Short Story Literary Terms

central idea, concern, purpose, or message in a story

a character who is changed by the events of a story

highest point of interest in the story

the turning point for the protagonist

when an author directly states or describes a character in a straight forward manner

writer's attitude toward his/her subject

a story with more than one level of meaning

conversation between characters

struggle between opposing forces

when the narrator is a character in the story (uses I, me, we)

a reference to a well-known person, place, event, literary work, or work of art

sequence of events in a story

main character in a literary work

character or speaker who tells the story

a division or type of literature

word choice

the use of clues that suggest events are yet to come

feeling created by a piece of literature

when the narrator is an outside source who knows only one character's thoughts and feelings

when characters, setting, and the basic situations are introduced

a brief story about an amusing or strange event

act of creating characters

characters that have only one or two traits

time and place of the action

anything that stands for something else

complicated characters that exhibit numerous qualities or traits

when the narrator is an outside source who knows the feelings of every character

when a writer shows a character's personality through actions, thoughts, feelings, etc.

characters that stay the same; they don't change

when a non-human subject is given human qualities

person or animal who takes part in the story

a character whose actions are inspiring or noble