Plot & Literary Elements
This element of plot introduces the characters, setting, and basic situation at the start of a story.
What is the exposition?
When an author defines an unfamiliar word directly in the same sentence using commas or dashes, they provide this type of clue.
What is a definition (or restatement) clue?
The underlying goal, desire, or psychological reason that prompts a character to act or make key decisions.
What is character motivation?
A comparison between two unlike things using the connector words like or as.
What is a simile?
A logical conclusion reached by synthesizing explicit textual evidence with background knowledge.
What is an inference?
The part of a plot where suspense builds and conflicts intensify through a series of complications.
What is the rising action?
In the sentence, 'Unlike his gregarious sister who loved meeting people, Marcus remained reserved and quiet,' the word gregarious means this.
What is sociable (or outgoing / friendly)?
A narrative point of view using pronouns he, she, and they that reveals the inner thoughts and emotions of only one character.
What is third-person limited?
A device giving human traits, actions, or emotions to nonhuman animals, objects, or nature.
What is personification?
The central message, moral, or universal insight about life that an author conveys through a work of fiction.
What is theme?
A narrative device that interrupts the chronological order of a story to depict an earlier incident or memory.
What is a flashback?
When an author contrasts an unfamiliar term with a familiar opposite word to clarify meaning, they are using this type of context clue.
What is an antonym (or contrast) clue?
An all-knowing narrator who has complete access to the thoughts, past experiences, and feelings of every character in the story.
What is third-person omniscient?
Subtle clues or atmospheric details placed early in a story to suggest events that will happen later.
What is foreshadowing?
Unlike a topic or motif which can be stated in a single word, a theme must always be formulated as this.
What is a complete sentence (or statement)?
The peak turning point of highest tension in a story where the main conflict faces its ultimate confrontation.
What is the climax?
In the sentence, 'The dilapidated barn had caved-in roof beams, sagging walls, and broken glass,' the descriptive phrases serve as this clue type.
What is an example (or explanation / inference) clue?
A storyteller whose credibility is compromised due to dishonesty, youth, bias, or mental state.
What is an unreliable narrator?
A direct comparison between two unlike things that does not use like or as, stating one thing is another.
What is a metaphor?
When a reader deduces a character is anxious because their hands tremble and they avoid speaking, they are applying this skill.
What is drawing an inference (or inferring)?
The final stage of plot structure where remaining complications are untangled and the story concludes.
What is the resolution (or denouement)?
The literal dictionary definition of a word is its denotation, while the emotional feeling or association connected to the word is this.
What is connotation?
When an author reveals character traits through speech, thoughts, effects on others, actions, and looks rather than stating them directly.
What is indirect characterization?
An unexpected discrepancy between what a character or reader anticipates happening and what actually transpires.
What is situational irony?
A person, object, or event in fiction that represents a deeper, abstract idea beyond its literal meaning.
What is a symbol (or symbolism)?