Study Review

Reading Terms

GenresBiography?

The story of a person’s life as told by someone other than the person.

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Autobiography

The story of a person’s life as told by the person.

Genres

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GenresFable

A type of fairy story with talking animals as characters which is meant to teach a lesson or moral.

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GenresFairy Tale

A story that is set long ago and far away, usually does not have a known author, and it has an element of magic.

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Trickster Tale

A type of story from Africa in which one of the characters tricks another of the characters. The trick usually resolves the story.

Genre’s

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GenresHistorical Fiction

A fictional story that has people from history as characters or is set during actual historical events.

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GenresTall Tale

A funny story that uses many exaggerations about an American hero. This type of story was invented in the United States.

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GenresShort Story

A story with characters and a plot that is completely resolved within 20 pages or less.

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Literary DevicesSimile

A comparison of two unlike things using like or as to create an image (word picture).

Is like

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Literary DevicesMetaphor

A comparison of two unlike things in which one of them is described as the other. The description is meant to create an image (word picture.)

Jesus is the good shepherd!

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Literary DevicesOnomatopoeia

Words that sound like what they mean such as bang, clang, clank, clamor, ring, etc.

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Literary DevicesIrony

The written words mean something other than their actual or literal meaning. Spoken irony usually is expressed as sarcasm.

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Literary DevicesForeshadowing

Foreshadowing is when the narrator (person telling the story) gives clues or hints to later story events early in the story.

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Literary DevicesFlashback

In a flashback the action of a story goes back to a previous time to explain something that is happening in the present.

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Literary DevicesIdiom

An idiom is a simile or metaphor that is commonly used in every day speech. Usually the people who live in a area recognized the meaning of the idiom when they hear it. For example, “Don’t cross your bridges before you come to them!” or “Between a rock and a hard place!”

Tied himself in knots!

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Literary DevicesPersonification

Personification is giving human characteristics to an object or an animal.

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Literary DevicesDialect

Dialect is writing the dialogue in a story as if a person is speaking it. Dialect reflects a characters’ regional accent and word choices.

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Literary DevicesExaggerations

Exaggerations are when the author purposely makes a characters abilities or accomplishments larger than life for comic effect.

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Plot ElementsPlot

The events that happen in the story in the order that they happen.

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Plot ElementsName the elements of a plot.

Exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution.

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Plot elementsExposition

Exposition introduces the characters, the setting and background information which makes the plot understandable.

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Plot ElementsRising Action

Rising Action introduces the conflict.Click Here

Plot ElementsClimax

Climax is the most exciting thing that happens in a story or it is the turning point for the main characters story.

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Plot ElementsFalling Action

Falling Action resolves the conflict of the story.

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Plot ElementsResolution

Resolution is the end of the story. It ties up all loose ends in the story and gives the reader a sense of what will happen after the story.

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Plot ElementsTheme

Theme is the lesson that the reader or the protagonist (main character) learns from the story.

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Universal Theme

The universal theme is a value held by many people in many different cultures.

Plot Elements

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Plot ElementsConflict

Conflict is the problem between the protagonist (main character) and the antagonist in the story.

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Plot ElementsBackground

Information

Background information is information given in the story about a character’s backstory or events that led up to the conflict between the protagonist (main story) and the antagonist. Background information does not take place in the story itself.

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Plot ElementsMood or tone

Mood or tone is the feeling of a story.Click Here

CharactersProtagonist

The protagonist is the main character in the story.

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CharactersAntagonist

Antagonist is the character, object or event that has a conflict with the main character or protagonist. The antagonist can be a character, an event or the protagonist if the conflict is internal.

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CharactersPivotal characters

Pivotal characters are not the protagonist or antagonist in a story but are important to the plot of a story.

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CharactersWhat is the character’s motivation?

A character’s motivation is the reason a character behaves the way he does.

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CharactersDialogue

Dialogue is what a character says in a story. A dialogue occurs between two or more characters. If a character is talking to himself it is a monologue.

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CharactersDirect Characterization

In Direct characterization the leader learns about the character’s looks, abilities, hopes, dreams, etc. through a direct description in the story.

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CharacterIndirect Characterization

In indirect characterization the reader learns about a character’s abilities, dreams, hopes, etc. by what the character says and does and by what other characters say about him.

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Point of ViewNarrator

The narrator is the person telling the story.Click Here

Point of ViewPoint of view

Point of view is the viewpoint or perspective from which the story is told.

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Point of ViewThree points of view

The three points of view are first person, third person limited and third person omniscient.

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Point of ViewFirst person point of view

First person point of view is when the narrator (person telling the story) is a character in the story. First person point of view is easily recognized because the narrator will use first person pronouns such as: I, me, my, we, and us.

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Third Person Limited

Third person limited point of view is when the person telling the story (narrator) is outside the story but the narrator only tells the story from a single character’s point of view.

Point of View

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Point of ViewThird Person Omniscient

Third person omniscient point of view is when the person telling the story is outside the story but he knows what every character is thinking and what will happen in the end of the story allowing the narrator to give hints (foreshadow) what will happen later in the story. The narrator is god-like or omniscient which means all-knowing.

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