Elements of Fiction Literature Notes

Fiction is narrative prose about characters and events from the author’s imagination.

Dialogue is conversation between or among characters Dialogue is conversation between or among characters. In some literary works, characters speak in an idiom or dialect, a way of speaking particular to a group or region.

Idiomatic expressions are phrases that mean something different than their individual words and help a writer show a character’s personality. For example, “it’s raining cats and dogs.”

Point of view is the perspective from which the story is told..

First person point of view: the story is told by a character who participates in the action of the story (uses first person pronouns like I, me, my, we, our).

Third person point of view: the story is told by a narrator outside the story (uses only third person pronouns like he, she, they).

Tone expresses an author’s attitude toward the subject and the readers Tone expresses an author’s attitude toward the subject and the readers. It is conveyed through choice of words and details.

Perspective is the author’s point of view on the subject, including the opinions that the author expresses and the source of the author’s information—whether general research, for example, or personal experience.