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Reading: Literature - Fiction - Introductory

Here's a novel idea: Get book smart by learning this list of terms related to reading fiction. Review all the major features of fictional texts, including setting, plot, and theme, as well literary devices like suspense and foreshadowing.
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Full list of words from this list:

  1. chapter
    a subdivision of a written work; usually numbered and titled
  2. character
    an imaginary person represented in a work of fiction
  3. characterization
    a vivid verbal description
  4. characterize
    describe or portray the qualities or peculiarities of
  5. complication
    a development that makes a situation more challenging
  6. conflict
    opposition in a work of fiction between characters or forces
  7. dialogue
    the lines spoken by characters in drama or fiction
  8. fable
    a short moral story
  9. fairy tale
    a children's story involving fantastical beings or elements
  10. fantasy
    fiction with a large amount of imagination in it
  11. flashback
    a transition in a story to an earlier event or scene
  12. foreshadow
    indicate by signs
  13. foreshadowing
    the act of providing vague advance indications
  14. mood
    the prevailing psychological state
  15. mystery
    a story about a crime presented as a novel or play or movie
  16. narration
    a telling of a story in writing, drama, or cinema
  17. narrator
    someone who tells a story
  18. novel
    an extended fictional work in prose
  19. novella
    a short novel
  20. plot
    the story that is told, as in a novel, play, movie, etc.
  21. point of view
    a mental position from which things are perceived
  22. science fiction
    genre involving the imagined impact of technology on society
  23. setting
    the context and environment in which something is situated
  24. short story
    a brief but fully developed prose narrative
  25. suspense
    excited anticipation of an approaching climax
  26. tall tale
    an improbable (unusual or incredible or fanciful) story
  27. theme
    a unifying idea that is a recurrent element in literary work
  28. tone
    a quality that reveals the attitudes of the author
Created on Wed Jan 18 13:06:26 EST 2017 (updated Wed Mar 29 15:33:40 EDT 2017)

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