Glossary

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falling action
the fourth part of plot structure, in which the complications of the rising action are untangled.

farce
a play characterized by broad humor, wild antics, and often slapstick, pratfalls, or other physical humor.

figurative
usually applied to language that uses figures of speech. Figurative language heightens meaning by implicitly or explicitly representing something in terms of some other thing, the assumption being that the "other thing" will be more familiar to the reader.

figures of speech
comparisons in which something is pictured or figured in other, more familiar terms.

first-person narrator
a character, "I," who tells the story and necessarily has a limited point of view; may also be an unreliable narrator.

flashback
a plot-structuring device whereby a scene from the fictional past is inserted into the fictional present or dramatized out of order.

flat character
a fictional character, often but not always a minor character, who is relatively simple; who is presented as having few, though sometimes dominant, traits; and who thus does not change much in the course of a story. See round character.

focus
the point from which people, events, and other details in a story are viewed. See point of view.

foil
one character that serves as a contrast to another.

formal diction
language that is lofty, dignified, and impersonal. See colloquial diction and informal diction.

free verse
poetry characterized by varying line lengths, lack of traditional meter, and nonrhyming lines.