The early part of a story that includes the setting, characters and the conflict.

The major part of a story in which the conflict develops through the events

Also called the Rising Action

The most exciting or tense part of the plot, the highest emotional point.

Occurs after the climax when the action leads toward the solution.

All the problems or mysteries of the plot are unraveled and settled.

The time and place in which a story, play, or narrative takes place.

The main character in a story often called the “hero”

The character or force that blocks the protagonist.  Can be another character, nature, society or even some quality within the protagonist.

In literature, the problem that is created between the protagonist and antagonist. The solution of this problem makes up the story. 

A conflict that takes place entirely within a character’s mind

Man v Self

A conflict in which a character struggles against an outside force

Man v Man

Man v Nature

Man v Society

A lesson about life that a story teaches

The perspective the narrator, storyteller, takes when telling the story.

The narrator is a character in the story and tells the story using the pronoun “I”

The person telling the story knows everything that is going on in the story and can tell what  everyone is thinking.

Uses the pronouns “he” and “she”.

The narrator is outside the story and tells the story from the vantage point of only one character.

Uses the pronoun “he” or “she”.

Reference to a statement, person, place, or event from history, literature, religion, mythology, politics, sports, science, or pop culture

A description of the physical, mental, emotional and behavioral qualities of a person in a literary work.

The writer describes the physical, emotional and mental qualities directly to the reader. 

The reader has to use his own judgment to decide what a character is like based on the evidence that the writer gives.

A character who does not change much in the course of a story

A Character who changes as a result of the events of a story.

A character who has only one or two traits that can be described in a few words.

A character who has many different traits that may even contradict one another.

The moment of awakening or realization for a character.

A scene in a movie, short story, novel, or narrative poem that interrupts the present action of the plot to go backward and tell what happened earlier.

Language that appeals to the senses to create a mental picture. 

A contrast or significant difference between expectations and reality 

A writer or speaker says one thing but really means something completely different.

Both the audience and the characters experience a surprise or shock at what occurs because they expected something else. 

Occurs when the audience or reader knows something important that a character does not know. 

A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things by using a connective  word such as “like,” “as,” “than,”

“resembles.” 

A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things in which one thing  becomes another thing without using  words such as “like,” “as,” “than,” “resembles.”

The feelings a work stimulates in a reader.

The attitude a writer takes toward the reader, a subject or a character

Giving hints or clues beforehand in a story that create suspense and/or to subtly prepare the reader for what is to follow.