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Literary Terms
ENC 1102
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Fable

A brief, often humorous narrative told to illustrate a moral( a
message sometimes stated at the end).

A fable many times employs animal characters with human
capabilities

Example: “ Appointment in Samarra” – W. Somerset
Maugham

“ The North Wind and the Sun”
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Parable

A brief narrative that teaches a moral, but unlike the fable its
plot is plausibly realistic and the main characters are human
rather than anthropomorphized animals or natural forces.

Parables have more mysterious and suggestive tones.

The moral is not explicitly stated and their meanings can be
open to several interpretations
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Tale

A story, usually short, that sets forth strange and wonderful
events in more or less bare summary , without detailed
character-drawing.

Examples- Paul Bunyan, John Henry ( tall tales)

Fairy Tales. “ Once upon a time…
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Plot-artistic arrangement of details
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Elements of Plot:

Conflict- struggle against opposing forces. Characters in a
story may face opposition with Nature, Society , other
characters, or a supernatural entity. A character may face an
internal conflict between opposing psychological impulses
or between different aspects of their own personality

Exposition: the portion of the story that sets the scene,
introduces characters, tells us what happened before the
story opens and provides any other background information
that we need in order to understand and care about the
events that follow.
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Elements of Plot:

Complications- elements that make the conflict difficult to
resolve

Crisis: a moment of high tension

Climax – the moment of greatest tension at which the
outcome of the narrative is to be decided
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Conclusion: ( resolution or denouement- untying of the knot)
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Narrative Techniques:

In medias res ( Latin- in the midst of things) The writer
chooses to skip over the exposition and present some
exciting or significant moment, then fills in with what
happened earlier.

Flashback ( Retrospect) A scene relived in a character’s
memory
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Epiphany- some moment of insight,
discovery, or revelation by which a
character’s life or view of life is greatly
altered.
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Suspense:

Heightened emotion which arouses interest in how the story
will turn out.
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Story of Initiation:

A story featuring a character who is initiated into experience
or maturity.
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Source:

Glau, Gregory R., Barry M. Maid, and Duane Roen. The
McGraw-Hill Guide Writing for College, Writing for Life. New
York: McGraw-Hill, 2010.