Some of the best written work in any culture is fiction—the great American novel, Shakespeare’s plays, and classic movies. Though these works stem from the imagination, they often express the realities of the human condition. Reading fiction is, in part, a search for truth. When you read fiction, follow a plan.
The story excerpt below includes many sensory details. Read through it once for the overall picture, then again to see how the sensory details tell the story.
Reluctant Romeo and Jittery Juliet
The title hints at the story’s topic.Jackson marched up the street toward Tawni’s house, the Valentine card clutched in his fingers. Up ahead, her front porch light beamed yellow. He slowed on the sidewalk. He’d have to stand on that porch for the whole block to see, ring the bell, wait, and hope. A car cruised slowly past, the driver rubbernecking.
The story starts from Jackson’s point of view.Jackson turned away and peered at the card in his hand. It was bent. His thumb had pressed a small crater into “Be Mine.” He glanced one last time at the glowing porch, then turned toward the street and crossed it, jamming the card into a garbage can waiting in the gutter.
§ § §
A break shifts to Tawni’s point of view.Outside Tawni’s window, a garbage can rattled loudly in the street. An old man shouted a threat, and a young man echoed it. Tawni plucked out her earbuds and tiptoed to the window to peek out.
No one was there. Rain began to patter in the lengthening shadows.
Shivering, Tawni drew the sash closed, clicked the lock, and dragged down the fluttering shade. She lay on her bed, listening to the rain.
Dialogue moves the story along.“Tawni,” came a muffled voice outside her window, “I’m getting soaked.”
Her breath caught. “Who’s there?”
“Jackson.”
Another voice—Daddy yelling from the basement: “Who you talking to, Tawni-Girl?”
“Nobody, Daddy. It’s just me—singing to my MP3!” Tawni lifted the sash. Jackson gratefully clambered over the sill and spilled, sopping, on the floor. He brought with him the scent of fresh rain and the winds of February. But there was something else: the fragrance of roses?
Tawni gaped. “What did you bring me?”
Jackson looked up awkwardly and raised a dozen red roses, rumpled from his entry. “Um, for you.”
Tawni’s mouth dropped open. “You? Roses? For me?”
“Yeah,” he replied as he climbed to his feet. “And, uh, these, too.” He lifted a heart-shaped box.
Despite herself, Tawni laughed a little—not a laugh of derision, but of amazement and delight. The writer “shows” instead of “tells,” using sensory details.
Jackson laughed, too. “Sorry. I’m not good with all the Romeo stuff.”
Shaking her head, Tawni took the box of chocolates from him and said, “No, I’d say you’re pretty good at it.” She lifted a truffle from the heart-shaped box and took a tentative bite. The dark chocolate shell cleaved gently, releasing sweet caramel. In the center was a cashew—salty and rich. She’d never tasted anything so good. “Really good at it.”
Allegory is the expression of a truth or generalization using symbols.
Allusion is a reference in a written work to something familiar.
Analogy is the comparison of one thing with another (for example, his dog served as a confidant).
Anecdote is a brief story or “slice of life” told to make a point.
Antagonist is the person, group, or force that wars against the protagonist, or the main character, of a story.
Caricature is an exaggerated depiction of a character, emphasizing specific traits absurdly.
Character refers to one of the people in a fictional story—the protagonist, antagonist, or other.
Chorus is a conventional element of classic Greek plays in which a group sings comments about the action onstage.
Climax is the point of greatest tension in a plot, when the protagonist either succeeds or fails.
Comedy refers classically to a story that ends with the redemption of the hero, often with a wedding; it also refers to humorous writing.
Conflict refers to six classic oppositions in literature:
- Person versus self
- Person versus person
- Person versus society
- Person versus nature
- Person versus the supernatural
- Person versus machine
Context refers to the situation surrounding a specific event in a story, or the situation surrounding the composition of the story.
Denouement is the story’s resolution following the climax and falling action.
Description refers to the use of sensory details to depict a person, place, or thing in a story.
Dialogue refers to the words that characters in a story speak. Dialogue is usually enclosed in quotation marks.
Epic refers to an ancient form of storytelling including gods and heroes on long, life-changing adventures.
Exposition is the beginning of a story in which the setting and characters are established and the conflict is introduced.
Fable is a story often including talking animals and sharing a specific moral or lesson.
Falling action is what happens in a story immediately following the climax and preceding the denouement.
Farce is a fast-paced comedy centered on absurd situations and exaggerated characters.
Figure of speech refers to a set of literary devices, including analogy, antithesis, hyperbole, metaphor, metonymy, personification, simile, and understatement.
Flashback is a past event or scene interjected in a story to explain the present.
Flash fiction refers to short stories told in a few paragraphs.
Foreshadowing refers to clues that point to what will soon happen in a story.
Genre refers to the type of story (for example, mystery, science fiction, historical fiction, Western, romance).
Hyperbole is exaggeration for effect (for example, her ego has satellites).
Imagery refers to the word pictures created by the writer.
Internal dialogue refers to the thoughts of a character—words not enclosed in quotation marks.
153
Irony occurs when an action produces a result opposite to what was intended (for example, I studied all night and then slept through the test).
Metaphor compares two things by equating them (for example, his face was a leather sack).
Mood refers to the overall emotional quality of a literary work.
Motif is a recurring thematic element.
Motivation is a character’s reason for doing something in a story.
Myth is a story created by a culture to explain how things came to be.
Novel refers to a long, involved story with multiple plotlines and characters.
Novella refers to a short novel with a few plotlines and characters.
Parable is a story that teaches a religious truth or lesson.
Parody is a story that imitates a literary work or style in an exaggerated or absurd way for comic effect.
Plot refers to the following components in a story:
Exposition
Rising action
Climax
Falling action
Denouement (resolution)
Point of view indicates who is telling a story:
First person: told by one of the characters
Third person: told by someone outside of the story (limited shares the thoughts of one character; omniscient, the thoughts of all characters; objective, the actions of all characters, but no thoughts)
Protagonist refers to the main character of a story—the hero who struggles with the antagonist.
Quest is a story about a hero who ventures into the world to achieve a goal.
Resolution refers to the denouement, the way the story wraps up.
Rising action is the series of events that present the conflict and increase the suspense, leading up to the climax.
Satire is a story that pokes fun at a situation by exaggerating human faults.
Setting is the time and location of a story.
Short story is a work with a limited set of characters and actions; longer than flash fiction but shorter than a novella.
Simile is a comparison using like or as.
Soliloquy is a speech given by a character.
Stereotype is a characterization based on bias rather than on reality.
Story refers to the mix of these elements: setting, characters, plot, conflict, theme.
Stream of consciousness narration follows a character’s thoughts exactly in the first person.
Style is an author’s unique way of telling a story.
Suspense is the tension created by not knowing how a story will turn out.
Suspension of disbelief is the reader’s willing decision to suspend judgment on the believability of the text.
Symbol is something concrete that represents something abstract.
Theme is a life lesson offered through a story; the implied meaning.
Tone is the revelation, through word choice, of the author’s feelings about the story.
Tragedy refers classically to a story that ends with the failure of the protagonist, often because of a tragic flaw.
Understatement uses minimal language to describe something maximal (for example, I woke and wondered where I’d misplaced my right arm).
