Question 3: Structure Flashcards
All 29 cards in this deck
What is a narrative hook?
An opening line or detail designed to grab attention, often by being surprising or leaving something unexplained.
What is exposition?
Background information about setting, characters or situation, usually near the start. It slows the pace.
What is an enigma in a story opening?
A puzzle the writer deliberately leaves unexplained, such as an unopened letter, creating curiosity and suspense.
What is a cyclical structure?
The ending returns to an image, place or line from the opening, showing how much has changed or that a character is trapped.
What is a cliffhanger?
Ending at a moment of suspense with the outcome unknown, leaving tension unresolved.
What is the difference between a resolved and an open ending?
A resolved ending answers the main questions and releases tension. An open ending leaves questions unanswered.
What is a shift in focus?
A change in what the text is looking at: a place, person, object, time or idea. It directs the reader's attention.
What is the effect of zooming in?
Moving from a wide view to a small detail narrows the reader's attention, making the detail feel important or intimate.
What is the effect of zooming out?
Pulling back from a character to a wider view can make them seem small, isolated or powerless.
What is the pivotal point (turning point) of a text?
The moment where the direction changes: a discovery, a decision or an interruption.
What is a motif?
An image, object or sound that recurs through a text; each return can show how a situation has developed.
What is the effect of first-person narration?
The reader shares the narrator's thoughts directly, creating closeness, but only knows what the narrator knows.
What is second-person narration?
Narration using 'you' ('You notice the door first.'), placing the reader inside the story; it can feel intense or unsettling.
What is third-person limited narration?
The narrator uses 'he' or 'she' but follows one character's thoughts.
What is an omniscient narrator?
A third-person narrator who knows everything and can move between several characters' thoughts.
What is an unreliable narrator?
A narrator whose account the reader can't fully trust, because they are lying, mistaken or hiding their feelings.
What is dramatic irony?
When the reader knows something a character doesn't, often because the narrative shows another viewpoint. It creates suspense.
What is chronological order?
Telling events in the order they happened.
What is a flashback?
A move back in time to an earlier event, giving backstory. At a tense moment it also delays the action.
What is a flash-forward?
A jump ahead to a later moment, e.g. 'Years later, she would still remember the sound.' It creates anticipation or dread.
What is foreshadowing?
A hint early in a text about something that will happen later, creating unease and suspense.
What is the effect of slowing the pace on a single moment?
Stretching a few seconds across many lines makes the moment feel important and holds the reader in suspense.
What is a climax?
The point of highest tension, where the conflict comes to a head; often placed late in an extract.
What is an anticlimax?
Tension builds towards something dramatic, then the outcome is ordinary, suddenly releasing the tension.
What is juxtaposition?
Placing two contrasting things directly side by side, such as two scenes or moods, which sharpens the difference.
What is a false sense of security?
A calm, safe mood created just before something goes wrong, making the disruption more shocking.
What is pace in a narrative?
The speed at which a story seems to move. Short sentences and action speed it up; long description and reflection slow it down.
What is the effect of a one-sentence paragraph?
It isolates a moment or detail so it stands out, often marking a shock or a turning point: 'Then the lights went out.'
What is narrative voice?
The voice that tells the story: who the narrator is, their viewpoint (first, second or third person) and their personality or attitude.