Story Literary Elements The key basics that every good story must have ….

THE EXPOSITION  Where the characters, setting, and conflict are introduced.

Every story needs characters People Animals Or Creatures

The protagonist is the “good guy”

The antagonist is the “bad guy” or force

Great stories have a conflict Man vs. Man Man vs. NatureMan vs. Society Man vs. Himself

A hint about what will happen next is called foreshadowing For example, if you hear this: Then you know someone’s about to get eaten!

The time and place of the story is the setting

USE VIVID LANGUAGE  What do you feel?  What do you see?  What do you hear?  What does it taste like?  How does it smell?

RISING ACTION  Where the characters take steps to help solve the problem in series of events.

The climax is the most exciting part!!

FALLING ACTION  The major conflict in the story is starting to get resolved in a series of events (tying up loose ends in the story).

RESOLUTION  Where the problem is solved. This is the outcome of the story.  There should be a theme or lesson learned in your story. The character should learn a lesson or overcome an obstacle.

Other items to remember……

The point of view is the perspective of the story. First person works well (I, me, my, mine, we, us, ours) “That rotten wolf tried to eat us!!!!” “I was framed! I just wanted to borrow a cup of sugar!”

USE DIALOGUE!  BALANCE YOUR DIALOGUE (NOT TOO MUCH, NOT TOO LITTLE).  DIALOGUE SHOULD MOVE YOUR STORY ALONG!  REMEMBER DIALOGUE RULES!

USE VIVID LANGUAGE!  IMAGERY  ALLITERATION  SIMILE  METAPHOR  ONOMATOPOEIA  HYPERBOLE  IDIOM  OXYMORON

GOOD WRITING  VARY SENTENCES  USE CORRECT PUNCTUATION  WATCH SPELLING  NEW IDEAS=NEW PARAGRAPHS  STAY ON TOPIC

GOOD LUCK & HAVE FUN!