Narrative Elements
Writing Process
Story Arc
Figurative Language
Key Terms
100

The time and place where the events of a story take place.

What is the setting

100
The very first step in the writing process in which brainstorming, graphic organization, research, and planning take place.
What is prewriting
100

The moment of highest drama and tension in a narrative, in which the main conflict is confronted fully.

What is the climax

100
A type of speech or writing that breaks away from the literal meaning in order to create a special effect or meaning.
What is figurative language
100
The term we use to describe the main character or principle actor in a narrative, the person with whom the reader most closely relates.
What is the protagonist
200
The process that involves letting a reader know who the people in the story are and what they are like.
What is character development
200
This is the second step in the writing process in which the first or rough draft is created.
What is writing or drafting
200

The first part of a story arc where the setting is established and characters are introduced.

What is the exposition

200

A comparison that is made between two unrelated things using the words "like" or "as."

What is a simile

200
A character in a narrative who is opposed to the protagonist or protagonists; a villain.
What is the antagonist
300

The central struggle or tension within a narrative that shapes the plot and drives the action forward.

What is conflict

300
This is the third step in the writing process in which the writer rereads what he or she has written in the rough draft, gets feedback from others, and makes changes to ideas, organization, voice, word choice, and sentence fluency.
What is revising
300
The point in the story arc where the main conflict is introduced and the tension begins to build.
What is the rising action
300

A comparison that is made between two unrelated things that does not use the words "like" or "as."

What is a metaphor

300
The emotional voice that an author brings to a narrative.
What is the tone
400

The angle or perspective from which a story is told.

What is point-of-view

400
This is the fourth step in the writing process in which the writer checks and corrects all errors in conventions, including spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and grammar.
What is proofreading or editing
400
The point in the story arc where the characters have faced the main conflict and events begin falling into place.
What is the falling action
400

A figure of speech in which human characteristics are given to an animal or an object. (Example: "The wind whispered through the window.")

What is personification

400
The emotions that a narrative makes a reader feel.
What is the mood
500

A main idea or message that is presented by the author in various ways throughout a narrative.

What is theme

500
This is the fifth and final step in the writing process in which the written work is prepared in its final form and presented to the teacher and/or class for evaluation.
What is publishing
500
The final step in the story arc in which all loose ends of the narrative are tied up and the story concludes.
What is the resolution or denouement
500

An exaggeration that is so dramatic that no one would believe the statement is literally true.

What is hyperbole

500
A person, object, action, place, or event in a narrative that in addition to its literal meanings suggests a more complex meaning.
What is a symbol
M
e
n
u