The Elements of Fiction

Setting The setting is where the story takes place. There are four types of setting Geographical Location ( i.e. West Palm Beach, Florida, United States) Time Period (i.e. during the Iraq War, 2007, yesterday) Socio-Economic Characteristics (i.e. upper class suburbs, depression, housing project) Specific Location, Room, Place, etc (ie Cardinal Newman High School, room 214, the gym, City Place)

Setting Setting can be used to tell readers about characters: “The shack was made of the tough bud shields of the royal palm…and in it there was a bed, a table, one chair, and a place on the dirt floor to cook with charcoal” (Hemingway, 15). Setting can be used to set the atmosphere of the story: “During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone through a singularly dreary tract of country” (Poe, 215).

Characters The people appearing in a literary work. There are four types of characters: Round Characters are convincing and true to life. They have different, sometimes contradictory personality traits. Flat Characters are stereotypes, shallow, and often symbolic. They have only one or two traits. Dynamic Characters undergo some type of change or development due to an event in the story. Static Characters do not change or evolve as the story progresses.

Characters Protagonist- the main character in a literary work (i.e. Santiago in The Old Man and the Sea). Antagonist- the character who opposes the protagonist (i.e. the marlin in The Old Man and the Sea).

Characterization Characterization refers to the techniques that a writer uses to develop characters. There are two types of characterization: Direct Characterization: the author develops the character’s personality through direct comments about a character’s nature. For example, Hemingway notes, “His hope and his confidence had never gone. But now they were freshening as when the breeze rises” (13).

Characterization Indirect Characterization reveals a character's personality through: Physical description. To illustrate, Hemingway describes Santiago’s relentlessness, “Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were the same color as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated” (10).

Characterization Indirect Characterization reveals a character's personality through: A character’s speech, feelings, thoughts, or actions. For instance, Hemingway reveals Manolin’s loyalty to Santiago when Manolin says, “I’ll be back when I have the sardines. I’ll keep yours and mine together on ice and we can share them in the morning” (17).

Characterization Indirect Characterization reveals a character's personality through: The speech, feelings, thoughts, or actions of another character. For example, Ernest Hemingway illuminates the respect that Santiago evokes through Manolin’s thoughts and actions, “Where did you wash? The village water supply was two streets down the road. I must have water here for him, the boy thought, and soap and a good towel. Why am I so thoughtless?” (21)

Plot Structure Plot is the literary element that describes the structure of a story. Plot shows the causal arrangement of events and actions within a story.

Freytag’s Pyramid Freytag’s Pyramid uses a five-part system to describe a story’s plot. This graphic organizer matches the way stories are constructed: The climax is the high point, and it’s surrounded by rising and falling action.

Modified Freytag Pyramid Freytag’s Pyramid is often modified so that it extends slightly before and after the primary rising and falling action. You might think of this part of the chart as similar to the warm-up and cool-down for the story.

Plot Structure Components Climax: The turning point. The most intense moment (either mentally or in action. Rising Action: the series of conflicts and crisis in the story that lead to the climax. Falling Action: all of the action which follows the Climax. Exposition: The mood and conditions existing at the beginning of the story. The setting is identified. The main characters with their positions, circumstances and relationships to one another are established. The exciting force or initial conflict is introduced. Sometimes called the “Narrative HOOK” this begins the conflict that continues throughout the story. Rising Action: The series of events, conflicts, and crises in the story that lead up to the climax, providing the progressive intensity, and complicate the conflict. Climax: The turning point of the story. A crucial event takes place and from this point forward, the protagonist moves toward his inevitable end. The event may be either an action or a mental decision that the protagonist makes. Falling Action/Denouement: The events occurring from the time of the climax to the end of the story. The main character may encounter more conflicts in this part of the story, but the end is inevitable. Resolution: The tying up of loose ends and all of the threads in the story. The conclusion. The hero character either emerges triumphant or is defeated at this point. Exposition: The start of the story. The way things are before the action starts. Resolution: The conclusion, the tying together of all of the threads.

Plot and Conflict Conflict is the dramatic struggle between two forces in a story. Without conflict, there is no plot!

Types of Conflict Internal Conflict: Man vs. Himself Interpersonal Conflict: Man vs. Man Man vs. Society Man vs. Nature/ God

Point of View Point of view is the perspective from which the story is being told. Point of view determines how far away from the story and from what direction the author stands. To find the point of view ask these questions: Who is telling the story? How do we know what is happening?

Types of Point of View The point of view that gives the author the most freedom is the omniscient or “all-knowing.” In the omniscient perspective, the author tells the story directly. Authors can plant themselves anywhere in the story, including inside the character’s mind, to make their observations.

Types of Point of View With first person point of view, the author speaks through the voice of a particular character. First person perspective is told by a character within the story and is characterized by the first person pronoun “I.” While this has the advantage of sounding authentic and personal, only one character’s thoughts and observations can be given.

Types of Point of View Third person point of view is more objective and is used for nonfiction as well as for many fictional stories. Third person is told from the viewpoint of a character in the story. The third person narrator is often a character in the story who is telling or writing about another “more extreme” or “more interesting” character.

Theme Theme is the central message or central idea of the story. Theme ties a story together and answers such questions as what the story means and what there is to think about when the story is all over. The theme can be stated directly or implied by the actions and events of the story. Books may have more than one theme, but usually the secondary themes are less important to the story.

Symbolism A symbol is something that represents an idea, quality, or concept larger than itself. Rain can represent a cleansing, change, and renewal. A journey can symbolize life. A bird can represent freedom.