, and feelings, to suggest the
character’s traits.

31. Dynamic Character
 A character that develops and changes
through the course of a story
Example: Ebenezer Scrooge at the
beginning of “A Christmas Carol”, he is a
mean, lonely man that is only interested in
money. By the end of the story, he is
generous, and interested in the “true spirit of
Christmas.”

32. Static Character
 A character that does not change or
develop through the course of the story
Example:
Wile E. Coyote

33. Round Character
 A character that exhibits many traits, faults
as well as virtues
Flat Character
 A character who seems to have only a single
personality trait

34. Stereotype
 A set of inaccurate, simplistic
generalizations about a group that allows
others to categorize them and treat them
accordingly.

35. Topic Sentence
 A sentence that expresses the main idea
or point of the paragraph, usually
appearing at the beginning.

36. Supporting Details
 Statements that support the main
idea/topic sentence with explanations,
descriptions, definitions, or other
information.

37. Purpose
 The author’s reason for writing a
specific piece
(Examples: To entertain, to inform, or
to persuade the reader)

38. Thesis Statement
 The sentence or two that contains the
focus of the essay and tells your reader
what your essay will be about.
 The thesis statement unifies the essay
parts.

39. Generalization
 A broad principle that is supported by evidence
or particulars
Evidence
 Particulars, or details, that lead to generalizations
Evidence
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