| a confusing plot (the events that form the main story of a book, film, or play) | eine verwirrende Handlung / Handlungsstruktur | |
| a first-person narrator with a limited point of view (point of view: the perspective from which a story is told) | ein Ich-Erzähler mit beschränkter Perspektive | |
| a flat character (having only a limited number of traits or representing only a single quality) | eine eindimensionale Figur | |
| a foreshadowing of the ending (showing or hinting at something that will happen in the future) | eine Vorausdeutung auf das Ende | |
| a happy / tragic ending (not: happy end) (an event or situation that makes you feel very sad, especially because it involves death or suffering ) | ein Happy-End / ein tragisches Ende | |
| a round character (having several traits and behaving like in real life) | eine abgerundete, mehrdimensionale Figur | |
| a short exposition (the beginning of a story that introduces the (main) characters, the theme and the setting) | eine kurze Exposition | |
| a surprise / open ending | ein überraschendes / offenes Ende | |
| a surprising turning-point (the part of a story where the conflict changes) | eine überraschende Wende | |
| a suspenseful climax (the part of a story where the conflict reaches its highest point) | ein spannender Höhepunkt | |
| an ambiguous title (unclear, confusing, or not certain, especially because it can be understood in more than one way) | eine mehrdeutige Überschrift | |
| an exciting rising action (the part of a story where the conflict is developed) | eine aufregende steigende Handlung | |
| an omniscient narrator (the person or character who tells the story in a book or a play) | ein allwissender Erzähler | |
| an unexpected denouement (a kind of ending where the conflict is resolved) | eine unerwartete Auflösung | |
| an unusual theme (the main subject or idea in a piece of writing, speech, film etc) | ein ungewöhnliches Thema | |
| falling action (the part of a story where the suspense is reduced) | fallende Handlung | |
| internal / external action (what is going on in the mind of a character / what a character does and the events that take place) | innere / äußere Handlung | |
| main character / protagonist (the most important character in a play, film, or story) | Hauptfigur / Protagonist | |
| the setting of a story / the story is set in ... (the place or time where the events in a book, film etc happen) | der Schauplatz / die Geschichte spielt … | |
| to arouse the reader’s interest (to make somebody become interested, expect something etc ) | das Interesse des Lesers wecken | |
| to create suspense (a feeling of excitement or anxiety when you do not know what will happen next) | Spannung erzeugen | |
| to fulfill the reader’s expectations (what you think or hope will happen) | die Erwartungen des Lesers erfüllen | |