Short Story Literary Terms
allusion	a reference to something outside the reading that the author expect the reader to know about; common references are to the Bible, literature, history, & mythology
antagonist	main character's opposition
autobiography	short story about a person's life written by that person
biography	any account of a real person's life
cause & effect	one event leading to another event
conflict	tension or struggle
	internal			tension within a person/character e.g. guilt, making a decision
	external			tension with an outside force e.g. nature, person, weather
connotation	the emotions or pictures a word carries with it
denotation	dictionary meaning of a word
characterization	how an author creates life-like characters
	5 methods of characterization
	1.	Dialogue
	2.	actions
	3.	appearance
	4.	Inner thoughts
	5.	Interactions w/ others
dialogue	words between characters
	direct dialogue					quotation marks before & after the character's words
	indirect dialogue					a statement which simply tells the reader that a character has spoken; no quotation marks are used
diction	author's choice of words
essay	a brief composition that presents a personal point of view
fiction	a story, novel, or play about imagined people or events
flashback	an episode which takes the reader back as though the event described is currently happening
foreshadowing	hints of what is to come
generalization	a broad general statement about something/someone
genre	a form or type of literary work
imagery	pictures made with words; appeals strongly to the five senses
inference	a reasonable conclusion drawn from evidence or hints
irony	a contrast between what appears to be & what really is
	verbal				saying/writing the opposite of the intended meaning
	situational				an event is contrary to what is expected or appropriate
	dramatic				reader/spectator knows more about the true state of affairs than a character does
mood	the feeling a reader gets from reading a selection
moral	the lesson or principle contained in or taught by a fable, a story, or an event
mystery	a piece of fiction dealing a puzzling situation (usually a crime)
parallel episode	events that are happening at the same time, often w/out the main character’s knowledge
personification	gives human characteristics to nonhuman things
plot	order of events in a story
	introduction					beginning of a story revealing the setting, characters and hint of the conflict
	conflict					tension or struggle
	rising action					building of tension, development of conflict
	climax					turning point, point of decision, action that's been building up in the story takes a different turn
	falling action					incidents as a result of main character's decision (climax) in the story after the climax
	conclusion/resolution					ending of story, conflict should be resolved
point of view	through whose eyes a story is being told
	1st person		a character IN the story is telling the story
	3rd person		the person telling the story is NOT in the story
protagonist	main character
sarcasm	using sneering voice in your audible words or writing
sensory details	appealing to the five senses
short story	a story shorter than a novel; describes just one event,
science fiction	works set entirely or partly in an unreal world; often one character is human; plot can not be scientifically explained
setting	when and where
sub-plot	a story w/in a story
symbol	has meaning in itself but represents something else
theme	main underlying idea
tone	attitude of the writer towards his/her work of writing