Narrative terms

plot vocabulary

plot, main plot, minor plot
story
conflict, internal conflict, external conflict, clash of actions, clash of ideas, clash of desires, clash of wills, major, minor, emotional, physical

• man v. self
• man v. man
• man v. society
• man v. nature
• man v. the supernatural
• man v. machine/technology

cf. conflict in fairy tales:

• good v. evil
• rich v. poor
• young v. old
• beauty v. ugliness
• weak v. strong
• innocent v. wise

protagonist
antagonist (antagonistic)
suspense (suspenseful)
mystery (mysterious, mysteriously, mysteriousness)
dilemma
surprise (surprising, surprised)
plot twist
ending

• happy ending
• unhappy ending
• indeterminate ending (ambiguous)
• surprise ending (unexpected)

artistic unity (unified)
time sequence
exposition

in medias res
complication (complicate)

inciting force
rising action
falling action
crisis
climax
anti-climax (anti-climactic)
conclusion (conclude, conclusive)
resolution (resolve, resolving)
denouement
flashback, retrospect
back-story

foreshadowing
causality
plot structure
initiating incident
epiphany
reversal
catastrophe
beginning, middle, end
scene
chance, coincidence
double plot

parallel plot
subplot, underplotdeus ex machina
disclosure, discovery
movement, shape of movement
trajectory
change
focus

elementary

complex