Short Story Terms

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Short Story Terms
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plot

• a series of related events, each event connected
  to the others

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conflict

• a struggle against some outside enemy or some
  internal problem

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exposition

• From the word expose to show to reveal
• 3 things revealed or introduced
• to the reader
• 1) the setting
• 2) the characters
• 3) the conflict

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rising action

• the plot thickens
• the conflict is fully shown

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climax

• the most intense moment in the plot

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falling action

• the conflict begins to settle but is not fully
  resolved

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resolution

• the end of the story
• the conflict is resolved

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denouement

• literally unraveling the knot

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foreshadowing

• hints in the beginning of the story about what
  will happen later in the story

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internal conflict

• a characters struggle against inner problems
  such as fear or anger

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external conflict

• a characters struggle against something outside
  of him or herself