Literary Terms???

Question

Can someone please explain the meaning of exposition. I really dont get it i read it alot of times but still dont get it.

Answer 1

Basically, the exposition of the story is the very beginning. It gives you all the basics. Characters, setting, plot. It tells you what is happening and grabs your attention.

The way my tenth grade English teacher always told us that whenever she thought of exposition she always got this image of one of those guys who come up to you naked in an overcoat and flash you. Get it? They expose themselves to you and that's what the exposition does. It exposes the entire opening of the story.

Answer 2

This is from Wikipedia, but it's all pretty good. My comments are in [ ].

Exposition may refer to:

Exposition, a technique of dramatic structure in which undepicted plot elements are conveyed in dialogue, description, flashback or narrative. [A character may describe something that's happened in the past, which helps you understand why a certain thing is important now.]

Expository writing, a genre in which the purpose is to inform, explain, describe or define [Most of the papers you write that are not in first person will be expository.]

Exposition, a section of a musical composition (such as a fugue) in which musical material is introduced; also the formal name given to a section of a movement identified as an example of sonata form [I doubt this is what you're talking about here.]

Fair or World's Fair (see list of world expositions) [The 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis was the Louisiana Purchase Exposition.]

Eucharistic adoration, in which the Blessed Sacrament is exposed and adored

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The first two are pretty much the same thing. Background is given. It's important information you need to understand what already happened, and why what's happening now is happening. It doesn't advance the story, but exposes the past.

Answer 3

I think it's just laying out your idea. Like, an exposition at the fair is where you show what your county has done. You're showing the ideas you've thought about.

Answer 4

the exposition is the beginning of the story where the
-characters
-setting[time and place]
-background
and the
-tone/mood[atmosphere]
are identified

Answer 5

It's called a "sentence." e.i., a grammatical construction containing a verb together with a subject and its predicate.