Fiction Terminology 1
A message or lesson about life that applies beyond the story or novel being read.
What is the theme?
When the author uses pronouns such as “I” "me" or “we.”
What is first-person point of view?
Select the verb option that agrees with the subject(s): "Peonies and dahlias ___ blooming our garden." [is / are]
"are"
Explanation: The subject "Peonies and dahlias" is a compound subject (two plural nouns joined by "and"), which requires the plural verb "are."
Select the option that best maintains verb tense consistency: "This is my favorite store! It ______ the cutest gifts." [sells / sold]
What is "sells"?
The government in dystopian stories often has too much of this.
What is power or control?
Place these homophones correctly in the following sentence: their, they're and there
________ playing with ________ dog over ______ in the park.
They’re playing with their dog over there in the park.
You should use this punctuation mark to introduce a list, explanation, or example after a complete sentence.
What is a colon (:)?
This is a scene that interrupts the story to show something that happened in the past.
What is a flashback?
This is the conflict between a character and an outside force or people.
What is external conflict?
Select the verb option that agrees with the subject(s): "One of us ____ to go first." [has / have]
"has"
Explanation:The subject of the sentence is "one," which is singular. The phrase "of us" is a prepositional phrase and does not affect the number of the verb. Since "one" is singular, it takes the singular verb "has."
Select the option that best conforms to the conventions of standard English: "If the skies look clear tomorrow morning, they _______ the graduation ceremony outside." [hold, will hold, have held]
"will hold"
This is often limited or controlled in dystopian worlds.
What is freedom, information, or knowledge?
Any one of these will be accepted
Correctly place the homophones where and wear in the following setence:
________ did you put the jacket you want to ________ today?
Where did you put the jacket you want to wear today?
In the sentence, "The students notebooks were on the desk," this punctuation mark is missing to show possession.
What is an apostrophe?
This is how an author shows a character’s traits, motives, and personality.
What is characterization?
This is the conflict that happens inside a character’s own mind.
Internal Conflict
Select the option that best conforms to the conventions of standard English: "A pod of dolphins ____ swimming across the bay." [is / are]
"is"
Explanation: "Pod" is a collective noun (referring to a group acting as a single unit)
Select the option that best conforms to the conventions of standard English: "I was swimming with my friends when the thunderstorm ______." [starts, started, had started]
"started"
The protagonist often shows this trait by standing up to authority.
What is bravery, rebellion, or independence?
*any of these will be accepted
Place your and you're correctly in the following sentence:
_______ late for ______ meeting, so hurry up!
You're late for your meeting, so hurry up!
This punctuation mark belongs inside the quotation marks at the end of this sentence:
"I'm ready to go"
What is a period?
"I'm ready to go."
These are hints or clues the author gives us about events that will happen later in the story.
What is foreshadowing?
Giving human qualities to non-human things.
What is personification?
Select the option that best conforms to the conventions of standard English: "Neither my teammates nor my coach _________ we need an extra practice before the game." [think / thinks]
"thinks"
Explanation: When using "neither...nor" as the subject, the verb should agree with the closest noun. In this case, "coach" is singular, so the verb should also be singular: "thinks."
Select the option that best conforms to the conventions of standard English: "Mariam is visiting her aunt tomorrow. They ____________ each other since Thanksgiving." [do not see, have not seen, had not seen]
"have not seen"
This theme warns readers about the dangers of destroying our natural world and resources.
What is environmental destruction?
This pair of homophones includes a word meaning "an empty space or opening" and another meaning "complete or entire."
What are hole and whole?
This punctuation mark is used to join two closely related independent clauses without using a conjunction.
Conjunctions: For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So.
What is a semicolon?
This is the main character who has the audience’s support.
Who is the protagonist?
This character (sometimes known as a villain) often drives the story’s main conflict and works against the main character.
Who is the antagonist?
Select the option that best conforms to the conventions of standard English: "Each of the stamps in her collection, which spans more than seventy years of American history, __________ a unique design." [feature / features]
"features"
Explanation: Since "Each" is singular, it requires a singular verb → "features."
Select the option that best conforms to the conventions of standard English: "By the time my sister called me, I _________ the good news already." [heard / have heard / had heard]
"had heard"
This theme warns that technology meant to improve life can instead limit freedom or erase individuality.
What is technological control?
*any version of this theme statement will be accepted
This pair of homophones includes a verb meaning "to influence" and a noun meaning "a result or outcome."
What are affect and effect?
Affect (verb) – means to influence or change something."The rainy weather can affect my mood."
Effect (noun) – refers to the result or outcome of an action. "The new law had a positive effect on the community."
This punctuation mark can be used to add extra information that is not essential to the sentence.
What is a parentheses?
(this is what they look like)