Elements of Fiction

Front

Element that shapes how events are told in a sequence or pattern.

Back

plot

Front

A type of plot wherein events are chronologically sequenced (beginning, middle, and end).

Back

classic plot

Front

A plot that begins in the middle of the story's action.

Back

in media res

Front

A plot device that is used when what is happening in the present is explained by recalling an event in the past.

Back

flashback

Front

A plot device that is used when a hint is provided about what will happen later in the narrative.

Back

foreshadowing

Front

The part of the plot where the initial state of things is being described.

Back

exposition

Front

What disturbs the initial state of things in a plot?

Back

conflict

Front

These events comprise the increase of intensity and subsequent complication of the plot.

Back

rising action

Front

The turning point of the plot, the point of its highest intensity. This is where a kind of decisive crisis is reached, changes the course of events and determines the ending.

Back

climax

Front

This refers to the unraveling of consequences of the major decision made at the turning point of the plot. Sometimes, a new state of things is created, a return to equilibrium as ending.

Back

falling action