Literary Terms and Plot Devices

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narrative

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(n.) a spoken or written account of connected events; a story.

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narration

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(n.) the action or process of giving a spoken or written account of a story.

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narrator

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(n.) a person or character who tells a story.

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plot

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(n.) the sequence of events that make up a story.

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plot diagram

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(n.) an organizational tool in the general shape of a triangle, which is used to map the events in a story.

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epigraph

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(n.) a short quote included at the beginning of a piece of writing.

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prologue

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(n.) an introduction to a spoken or written work such as a speech or play; preface.

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exposition

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(n.) the introduction of a story or book, when the characters and setting are first described.

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in media res

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(adv.) "into the middle of things;" when a narrative work begins in the chronological middle of the plot, rather than at the beginning.

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setting

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(n.) the time, place, and environment in which a story occurs.