STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW:

ELEMENTS OF

FICTION

Elements of Fiction:

I.PLOT & SETTING

II.CHARACTERS

III.POINT OF VIEW

IV.THEME

V.LITERARY DEVICES

I. PLOTPlot is the author’s arrangement of events in the

story. It has a beginning, middle and an end. More specifically, the plot follows the Freytag pyramid:

Narrative StagesThe narrative stages or stages of the plot are as follows:

• Exposition: The setup of the story, the situation before the action starts, provides background info

• Rising Action: The series of events and conflicts in the story that lead to the climax

• Climax / Turning Point: The peak of action. Everything changes, and the reader wonders what will happen next; will the conflict be resolved or not?

• Falling Action: The events and complications begin to resolve themselves. (The events between the climax and the resolution)

• Denouement (Resolution): The conclusion, the untangling of events in the story

Conflict

Conflict is the struggle between two forces in a story. The plot revolves around this conflict.

Types of Conflict• Character vs Character

– Characters are pitted against one another.– The antagonist (or other character) tries to keep the protagonist from reaching his goal.– The protagonist must overcome the efforts of the antagonist to reach his goal.

• Character vs Self

– The protagonist must overcome her own nature to reach her goal.

– The protagonist struggles within her own mind.

– The protagonist needs to overcome her struggle to reach the goal. She may, or may not, succeed.

• Character vs Nature

– The hero must overcome a force of nature to meet his goal.

– Nature can be a force of nature (like a storm, earthquake, or difficult climate) OR an animal from nature.

– In literature, the hero sometimes meets his goal, but sometimes is defeated.

• Character vs Society

– A protagonist sees something in a unique way.

– People in his town or culture don't like his way of thinking. His bold ideas diverge from tradition or the rules. They ridicule and threaten him. He is compelled to act.

– Our hero may convince the others he is right, but he might be forced to flee town. He may even lose his life.

SETTINGThe setting is the place and time of the story. It

also includes the circumstances of the story, like the weather conditions, the social class, etc.

II. CHARACTERS The people (or animals, things, etc. presented

.as people) in a literary work

TYPES OF CHARACTERS

Characters can be classified in different ways:

• Major and minor characters

• Round and Flat characters

• Dynamic and Static characters

• Protagonist and Antagonist

ROUND AND FLAT CHARACTERS• Round Characters are complex, convincing, and

true to life characters. They are described in more detail, having many different and sometimes even contradictory personality traits.

• Flat Characters are stereotyped, shallow, and often symbolic. They have only one or two personality traits

DYNAMIC AND STATIC CHARACTERS:

• Dynamic Characters undergo some type of change or development in the story, often because of something that happens to them.

• Static Characters do not change in the course of the story.

PROTAGONIST AND ANTAGONIST:• Protagonist: The main character in a literary

work.

• Antagonist: The character who opposes the protagonist

Characterization

Characterization refers to the methods used by the writer to create his or her characters.

METHODS OF CHARACTERIZATION:

Characters are revealed to us by means of the following techniques or some of them.

• Direct Characterization: the author tells the reader about a character’s personality– “Harry was angry.”

• Indirect Characterization: see next slide

Indirect Characterization: STEAL

III. POINT OF VIEWThe perspective from which the story is told

(Who tells the story)

• The point of view is divided into two main types:

- First person point of view - Third person point of view

First Person Point of View

The story is told from the viewpoint of one of the characters, using the first person pronoun “I”.

The first person narrator can either be participant or nonparticipant in the action

Third Person Point of ViewThe story is told using a narrator who uses third

person pronouns such as “he”, “she”, “his”, “her”, “they” etc.

Third Person Point of View can be broken up into

three different types:• Omniscient• Limited • Objective

Omniscient Point of View: The narrator has the power to show the reader what is happening in the minds of the characters, their feelings and their thinking.

Limited Point of View: The narrator shows us inside the mind of one character.

Objective Point of view: The story is told as if from a camera that follows the characters. Only what is said and done is recorded.

IV. THEMETheme is the central idea or central message

of the story. It usually contains some insight into the human condition – telling something about humans and life.

Themes are usually not just one word or phrase but a complete sentence or thought. For example, “love” is not a theme. “Love is blind” is a theme.

V. LITERARY DEVICESAllegory: a literary work in which abstract ideas are portrayed by characters, figures, and events

• Although an allegory uses symbols, it is different from symbolism. An allegory is a complete narrative that involves characters and events that stand for an abstract idea or event. A symbol, on the other hand, is an object that stands for another object, giving it a particular meaning. Unlike allegory, symbolism does not tell a story.

Allusion: a brief reference to a person, place, thing or idea of historical, cultural, or literary significance (just a passing comment that the writer expects the reader to “get” and grasp its importance in a text).

• “This place is like a Garden of Eden.” – This is a biblical allusion to the “garden of God” in the Book of Genesis.

Extended Metaphor: an author’s use of a single metaphor or analogy at length through multiple linked ideas, events, or characters throughout a poem or story

• BTW, a METAPHOR is a comparison of two different things based on a single or some common characteristics

• A SIMILE is a comparison of two different things using “like” or “as”

Foreshadowing: This is a writer's’ technique in which the author provides clues or hints as to what is going to happen later in the story.

Hyperbole: over-exaggeration for the sake of emphasis

Personification: a thing – an idea or an animal – is given human attributes. Ex: “You like my boat? She’s a beauty.”

IMAGERY

Imagery in literature and poetry is language that the writer uses to evoke the five senses (sight, smell, touch, taste, hearing).

Imagery gives a story life in the reader’s imagination.

Find the imagery in the opening paragraph of Of Mice and Men:

A few miles south of Soledad, the Salinas River drops in close to the hillside bank and runs deep and green. The water is warm too, for it has slipped twinkling over the yellow sands in the sunlight before reaching the narrow pool. On one side of the river the golden foothill slopes curve up to the strong and rocky Gabilan Mountains, but on the valley side the water is lined with trees- willows fresh and green with every spring, carrying in their lower leaf junctures the debris of the winter's flooding; and sycamores with mottled, white, recumbent limbs and branches that arch over the pool. On the sandy bank under the trees the leaves lie deep and so crisp that a lizard makes a great skittering if he runs among them.Rabbits come out of the brush to sit on the sand in the evening, and the damp flats are covered with the night tracks of 'coons, and with the spread pads of dogs from the ranches, and with the split-wedge tracks of deer that come to drink in the dark.

IRONY• Situational Irony: It is the contrast between what happens

and what was expected to happen.• Verbal Irony:: This is the contrast between what is said and

what is meant (i.e. sarcasm).• Dramatic Irony: This is the contrast between what the

character thinks to be true and what we (the readers) know to be true. Sometimes as we read we are placed in the position of knowing more than what one character knows. Because we know something the character does not, we read to discover how the character will react when he or she learns the truth of the situation.

Tone vs Mood

Tone: the attitude of a writer toward a subject or an audience. Tone is generally conveyed through the choice of words, or the viewpoint of a writer on a particular subject.

• Tone can be formal, informal, serious, comic, sarcastic, sad, or cheerful, or it may be any other existing attitude.

Mood: a literary element that evokes certain feelings or vibes in

readers through words and descriptions.

• Usually, mood is referred to as the atmosphere of a literary piece, as it creates an emotional setting that surrounds the readers.

• Mood is developed in a literary piece through various methods, including setting, theme, tone, and diction.

SYMBOLISM

A journey can symbolize life

Water may represent cleanliness and renewal

A lion can bea symbol of

courage.

A red rosecan represent love.

A symbol is something (or someone) concrete that represents something abstract (an idea or concept)