1. Literary Terms and Elements
Plot: The sequence of incidents or events through which an author constructs a story.
Deus ex machina: “God from a machine.”
Plot manipulation: a turn in the plot that is unjustified by the situation or the characters.

2. Magical Realism: The term magic realism describes contemporary fiction, usually associated with Latin America, whose narrative blends magical or fantastical elements with reality. 
Conflict: A clash of actions, ideas, desires, or wills. Four main types: physical, emotional, mental, moral.
Suspense, “Cliff-hangers”
-mystery, dilemma. In commercial fiction the reader usually asks “what will happen next?” in literary fiction, the reader asks, “Why did this happen?”

3. Plot: sequence of incidents or events through which an author constructs a story.
Freytag’s pyramid
climax
rising action
falling action
exposition
denouement
conflict
final conclusion

4. Direct characterization Indirect characterization Flat Round Static
CHARACTER TERMS
Direct characterization
Indirect characterization
Flat
Round
Static
Dynamic
Stock
Protagonist
Antagonist
Bildungsroman
Epiphany
Foil

5. The main character in literary fiction:
May be attractive but doesn’t have to be
Less easily labeled
May be unsympathetic, even despicable
Composed of both good and evil
Always 3-dimensional

6. Literary fiction follows three principles of characterization:
Characters exhibit consistent behavior unless there is a clear and sufficient reason for a change
The words and actions of characters come from motivations the reader can understand
Characters must be plausible or lifelike

7. The main character in commercial fiction must be:
Many literary writers consider characterization the most important part of a story. Most commercial writers consider plot the most important part of a story.
The main character in commercial fiction must be:
Fundamentally decent
Honest
Good-hearted
Good-looking
Larger-than-life qualities
May defy laws made for “ordinary” people but breaks the rules for good reasons: to catch a criminal or to prevent a disaster.

8. Theme Controlling idea or central insight
Unifying generalization about life stated or implied by the story
Exists in all literary fiction but only occasionally in commercial fiction
Can be one sentence or much longer

9. Setting
Time period
Social/cultural environment
The physical world

10. Theme
Should be expressed in the form of a statement with a subject and a predicate: be careful to distinguish between the subject (often expressed in one word) and the theme
Should be a generalization about life; do not include specifics of the story such as names, titles, etc.

11. Avoid terms like every, all, always
4. Is the central and unifying concept of a story
5. There is no one way of stating the theme
6. Avoid reducing the theme to a trite saying

12. Point of View
Who tells the story? How much is this person allowed to know? To what extent does the narrator look inside the characters and report their thoughts and feelings?

13. 4 basic types
Omniscient: told by a narrator whose knowledge and prerogatives are unlimited. Such narrators are free to go wherever they wish, they can interpret behavior and can comment on the significance of their stories. They know all. The most flexible point of view and permits the widest scope.

14. Third-person limited: told from the viewpoint of one character in the story. Narrator may move both inside and outside these characters, telling what they see and hear and what they think and feel.

15. First person: author disappears into one of the characters.

16. Objective: the narrator disappears into a kind of roving sound camera that can only record what is seen and heard. It cannot comment, interpret, or enter a character’s mind. Readers are placed in the position of a spectator at a movie or play.

17. Stream of consciousness: usually from 3rd person but can be 1st
Stream of consciousness: usually from 3rd person but can be 1st. Unedited apparently random thoughts going through a character’s head.
Unreliable narrator: a narrator that has doubtful credibility. This may be due to age, mental disability or involvement in the story which leads to inaccurate or incomplete information.

18. Symbol, Allegory, and Fantasy
Increase the emotional force and resonance of a story, suggesting a much larger and richer meaning than might be achieved with a strictly realistic approach.

19. Symbol
Something that means more than what it suggests on the surface. It may be an object, a person, a situation, an action, or some other element that has a literal meaning in the story but that suggests or represents other meanings as well.
For example, a character’s name may indicate something about the character (Tub, Frank, Kenny)

20. Symbol
The story itself must furnish a clue that a detail is to be taken symbolically.
The meaning of a literary symbol must be established and supported by the entire context of the story.
To be called a symbol, an item must suggest a meaning different in kind from its literal meaning.
A symbol may have more than one meaning.

21. Allegory
A story that has a second meaning beneath the surface, endowing a cluster of characters, objects, or events with added significance. Often the pattern relates each literal item to a corresponding abstract idea or moral principle.
Less emphasis on literal meaning and more on the ulterior meanings

22. Fantasy
The nonrealistic story that transcends the bounds of known reality.
Magical Realism: fantastic and magical events are woven into mundane and ordinary situations.

23. Humor and Irony Humorous does not mean that the story is not serious.
One form of humor is irony. There are three types of irony: verbal, dramatic and situational.

24. Irony
Verbal: A figure of speech in which the speaker says the opposite of what he or she intends to say.
Dramatic: the contrast between what a character says or thinks and what the reader knows to be true.
Irony of situation: the discrepancy is between appearance and reality, or between expectation and fulfillment, or between what is and what would seem appropriate. Usually the most important kind for the fiction writer.

25. Sentimentality: stories that try to elicit easy or unearned emotional responses; contrived or excessive emotion.