Literary Terms

First I will talk about what a plot is. A plot is like the story line. It is the series of events that take place in a story. A story consists of 8 parts. Here is a diagram to show what they are. We will talk about the numbers that are on the chart and what they mean next.

1. Exposition/Introduction: This is where they will show what is going on, where it is, when it is, and some of the background information on the story.
2. Rising Action: This is where things start to happen that will affect the story.
3. Climax/Turning Point: At the climax there is a big event that will head the story in a new direction. None of these have to be at a certain spot, but must stay in this order.
4. Falling Action: Here is when things start so slow down. There is a little less action, and the major events have mostly taken place.
5. Conclusion: Now the story is getting wrapped up, and will be concluded.
6. Conflict: This is where the problem is stated, or could be inferred. This is what causes the action to rise
7. Resolution: This is where the problem is solved. This is what causes the action to fall.
8. The line. It is just the whole story, and doesn’t play much of a part.

Now I will talk about some of the characters. Characters are any person or animal that takes part in the action of a story. They should have appearance, personality, speech, mannerisms, and physical characteristics. The protagonist is the “good guy” in the story. The story may revolve around this character. The antagonist is anything that opposes the protagonist.

                The tone of the story is what the author felt about the writing. It could be tragic, humorous, or adventurous. The theme is a message about life in the text, like “quitters never win”.

                The point of view that a story was written on can be one of 3 types:

1st Person- This is where the main character is “I”. Everything is from their perspective.

2nd Person- This is when “you” are the main character. It is rare, because most people would

 make different decisions or not like being in that situation.

3rd Person- This has 3 types, but is from a “this person did this” rather than “you/I did this”

. It can be either limited (getting into some of the characters feelings), omniscient (getting into every character’s feelings), or narrative (no feelings just words and actions).