1. Academic Vocabulary for Collection 1
These are the terms you should know
as you read and analyze the stories in this collection.

2. Plot
The plot is what happens in a story, novel, play, or narrative poem. It is the chain of related events that makes up a story.

3. Conflict A struggle between characters or between opposing forces.
An external conflict takes place between two characters,
between a character and a group, or between a character and
something else—such as a monster or a sandstorm. An internal
conflict takes place within a character’s mind or heart. A story
may have more than one conflict.
Conflict

4. Complications
Problems that come up as characters struggle to reach their goals.

5. Climax
The most exciting or suspenseful part of a story. At the climax, something happens that reveals how the conflict will turn out.

6. Resolution
The part of the story in which remaining questions are answered and loose ends of the plot are tied up. The resolution usually comes at the end of the story.

7. Suspense
The uncertainty or anxiety a reader feels about what will happen next.

8. Foreshadowing
Hints or clues that suggest what will happen later in a story. Foreshadowing helps to build suspense.