Unit I Plot and Setting
Academic Vocabulary
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Plot: A series of related events that make up a story.
Conflict: A struggle.
External Conflict: A struggle between a character and an outside force.
Internal Conflict: A struggle within a character. An emotion is associated with this type of
conflict.
Basic Situation/Exposition: The opening scene(s) when the main characters and their
conflict(s) are introduced.
Complication: A small conflict/struggle that is overcome very quickly.
Climax: The key scene in the story [that tense or exciting (terrifying) moment] when we learn
the outcome of the main conflict of the story.
Resolution/Denouement: The end of the story when we learn what is going to happen to the
characters.
Chronological Order: The order in which the events in a story unfold in real time.
Flashback: A scene that takes place in the past.
Flash Forward: A scene that takes place in the future.
Foreshadowing: The writer/director gives hints or clues about what is going to happen in the
story.
Prediction: A guess from the reader/viewer about what will happen in the future.
Setting: When and where a story takes place.
Tone: The writer’s attitude toward a subject or character.
Mood: The atmosphere of a story or the feelings (emotions) it creates.
Images: Words or phrases that call forth a response from our senses.