F I NAL S HORT S T ORY T E RMS

ENGLISH 11
CHARACTER FOIL
A character who serves to point out the
strengths or weaknesses of the
protagonist; usually, the foil has the
opposite character traits of the
protagonist
Example: Darth Vader. He wears black to
Lukes white, He is strong against Lukes
weakness, Vader is respected but Luke isnt
Most bad guys act as character foils
Sometimes the sidekick acts as a foil (i.e.
Donkey in Shrek)
CLICH
An expression that has been overused
to the extent that it loses its original
meaning or novelty
Examples:
In the nick of time
A diamond in the rough
Fit as a fiddle
Every cloud has a silver lining
Read between the lines
You only live once/ YOLO
CONFLICT
The central tension-causing conflict in
a story
Internal
Character vs. self
External
Character vs. character
Character vs. society
Character vs. nature


DENOUEMENT VS. FALLING ACTION
Falling action: the action that takes
place after the climax in a story (can
contain the denouement)
Denouement: the part of the story
where everything is tied together, this
connects the falling action to the
literal end of the story. Also called the
resolution.

EXPOSITION
Literary device used to introduce
background information about events,
settings, characters etc. to the audience
or readers.
Examples:
Opening credits of many movies set things up
Opening paragraph that sets the stage
Once upon a time, there were three bears.
There was a Daddy Bear, who was very big, a
Mama Bear, who was middle-sized, and a
Baby Bear, who was very small.
SARCASM
A type of irony where apparent praise is
used to convey strong, bitter, criticism.
Examples:
Well, arent you just a ray of sunshine?
Gee, thanks.
Sarcasm can often be dependent on the
tone of the person using it
SYMBOL/SYMBOLISM
Person, place, or thing that represents
something beyond itself, most often
something concrete or tangible that
represents an abstract idea.
Examples:
Logos
In The New Food, the tablet symbolized
technology and progress
The mockingjay pin in The Hunger Games
books/series


TONE VS. MOOD
Tone and mood are often confused
The tone of a piece of literature is the
speaker's or narrator's attitude towards
the subject, rather than what the reader
feels, as in mood.
Mood is the general feeling or
atmosphere that a piece of writing
creates within the reader.
Dialogue: conversation
Flashback: a scene in a
movie/novel/story set in a time earlier
than the main story
Indeterminate ending: an ending to
a work in which the central conflict is
left unresolved
Narrator: a person who narrates
something, especially a character
who recounts the events of a
story/poem/novel

Slang: language that is very informal,
more common in speech, and
typically restricted to a particular
context or group
Suspense: state or feeling of excited
or anxious uncertainty about what
may happen.