| A | B |
|---|
| theme | the central idea or insight into life that is revealed through the events of the story.. the authors message |
| setting | the time and place of the story |
| plot | the sequence of events in the story |
| short story | a brief work of fiction containing made-up characters and events |
| suspense | the feeling of anxiety about the outcome of events in a work of literature |
| character traits | used to show what a person is like |
| inference | a reasonable conclusion drawn from information given |
| major character | the character that plays the most important role in a short story |
| mood | the feeling created in a reader by a literary work |
| chronological order | the order in which events occur in time |
| conflict | a problem that must be resolved |
| internal conflict | a struggle that takes place within the mind of a character |
| climax | the point at which the conflict is greatest |
| resolution | the outcome of the conflict |
| motivation | a reason that explains or partially explains a character's thoughts, feelings, actions, or speech |
| stereotypes | can be characters, expressions, or situations that confirm to what is familiar and expected |
| ironic situation | when events turn out differently than expected |
| external conflict | a struggle in which a character struggles against some outside force |
| flashback | an interruption in action to show what happened in the past |
| compare | to look at ways in which characters are alike |
| point of view | refers to the angle or position from which a writer tells a story |
| contrast | to look at ways in which characters are different |
| first-person point of view | the narrator is a character in a story and refers to himself with the pronoun I |
| symbols | clues for the theme because they stand for an idea |
| third-person limited | the narrator relates the inner thoughts and feelings of only one character and everything is viewed from this characters perspective |
| third-person omniscient | the narrator knows and tells about what each character feels and thinks |
| universal theme | has importance for people all over the world |
| summary | a brief form of a story containing the most important events in the order they occurred |
| implied theme | a theme you must figure out for yourself |
| stated theme | the writer or one of the characters tells you the theme |
| reasoning | thinking logically |
| characterization | the art of making the people in a story real |
| direct characterization | authors present characters by simply telling you what they want you to know about a character |
| indirect characterization | authors develop characters by letting the characters reveal their personalities through what they say or do |
