Unit 1: Craft and Structure Vocabulary

Short stories are brief fictional narratives intended to be read in a single sitting.

The characters are the people or animals who take part in the action of the story.

Details in the story help readers understand characters' traits, or qualities, and motives, or reasons for acting.

Details in the story help readers understand characters' traits, or qualities, and motives, or reasons for acting.

The setting of a story is the time and place of its action.

The setting often contributes to a story's mood—the general feeling the story conveys.

The plot of a story is the sequence of events it tells.

Plot often contributes to the unified effect of a story by building toward a climax, or turning point, in which a character reaches an insight or undergoes a change.

A plot is driven by a conflict, or struggle between two opposing forces.

As the elements of a story combine to create a unified effect, they also suggest a theme, or insight into life.

A symbol is an object or a story element that stands for a larger meaning.

In the section of the plot called the exposition, the author introduces the setting and the characters.

The next part of a typical plot is the rising action, which includes events and complications that intensify the conflict.

The falling action sets up the story's ending. The intensity of the conflict lessens and events wind down, leading to the resolution, or denouement, which shows the outcome of the conflict.

The falling action sets up the story's ending. The intensity of the conflict lessens and events wind down, leading to the resolution, or denouement, which shows the outcome of the conflict.

The falling action sets up the story's ending. The intensity of the conflict lessens and events wind down, leading to the resolution, or denouement, which shows the outcome of the conflict.

In the best short stories, the main characters are interesting and complex, or well-rounded.

All characters have motivations, or reasons for feeling and behaving as they do.

To create and develop a character, a writer will use techniques of characterization.

To create and develop a character, a writer will use techniques of characterization.

In direct characterization, the narrator makes direct statements about a character's personality: Afshin focused on just one thing at a time, but the depth of his focus was remarkable. Before a race, his single-minded trance could only be broken by the sound of the starter's whistle.

In indirect characterization, readers learn what characters are like by analyzing what they say and do as well as how other characters respond to them: Summer or winter, in sun, wind, or rain, Jess rose before dawn and jogged the two-mile loop around the reservoir. After a quick shower and two chocolate donuts, she always felt ready to face the day.

Sequence: Narrators tell plot events mainly in chronological order—the order in which events occurred.

Sequence: Narrators tell plot events mainly in chronological order—the order in which events occurred.

Flashbacks are sections of a narrative that describe a time before the present time of the story.

Foreshadowing gives readers hints about what will happen later in the story, as when a narrator says, “That would be the last time they spoke."

Foreshadowing can create suspense, or a reader's feeling of anxious uncertainty about the outcome.

Pacing refers to the "speed" with which a narrator relates events. For example, by describing a scene at length and giving many descriptive details, the narrator "slows down" the pace.

The point of view, or narrative perspective, from which a story is told determines the information an author includes.

Third-person omniscient: The narrator is outside the events of the story and tells the thoughts and feelings of all characters.

First-person: The narrator is a character in the story and uses the pronouns I and me.

Third-person omniscient: The narrator is outside the events of the story and tells the thoughts and feelings of all characters.

Point of view can be used to achieve striking effects. For example, if the first-person narrator is naive, or unsophisticated, the reader may know more about what is going on than the narrator, creating an effect known as dramatic irony.