Short Story Literature Terms, List 2

The time and place of action in a story

• Exposition

• Climax

• Setting

• Resolution

The attitude the author has toward his/her subject and the audience

• Mood

• Tone

• Imagery

• Irony

Descriptive language that appeals to the five senses

• Imagery

• Irony

• Indirect characterization

• Symbol

A scene is a story that interrupts the sequence of events to relate to an event from an earlier time

• Symbol

• Allusion

• Flashback

• Setting

A reference to a well-known person, place, event, or work of art

• Setting

• Tone

• Mood

• Allusion

The reader learns about the character by what they do, say, think, and how they treat other characters

• Irony

• Direct Characterization

• Symbolism

• Indirect Characterization

The universal message or insight about life expressed in a story (written as a complete sentence!)

• Mood

• Theme

• Tone

• Irony

A literary technique that involves a surprising, interesting, or amusing contradiction to surprise or amuse the reader

• Direct Characterization

• Indirect Characterization

• Irony

• Imagery

The overall feeling that the reader gets based on the details in the story

• Mood

• Tone

• Irony

• Theme

A tangible or concrete object that represents an intangible or abstract idea

• Setting

• Symbol / Symbolism

• Allusion

• Flashback