Novels/Short Stories

1. Novels/Short Stories

2. NOVEL • A long fictional story, whose length is normally somewhere between one hundred and five hundred pages • Uses the elements of storytelling: PLOT, CHARACTER, SETTING, THEME, and POINT OF VIEW

3. SHORT STORY • A short fictional prose narrative that usually makes up about 10 to 20 book pages • Follows the elements of plot-introduction/exposition, complications/rising action, climax, falling action, resolution • 1st written in the 19th century • More limited than novels-usually have only 1 or 2 major characters and one important setting

4. PLOT • The series of related events that make up a story • INTRODUCTION/ EXPOSITION: tells us who the characters are and, usually, what their conflict is • COMPLICATIONS/RISING ACTION: arise as the characters take steps to resolve the conflict • CLIMAX: the most exciting moment in the story, when the outcome is decided one way or another • FALLING ACTION: final part of a story when the characters’ problems are solved • RESOLUTION: the story is closed

5. CONFLICT • A struggle or clash between opposing characters, or between opposing forces. • INTERNAL CONFLICT: a struggle occurs within the character’s own mind • Man vs. self • EXTERNAL CONFLICT: a character struggles against some outside force • Man vs. man • Man vs. nature • Man vs. society

6. POINT OF VIEW • The vantage point from which a story is told • OMNISCIENT: All knowing, the narrator knows everything about the characters and their problems; past, present, and future • 3RD PERSON LIMITED: the narrator focuses on the thoughts and feelings of just one character • 1ST PERSON: one of the characters is actually telling the story, using the personal pronoun “I”

7. IRONY • A contrast between what appears to be true and what is really true or between expectation and reality • VERBAL IRONY-contrast between what is said or written and what is really meant • SITUATIONAL IRONY-occurs when what happens is very different from what we expected would happen • DRAMATIC IRONY-occurs when the audience or reader knows something that a character does not know

8. SETTING • The time and place of a story or play

9. ATMOSPHERE/MOOD • The overall mood or emotion of a work of literature • Ex: scary, dreamy, happy, sad • Atmosphere is created through a writer’s use of words to create images, sounds, and descriptions that convey a particular feeling.

10. CHARACTER • A person, animal, or thing in a story, play, or other literary work. • Static character: one who does NOT change very much throughout the story or piece of work • Dynamic character: one who changes as a result of the story’s events.

11. PROTAGONIST • The main character in a work of literature • ANTAGONIST: a character who is opposing the protagonist

12. CHARACTERIZATION • The process of revealing the personality of a character. • 6 ways to reveal characterization • By letting us HEAR THE CHARACTER SPEAK • By DESCRIBING how the character LOOKS AND DRESSES • By letting us LISTEN to the CHARACTER’S INNER THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS • By revealing what OTHER PEOPLE IN THE STORY THINK OR SAY about the character • By showing us WHAT THE CHARACTER DOES • By TELLING US DIRECTLY what the character’s personality is like (i.e. cruel, kind, sneaky, brave, and so on)

13. FORESHADOWING • The use of clues or hints suggesting events that will occur later in the plot • Used to build suspense or anxiety in the reader

14. SUSPENSE • The uncertainty or anxiety we feel about what will happen next in a story

15. FLASHBACK • Interruption in the present action of a plot to flash backward and tell what happened at an earlier time • FLASH FORWARD: a break in the movement of a plot to an episode in the future

16. TONE • The attitude a writer takes toward the audience, a subject, or a character • Conveyed through the writer’s choice of words and detail • EX: humorous, sad, serious

17. THEME • A main idea of a work of literature • NOT the same as a subject • Theme must be expressed in a statement or sentence, not just one word