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1[[quoteright:148:[[Webcomic/RoomiesItsWalkyJoyceAndWalky https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/walky-exposition.gif]]]]
2
3%% Please don't leave character attribution in a script-style quote blank.
4%%
5%% If you know which characters said these lines, please fill this quote in!
6->'''Unknown #1:''' I can't believe we've lost a bet and have to spend the night in this old haunted house!\
7'''Unknown #2:''' That's an oddly complete summary of our predicament.
8-->-- ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken''
9
10Exposition is a literary tool that is used to give information to the audience through {{dialogue}}, description, {{flashback}}, or [[NarratorTropes narrative]].
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12In {{nonfiction}}, exposition is commonly found in essays, directions such as recipes and instructions, encyclopedias, and {{biograph|y}}ies. Exposition in nonfiction is usually achieved through description.
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14In {{fiction}}, exposition can be given in multiple ways. Sometimes it's as simple as a character observing a headline on a newspaper and sometimes as complex as the narrator giving an overview of the full history of the fictional world.
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16Exposition is a two-edged sword. While it is extremely useful for establishing setting, plot, and characterization, too much exposition at once can bog down a story and slow the pace to a crawl. An exposition that is overly long or wordy is known as an Information Dump (or {{Infodump}} for short) and is very difficult to do well.
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18See InformationDesk (where ''characters'' learn things), MeaningfulAppearance (using the way characters look as a form of exposition).
19----
20!!Tropes:
21
22[floatboxright:
23See also:
24+ {{Dialogue}}
25+ NarratorTropes
26]
27
28[[index]]
29* AndAnotherThing
30* AndThenISaid
31* AsideComment
32* AsYouKnow
33* BeforeTheDarkTimes
34* TheBigBoard
35* CaptainObvious: A character who has the tendency to point out the obvious.
36* CaptainsLog
37* CassetteCraze
38* CliqueTour
39* CoincidentalBroadcast
40* CombatCommentator
41* ConnectTheDeaths
42* ConstantlyCurious: A character who won't stop asking questions.
43* CreationMyth
44* DescriptionInTheMirror
45* DoNotAdjustYourSet
46* TheEchoer: Someone can only speak by copying another person's words.
47* EncyclopediaExposita
48* EnRouteSumUp: Sensitive orders are relayed during mobilization.
49* ExplainingYourPowerToTheEnemy
50* ExpoLabel
51* ExpositingTheMasquerade
52* ExpositionAlreadyCovered
53* ExpositionBeam
54* ExpositionBreak
55* ExpositionCut
56* ExpositionDiagram
57* ExpositionFairy
58* ExpositionIntuition
59* ExpositionOfImmortality
60* ExpositionParty
61* ExpositoryGameplayLimitation
62* Expositron9000
63* {{Expospeak}}
64* ExpospeakGag
65* {{Flashback}}: A scene taking place in the past that serves to explain how things came to be and why certain characters are the way they are.
66* FictionalDocument
67* FictionalMedia
68* FlavorText
69* HappyFlashback
70* HauntedHouseHistorian
71* HeKnowsAboutTimedHits: Video game characters inform the player how the controls work.
72* HowDadMetMom
73* {{Infodump}}
74* InfoDrop
75* InformedAttribute: A character is said to have some kind of skill or quality that the story never really has them demonstrate.
76* InnerMonologue
77* InnerMonologueConversation
78* {{Introdump}}
79* JustBetweenYouAndMe
80* LaserGuidedBroadcast
81* LethallyExpensive: The importance of information is underscored by the fact that at least one person had to die in order for spreading the information to be possible.
82* LectureAsExposition
83* LetMeGetThisStraight
84* LittleJimmy: A naive child in an educational film or PSA who exists only to be educated about the film's subject.
85* LondonEnglandSyndrome
86* LoreCodex: An encyclopedic list of things and events encountered in game provided for the player's reference.
87* LuckilyMyPowersWillProtectMe
88* MissionBriefing
89* MotiveRant: The villain provides exposition for their motives behind why they are a villain.
90* MrExposition: A character whose purpose is to explain what's going on to the other characters.
91* MusicalExposition
92* MythPrologue: The work starts with exposition about a myth that is important to the plot.
93* NaiveNewcomer
94* NarratingTheObvious: The narrator points out what should already be obvious to the audience.
95* {{Narrator}}: A character who describes the events of the story as they happen.
96* NewspaperBackstory
97* NewspaperDating: A time-traveler checks a newspaper's date to determine what year they've arrived in.
98* ObstacleExposition
99* OminousMultipleScreens
100* OpeningMonologue
101* OpeningNarration
102* OpeningScroll
103* OrMyNameIsnt
104* ParrotExposition
105* ParrotExpowhat
106* {{Pilot}}: A test episode made with the intent of being picked up for a full-fledged television series, which is likely to feature a lot of exposition about the intended show's plot to attract the interest of the audience and network executives.
107* RamblingOldManMonologue
108* RecapByAudit: The aftermath of an event reveals or sums up what happened.
109* RecapEpisode: An episode devoted to recapping what has happened in the series so far, usually for the benefit of viewers who haven't seen the earlier episodes or may have forgotten certain developments due to a gap between the airing or viewing of episodes.
110* RepeatingSoTheAudienceCanHear
111* SealedOrders: Sensitive orders aren't relayed until the last moment to prevent intel leaks.
112* {{Sexposition}}
113* SlowPacedBeginning
114* SoundingItOut
115* SoundsOfScience
116* SpeakingInPanels
117* SpreadingDisasterMapGraphic
118* StoryboardingTheApocalypse
119* StoryBreadcrumbs
120* StringTheory
121* TalkingIsAFreeAction: In fiction, characters who are in danger somehow have the time to say anything before they get out of harm's way or fall victim to the whatever imminent danger they are in.
122* TellMeAgain
123* TextualCelebrityResemblance
124* ThinkingOutLoud
125* ThirdPersonFlashback
126* TroubledBackstoryFlashback
127* TVTelephoneEtiquette
128* TwoScenesOneDialogue
129* UnreliableExpositor
130* WarWasBeginning
131* TheWatson
132* WhatIsGoingOn
133* WhatYearIsThis
134* WelcomedToTheMasquerade
135* YouKnowWhatThatMeans
136[[/index]]
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