Short Story Vocabulary
Short Story:
A fictional narrative that is short. Short stories concentrate
on few characters and events.
Setting:
The setting is the background to a story. It gives
information on who (characters), where (location), when
(time), and mood (the feeling in the story).
Point of View:
The point of view is who is telling the story:
1. Omniscient Narrator – An all-knowing story teller
who knows all the characters actions, thoughts, and
feelings.
2. First Person – “I” is the main character, and tells his
or her own story.
3. Third Person – The story’s told from one character’s
perspective. The character is referred to by his/her
name, and he/she.
Theme:
The moral or message of the story.
Character Types:
1. Protagonist – The main character of the story. He/she
is usually, but not always, the “good” person.
Short Story Vocabulary
2. Antagonist – The force against the protagonist. It is
usually another character, but not always. The
antagonist could be an external force such as the
environment, society, and poverty or it could be an
internal force such as the protagonist’s insanity or
own fears.
Conflict:
The struggle or problem in the story. Usually, the
protagonist and the antagonist struggle against each other,
which means the antagonist isn’t always a character (for
example, the story might have a woman struggling to
survive a cold winter, in which case the antagonist is the
weather).
Short Story Vocabulary
Plot – The events of a story or the series of actions that take
place in the story. Plot is traditionally divided into five
parts:
1. Introduction – The beginning of the story. The
reader meets the characters (who) and discovers the
setting (where/when).
2. Rising Action – A series of events that lead to the
climax. It is the longest part of the story. The
reader gets more information about the conflict
(problem) and characters here.
3. Climax – Here, the reader finds out what happened
to the conflict, or how the conflict is resolved
4. Falling Action – The event that follows the climax.
This part is very short.
5. Conclusion – The story’s ending. There are three
types of conclusions:
1. Expository – Everything is explained to
the reader.
2. Twist – The reader is surprised by a
sudden change in what he/she expected at
the ending.
3. Cliffhanger – The reader is left dangling
by the story, and has to figure things out
about the ending by him or herself.
Short Story Vocabulary Booklet
Create a vocabulary booklet that for each term has:
1. Definition
2. Example
3. Picture
Short Story Vocabulary Terms:
1. Short Story
2. Setting
3. Omniscient Narrator
4. First Person
5. Third Person
6. Theme
7. Protagonist
8. Antagonist
9. Conflict
10. Plot
11. Introduction
12. Rising Actions
13. Climax
14. Falling Actions
15. Conclusion
16. Cliffhanger
17. Twist
18. Expository