Literary Terms

Plot The plot is the action of the story. This action is usually made up of a series of events called the plot line.

Types of Linear Plots Plots can be told in Chronological order Flashback In addition, you can note that some stories follow a circular or episodic plot, and hypertextual stories can be different every time they’re read, as the reader chooses the direction that the story takes. If a story that students are working on does not fit into the triangle structure, think about why the author would choose a different story structure and how the structure has changed. In media res (in the middle of things) when the story starts in the middle of the action without exposition

Plot Components Climax: the turning point, the most intense moment—either mentally or in action Rising Action: the series of conflicts and crisis in the story that lead to the climax Falling Action: all of the action which follows the climax Exposition: The mood and conditions existing at the beginning of the story. The setting is identified. The main characters with their positions, circumstances and relationships to one another are established. The exciting force or initial conflict is introduced. Sometimes called the “Narrative HOOK” this begins the conflict that continues throughout the story. Rising Action: The series of events, conflicts, and crises in the story that lead up to the climax, providing the progressive intensity, and complicate the conflict. Climax: The turning point of the story. A crucial event takes place and from this point forward, the protagonist moves toward his inevitable end. The event may be either an action or a mental decision that the protagonist makes. Falling Action: The events occurring from the time of the climax to the end of the story. The main character may encounter more conflicts in this part of the story, but the end is inevitable. Resolution/Denouement: The tying up of loose ends and all of the threads in the story. The conclusion. The hero character either emerges triumphant or is defeated at this point. Exposition: the start of the story, the situation before the action starts Resolution: the conclusion, the tying together of all of the threads

Setting The setting is the time and the place of the story. Time can refer to the… …time period. (ex. Civil War Era) …time of year. (ex. Summer) …time of day. (ex. Sunset)

Characters Characters are the people in the story. Characterization is the author’s special way of explaining the people in her story – telling us about their personalities and their motives.

Conflict Conflict is the problem or the dramatic struggle between two forces in a story. Without conflict, there is no plot.

Types of Conflict Interpersonal Conflict Person vs Person Person vs Nature Person vs Society Person vs Fate Human vs Self Internal Conflict

Dialogue Dialogue is the talking that goes on between characters in a story.

Theme Theme is the “subject” or “message” being written about or discussed. Think of the Summer Reading question… “What do you think the author was trying to say…?”

Mood and Tone The mood is the feeling the reader gets from the story: happy, sad, peaceful, etc. The tone is the author’s attitude or feeling about a piece of writing. The author’s tone may be serious, humorous, satiric (poking fun at), etc.

Point of View Point of view is the angle from which the story is told. This depends on who is telling the story. First-person: one of the characters, a narrator, is telling the story (I, me, we, us) Third-person: someone outside of the story is telling it. (He, she, it, they)