AP English Literature and Composition Flashcards: How Plot Orders Events Short Fiction

What this deck covers

This deck focuses on How Plot Orders Events Short Fiction, giving you a quick way to review the definitions, rules, and examples that matter most for AP English Literature and Composition.

How to use these flashcards

Work through these flashcards in short sessions. Try to answer each prompt before flipping the card, then revisit any cards you miss until the explanation feels automatic.

Flashcard 1: What is a circular plot structure?

Answer: The narrative ends where it began, returning to an initial state. Creates closure by echoing the opening situation.

Flashcard 2: What is a parallel plot structure?

Answer: Two or more plotlines develop side by side, often intersecting. Allows comparison or contrast between storylines.

Flashcard 3: What is a frame narrative as a plot structure?

Answer: An outer story encloses an inner story being told. Creates layers of narration and perspective.

Flashcard 4: What is the primary analytical task when describing how plot orders events?

Answer: Explain how sequence choices shape meaning, tension, and character. Analyze how temporal arrangement creates literary effects.

Flashcard 5: Identify the plot-order device: an older narrator recounts earlier childhood events.

Answer: Retrospective narration organized through flashback. Memory structures the narrative's temporal shifts.

Flashcard 6: What is foreshadowing as it relates to the ordering of events?

Answer: Early details hint at later developments in the plot. Plants clues that gain significance when events unfold.

Flashcard 7: What is pacing, and how does it affect the ordering of events?

Answer: The speed of narration; it expands or compresses event time. Controls reader experience by varying narrative tempo.

Flashcard 8: Which plot-order choice best describes: Chapter 1 shows the aftermath, then earlier causes?

Answer: Non-linear order using analepsis (flashback) after an opening scene. Effect-before-cause structure creates mystery.

Flashcard 9: What is a scene in plot pacing and event ordering?

Answer: Detailed narration where story time and discourse time feel close. Slows pace to emphasize dramatic moments through detail.

Flashcard 10: What is a flashforward (prolepsis) in plot structure?

Answer: A shift to events that will occur later than the present action. Jumps ahead to create anticipation or dramatic irony.

Flashcard 11: What is a frame narrative as an ordering device?

Answer: An outer story encloses and organizes an inner story. Creates layers of meaning through nested narratives.

Flashcard 12: Identify the pacing choice: three years are covered in one paragraph of narration.

Answer: Summary. Compresses extended time into brief narration.

Flashcard 13: What is a time gap (ellipsis) as a plot-order technique?

Answer: The narrative omits intervening time and resumes later. Skips unimportant events to maintain narrative momentum.

Flashcard 14: What is a time jump (ellipsis) in plot order?

Answer: A deliberate skip over an interval of story time. Omits unimportant events to maintain narrative momentum.

Flashcard 15: What is a subplot in relation to overall plot order?

Answer: A secondary plotline interwoven with the main plot. Enriches main plot through thematic echoes or contrasts.

Flashcard 16: What is non-linear plot order in a narrative?

Answer: Events are presented out of time sequence for effect. Disrupts chronology to create suspense or thematic connections.

Flashcard 17: What is in medias res as an opening plot strategy?

Answer: The narrative begins in the middle of the action. Plunges readers into conflict, then fills in background.

Flashcard 18: Identify the plot-order device: chapter one shows the aftermath, then returns to earlier causes.

Answer: In medias res. Opens with consequences before revealing causes.

Flashcard 19: Identify the pacing choice: a single argument is narrated moment-by-moment with dialogue.

Answer: Scene. Real-time narration emphasizes dramatic intensity.

Flashcard 20: What is pacing as it relates to ordering and presenting events?

Answer: The narrative speed created by how much time is given to events. Controls reader engagement through temporal manipulation.

Flashcard 21: What is a flashback in plot structure?

Answer: A shift to earlier events that occurred before the present action. Interrupts forward momentum to provide backstory or context.

Flashcard 22: What is a parallel plot structure (dual plotlines) in event ordering?

Answer: Two plotlines run alongside each other, often converging later. Develops contrast or comparison between storylines.

Flashcard 23: What is a summary in plot pacing and event ordering?

Answer: Condensed narration that covers a long span quickly. Accelerates narrative by compressing extended time periods.

Flashcard 24: Identify the plot-order term: the narrator summarizes years in one paragraph.

Answer: Time compression (summary) that accelerates pacing. Condenses extended time to maintain forward movement.

Flashcard 25: Which plot-order term fits: alternating chapters follow two characters at the same time?

Answer: Parallel plotlines with intercut (alternating) chronology. Simultaneous events shown sequentially for comparison.

Flashcard 26: What is a subplot in relation to the main plot's event sequence?

Answer: A secondary chain of events that intersects with the main plot. Enriches main plot through related but distinct events.

Flashcard 27: Identify the plot-order term: the story pauses to depict a moment in slow detail.

Answer: Time expansion (scene) that slows pacing. Stretches brief moments to emphasize significance.

Flashcard 28: What is foreshadowing in relation to plot ordering?

Answer: Early cues that anticipate later events or outcomes. Plants hints that gain significance retrospectively.

Flashcard 29: What is an episodic plot structure?

Answer: A sequence of loosely connected episodes rather than one arc. Each episode stands alone while contributing to the whole.

Flashcard 30: Identify the plot-order device: the narrator pauses action to recount childhood events.

Answer: Flashback. Past events interrupt present to provide context.

Flashcard 31: Identify the plot-order device: the story repeatedly alternates between two characters' timelines.

Answer: Parallel plot structure. Simultaneous storylines create comparison or tension.

Flashcard 32: What is a nonlinear "braided" or interwoven plot structure?

Answer: Alternating strands of events are intercut to build meaning. Weaves multiple timelines to reveal connections gradually.

Flashcard 33: What is a flashforward (prolepsis) as a plot-order device?

Answer: A shift to later events to foreshadow or reframe outcomes. Jumps ahead to create anticipation or dramatic irony.

Flashcard 34: What is chronological plot order in a narrative?

Answer: Events are presented in the order they occur in time. Linear progression follows cause-and-effect naturally.