Elements of Fiction

Elements of Fiction Vocabulary Word Review

characters • actors in the plot

Setting: • Where and when the story takes place

Plot: • the action of the story, the events

Conflict: • The struggle between opposing forces; man vs. man, himself, nature, society, or God

Climax: • The turning point in the plot; a moment where the tension is at its peak

Denouement: • The untangling of the conflict; the resolution

Epiphany: • moment of truth

Round Characters: • Developed completely and we have a complete picture of the character described

Flat Character: • Underdeveloped and the reader knows very little about their personality. We see only one side; a minor character

Protagonist: • The central or main character who is the center of most of the action; often the hero

Antagonist: • A character representing the force which is opposed to the hero; usually the villain

Foil Character • A character designed to a mirror opposite of another character

Theme: • the author’s central message or purpose in writing

Style: • the characteristic way authors express themselves in language

Foreshadowing: • The writer drops hints at the outcome of the plot

Image • Mental pictures that writers create by using sensory details

Point of View • The manner in which the author narrates the story; who is telling the story and how much they know

All Knowing Narrator • Omniscient narrator; like a god looking down from above; this narrator knows everything

Limited All-Knowing • only knows about ONE character ONLY

observer • Tells the story as if that individual were seeing it on the stage

Symbolism: • A character, object, or event which stands for something else and has a deeper or wider meaning

Public symbols: • Everybody recognizes this object that stands for something

private symbols: • Symbols not easily recognized because it is specific to the story • dust = poverty

metaphor: • A comparison of two unlike objects not using the words like or as • Rock Solid

Simile • A comparison between unlike objects using like or as • as sly as a fox

Hyperbole: • Involves extensive exaggeration and is chiefly used for effect (usually humor) • Dave was so conceited that he developed a head as big as a barn.

personification: • To give inanimate objects life-like characteristics

Irony • Opposite of what expects

verbal irony: • The speaker actually means the exact opposite of what is said

Situational irony: • The situation or action is opposite of what one would expect

Tone: • The attitude the writers have toward the subject matter they have written about (bitter, honest, realistic, ironic, etc.) • M*A*S*H

mood • The emotional response of readers toward what they have read

Elements of Fiction