LITERARY TERMS FOR THE NOVEL AND SHORT STORY
1. PLOT is the events or series of events that make up a story.
2. THEME is the overall, general, philosophical guiding principle that motivates the action of the story.
3. CHARACTERIZATION is the revelation of or description of character. It is accomplished through dialogue or
description by the author or by another character or by the narrator.
4. DIALOGUE is the speech between characters in a novel, story, or play.
5. PLACE (LOCALE) is scene of the action.
6. SETTING is the scenic environment of the story, including types of buildings.
7. MOOD is the temper of mind of the reader or of the character through the events of the story.
8. TIME is the time period in which the action takes place.
9. VIEWPOINT is the stance from which the story is told. It can be omniscient or limited. It can also be first or third
person.
10. SYMBOLISM is using characters, events, settings, or objects to represent more than themselves.
11. FORESHADOWING is the giving of information that, at the time given, has no apparent purpose, but becomes important later in the story. Foreshadowing, at times, can create tension in the mind of the reader, or it can reveal character, or it can aid in the climax.
12. SUSPENSE is an uncertainty or anxiety as to outcome. It is a state aroused by circumstances of the plot.
13. EMOTION is an agitation of mind or disturbance that creates identification and/or continued interest.
14. CRISIS is a serious action that upsets the equilibrium of events.
15. CONFLICT is the clash and subsequent struggle for mastery involving events or characters.
16. CLIMAX is the culmination of action in a work. It is the maximum disturbance of equilibrium the moment of
intense strain and tension from which there is no escape.
17. ANTI-CLIMAX is a series of events that are less important than the ones preceding them.
18. DENOUEMENT is the conclusion or final wrap-up of a story.
