Essential story vocabulary

1. Essential story vocabulary World Literature Mr. Faulkner 8/8/19

2. Plot • the sequence of events in a story

3. conflict • a struggle between opposing forces

4. theme • a central message or insight into life revealed through a literary work

5. protagonist • main character in the story • NOT necessarily the “good guy”

6. ANTAGONIST • A character or force in conflict with the main character • NOT necessarily the “bad guy”

7. Round character • A character developed enough to come across to the reader as a real person

8. Flat character • A character who shows only one main characteristic during the course of a work of literature; a stereotype

9. setting • The time, place, and atmosphere in which action takes place

10. tone • the author's attitude toward the subject of a story, toward a character, or toward the reader.

11. mood • How the reader feels about an author’s story, subject, setting, or character

12. Point of view • Who tells a story and how it is told.

13. 1st person point of view • the narrator is a character in the story; told from the "I" point of view

14. 3rd person limited point of view • Point of view in which the narrator is outside of the story - an observer; told from the "he, she, they" point of view • Narrator can tell us the thoughts of some characters but does not know everything

15. 3rd person omniscient point of view • Point of view in which the narrator is outside of the story - an observer; told from the "he, she, they" point of view • Narrator knows thoughts and feelings of all characters; knows everything

16. Dynamic character • A character that goes through a significant change over the course of the story

17. Static character • A character that does not change throughout a story