Plot Terms Quiz

The series of related events in a story or play, sometimes called a storyline; can be visually demonstrated with the triangle, the witch’s hat, or the mountain peak

• Plot

• Narrator

• Exposition

• Irony

also called basic situation; the opening part of the story in which the setting, characters, and conflict are introduced

• Exposition

• Resolution

• Symbol

• Protagonist

also called complications; the bulk of the story consisting of events centered around the conflict in order to build suspense

• Metaphor

• Antagonist

• Falling Action

• Rising Action

also called the turning point; a suspenseful part of the story where the protagonist makes a decision which makes the outcome more clear; a point of no return

• Falling Action

• Crisis

• First Person Narrator

• Ambiguity

the most suspenseful and exciting part of the story; where the outcome of the conflict is decided

• Setting

• Stock Character

• Climax

• Personification

the wind-down; events that take place after the climax and before the end of the story

• Falling Action

• Resolution

• Simile

• Omniscient Narrator

also called denouement; the final part of the story; all conflicts resolved and all loose ends tied up to provide closure

• Meter

• Cosmic Irony

• Resolution

• Climax

The order of events in a story that are usually chronological

• Sequence

• Theme

• Motivation

• Setting

Relating to the establishment of dates and time sequences, usually beginning at the earliest time and following the order in which the events occurred

• Round Character

• Chronological

• Plot

• Foreshadowing

A Latin phrase denoting the literary and artistic narrative technique wherein the telling of the story begins either at the midpoint or at the conclusion, rather than the beginning, of a story

• in medias res

• Sequence

• Direct Characterization

• Flashback