STORY ELEMENTS

When you describe your favorite TV show to friends, you probably tell them what happens (plot) as well as where and when it happens (setting). These are essential elements of all stories. Understanding the elements of a story can make you a better audience and storyteller.

GOAL

PLOT

Plot is a chain of events that tells what happens in a story.

One event causes another to occur, and so on.

When some says “Let me tell you about my day,” you probably respond by saying, “what happened?” The what happens is the plot of the story.

This is the part of the story in which we are introduced to the characters, setting, and the basic story conflict. In some stories, the exposition occurs over several pages or even chapters; in some, the exposition is very short maybe a paragraph or two; and in some the exposition is skipped as characters dive right into the action.

EXPOSITION

SETTING = TIME & PLACE The time and place in which a story takes

place is called its setting. Depending on the story and the writer,

setting can be a background story element or a key part of the story. In the example below the setting is mentioned in the very first sentence.

The dark sky, filled with angry, swirling clouds, reflected Greg Ridley’s mood as he sat on the stoop of his building.

CHARACTERS PROTAGONIST- The character who

is viewed as the “good person” in the story.

ANTAGONIST– The character who is viewed as the “bad person” in the story.

This is also know as the problem in a story and needs a resolution.

Types – There are two types of conflict: Internal – the problem lies within the

character External - the problem lies between

two characters or forces

CONFLICT

Rising Action – part of the story in which the main character faces a series of conflicts on his or her journey toward reaching a goal.

Climax – also known as the turning point. Point in the story at which we learn the outcome of the story’s main conflict. Very often, the climax is also the emotional high point of the story.

ACTION PARTS

Falling Action – the events that result from the climax and lead to the resolution.

Resolution – the closing part of the story in which we learn how the characters have dealt with the outcome of the conflict.

Exposition

event

event

event

Climax

Falling Action

event

Resolution

PLOT PARTSThere are 5 parts to the plot of a

story.

CINDERELLA EXAMPLE

They live happily ever after

Cinderella & the Prince marry

The stepsisters try to force their feet into the slipper, but it fits Cinderella

The prince says he will marry the woman who the slipper fits.

Cinderella leaves hurriedly at midnight and loses a slipperCinderella goes to the ball and dances with the prince

A fairy godmother appears and provides Cinderella with clothes, a coach, and footmen for the ballThe stepsisters prepare and go to the ball

An invitation the palace ball arrives

Cinderella lives unhappily with her stepsisters and their mother

Theme is the life lesson the author is trying to teach you in the story.

Some examples of theme: love, courage, perseverance, empathy, goodness of mankind, honesty, loyalty, etc.

THEME