Parts of a Story Word Search

About this puzzle

The building blocks of a story, from the first page to the last: the setting and the characters (hero, villain, narrator), the plot that drives them through conflict to a climax, the twist that surprises the reader, and the frames around it all — prologue, chapter and epilogue. The theme is what the story is really about. It is an Easy puzzle for a reading lesson.

The default layout is Easy on a 10×10 grid. Easy, Medium and Hard each use their own checked layout of the same words, and every one can be printed in standard or large print on US Letter or A4.

Word notes

Plot

The sequence of events in a story: what happens, and in what order.

Conflict

The problem or struggle at the heart of a story — between characters, with nature, or inside a character's own mind.

Climax

The turning point of greatest tension.

Theme

The big idea a story explores, such as friendship, courage or growing up.

Narrator

The voice that tells the story; a first-person narrator says "I", a third-person narrator says "he", "she" or "they".

Dialogue

The words characters say to each other, usually shown in quotation marks.

Prologue

An opening section, before the first chapter, that sets up the story.

Epilogue

A section after the main story ends.

Try this after the puzzle

Choose a book or film everyone knows and fill in a story map with the words: setting, hero, villain, conflict, climax, twist. Then write a five-sentence story that uses at least six words from the list. Younger readers can draw the hero and the villain of a favorite story.

All 14 words

Plot · Setting · Character · Conflict · Climax · Theme · Narrator · Dialogue · Chapter · Prologue · Epilogue · Hero · Villain · Twist