The part of a story when the tone is set, the setting is established, characters are introduced, and background information is given.
What is the exposition?
100
A larger-than-life figure, usually male, who embodies the ideals of a nation or race.
What is an epic hero?
100
Refers to the events in a story that move the plot along by adding complications or expanding the conflict.
What is rising action?
100
Conflict that involves a character pitted against an outside force, such as nature, a physical obstacle, or another character.
What is external conflict?
100
The time and place of action of a story.
What is setting?
200
The opponent of the hero of a drama or other literary work.
What is an antagonist?
200
A long narrative poem that tells about the adventures of a hero who reflects the ideals and values of a nation or race.
What is an epic?
200
Brief, descriptive phrases that help to characterize a particular person or thing that had the right meter or number of syllables to fill out a line.
What is an epithet?
200
Conflict that occurs within a character.
What is internal conflict?
200
The conflict is resolved at this time in a story and any loose ends of the story are tied up.
What is the falling action?
300
The sequence of events in a story--generally built around a conflict, it tells what happens, when, and to whom.
What is plot?
300
The feeling or atmosphere that the writer creates for the reader.
What is mood?
300
The moment when the reader's interest and emotional intensity reaches the highest point. Often occurs toward the end of the story after the reader has understood the conflict and become emotinally involved with the characters.
What is the climax?
300
The central character or hero in a narrative or drama, usually the one with whom the audience tends to identify.
What is the protagonist?
300
Consists of descriptive words or phrases that re-create sensory experiences for the reader--usually appeals to one or more of the five senses.
What is imagery?
400
Contemporary fiction that is set in the past.
What is historical fiction?
400
Refers to works of prose that have imaginary elements, such as a novel or short story.
What is fiction?
400
The attitude a writer takes toward a subject.
What is tone?
400
A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two things that are basically unlike but that have something in common.
What is a metaphor?
400
A comparison between two things that develops into a great length and detail.
What is an epic simile?
500
A conversation, an episode, or an event that happened before the beginning of a story. Often interrupts the chronological flow of a story to give the reader information to help in understanding a character's present situation.
What is flashback?
500
A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two things using the word "like" or "as".
What is a simile?
500
A writer's use of hints or clues to indicate events and situations that will occur later in the story.
What is foreshadowing?
500
A special kind of contrast between appearance and reality--usually one in which reality is the opposite from what it seems.
What is irony?
500
The main idea of a work of literature. It is a perception about life or human nature that the writer shares with the reader. It is not stated directly, but must be inferred.