High School Literary Terms

The central idea in the story

• Tone

• Irony

• Motive

• Theme

The point at which the conflict is ended or resolved

• Rising action

• Exposition

• Denouement

• Resolution

Introduces the characters and the setting, provides necessary background information

• Plot

• Crisis

• Exposition

• Mood

Which word below is a memory--the author interrupts the plot of the story to recreate an incident of an earlier time.

• foreshadowing

• flashback

• conflict

• climax

Which word is the portion of a story that helps the reader to understand the background or situation in which the story is set. It includes the setting, characters, and conflict.

• flashback

• exposition

• falling action

• resolution

Which point of view occurs when the character narrates from within the story with first person pronouns such as I-me-my-mine in his or her speech

• 1st person

• 2nd person

• 3rd person limited

• 3rd person omniscient

 Certain words used to create an image in the reader’s mind.

• imagery

• personification

• hyperbole

• simile

Which word below is a hint or clue about something to come in the story?

• drama

• flashback

• foreshadowing

• conflict

Which word below is the turning point in the story. It may or may not coincide with the high point of action?

• climax

• rising action

• falling action

• resolution

Which word below is an instruction in the text of a play, especially one indicating the movement, position, or tone of an actor, or the sound effects or lighting.

• foreshadowing

• stage directions

• resolution

• drama