1. LITERARY ELEMENTS

2. ELEMENTS OF A STORY AKA the Plot Pyramid Plot= sequence of events in a story.

3. EXPOSITION  The background information of a story  Introduces setting, situation and characters

4. Inciting incident  Sparks the conflict; event that sets the conflict into motion

5. CONFLICT  Major problem of the story that must be solved by the end. Struggle between opposing forces: external and internal.

6. RISING ACTION  The events of a story building suspense  What leads up to the climax

7. CLIMAX  The turning point of the story  Highest point of emotional intensity (for characters!)

8. FALLING ACTION  The events winding down in the story  Leading towards the resolution

9. RESOLUTION  The final outcome of a story  resolves the major conflict of the story

10. Terms Essential for Telling and Understandi ng Short Stories

11. THEME  A central idea or statement that unifies and controls and entire literary work.  Basically, the moral or message of the story.  Must ALWAYS be in sentence form. NEVER just one word.

12. SYMBOLS  A word, place, character, or object that means something beyond what it concretely means.  EX: a dove =peace

13. IMAGERY  Creating“mental pictures” by using lots of colorful language that actually paints a vision, employing your five senses.  EX: The sun erupted from its slumber showering the morning with blazing shades of crimson and burnt orange.

14. TONE  Author’s attitude toward a subject  Described as an adjective: ex. humorous, angry, delighted, mock- serious MOOD  The feeling or atmosphere a writer creates in a work.

15. SETTING  Time and place of the action of a story.

16. CHARACTERIZATION  The way of describing characters and revealing their personalities.

17. DYNAMIC CHARACTER  Characters that undergo change STATIC CHARACTER Characters that do not change.

18. Allusion  Indirect reference to another literary work or famous person, place, or event.

19. Foreshadowing:  Use of hints or clues to indicate events and situations that will occur later in the plot. Creates SUSPENSE and prepares reader for what is to come. Suspense: Excitement or tension readers feel as they become involved in the story and eager to know the outcome.

20. IRONY  Difference from what is expected; contrast between appearance and reality.  Situational : contrast between what a reader expects and what actually happens.  Dramatic : reader knows more than the character  Verbal : says one thing means another

21. NARRATION STYLES

22. FIRST PERSON POV  The narrator is a character in the story and tells everything in his or her own words. (I)

23. THIRD PERSON LIMITED  The narrator tells only what one character thinks, feels, and observes.(he/she)

24. 3 rd PERSON OMNISCIENT POV  (omniscient= all-knowing)  An observer that tells the story and knows it all (almost like a God like character). Sees into the minds of more than one character.

25. I ’ ll Try not to Torture you with More Notes for a While