| A | B |
|---|
| narration | writing or speaking that tells about a series of related events |
| narrator | the voice telling the story |
| plot | a series of related events in the story |
| exposition | the beginning part of the story that gives information about the characters and their problems |
| conflict | struggle, clash, or problem between characters or opposing forces |
| internal conflict | the struggle happens with the character's mind or emotions |
| external conflict | the character struggles with an outside force |
| climax | moment of great emotional intensity or suspense in a play; happens close to the end |
| resolution or denouement | the final part of the play where remaining issues are explained and/or solved |
| setting | the time and place of the story and historical or social conditions |
| point-of-view | vantage point from where the writer tells a story |
| omniscient | person outside the story knows everything about all of the characters |
| first-person | one of the characters is telling the story, using the pronoun "I" |
| third-person-limited | person outside the story focuses in on one character; uses "he" or "she" pronouns |
| unreliable narrator | does not always know what is happening in the story, or he or she may be lying or telling us only a part of the story |
| character | person in the story or play |
| characterization | revealing the personality of a character |
| indirect characterization | we have to use our own judgment to determine what a character is like |
| direct characterization | the author tells us directly what the character is like |
| static character | the character does not change much in the story |
| dynamic character | the character changes as a result of the story's events |
| flat character | the character has only one or two traits |
| round character | the character is like a real person and has many character traits, which sometimes contradict each other |
| protagonist | the main character in the story; sometimes known as the good guy or hero |
| antagonist | the character who is against the protagonist; often is the villain in the story |
| foreshadowing | clues in the story that hint at events that will happen later on |
| flashback | scene in a movie, play, or book that interrupts the story and goes back in time to tell what happened at an earlier time |
| theme | what the author wishes to reveal about a subject or life truth |
| mood | the overall feeling of the story, often created by the setting |
| tone | the attitude a writer takes toward a subject or character |
| suspense | uncertainty or anxiety the reader feels about what is going to happen next in the story |
| symbol | something that stands for itself and represents something else, too |
| irony | contrast between what is expected and what is really meant or what really happens |
