1. Elements of Fiction Theme Plot Setting Characterization
Click for Guidelines
Narration
Click on the link above each finger to discover one of the five aspects of the elements of fiction. Then, in the Literary Terms section of your notebook, draw a hand and copy the definition at each digit of the hand. Click on the home icon on each page to return here.

2. Plot
Simply put, plot is what happens in the story. Some call it the storyline.
When doing an Elements of fiction hand, describe the plot in ten words or less without revealing the plot’s climax or resolution.

3. Theme
It’s the moral or main idea of the story. Themes do not provide any plot developments and apply to many types of stories in almost any genre.
When doing an elements of fiction hand, state the theme in five words or less. Often it can be stated in one word.

4. Characterization
The main character in a story is called the protagonist. She or he is always involved in the main conflict and its resolution.
The person opposing the protagonist is called the antagonist.
When doing an Elements of Fiction hand, use the methods of characterization (flat, round, dynamic, or static) to describe the protagonists and antagonists in the story.
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5. Narration
First Person Point of View: The narrator tells the story and is a character in the story. (Pronouns: I, me, us, we, our, etc.)
Third Person Omniscient: The narrator is not a character in the story but can tell you the thoughts and actions of all characters at all times. (Pronouns: he, she, him, her, they, them, etc.)
Third Person Limited: The narrator is not a character in the story but can tell you the thoughts and actions of a few key characters at all times. (Pronouns: he, she, him, her, they, them, etc.)

6. Setting
The setting provides us with the when and where the story took place. In addition, the context or historical background in which the story is set provides us with additional plot information.
When doing an Elements of Fiction Hand, use the three W’s of setting When = the timeframe, Where = place or location, and Why = the context in which the story is set

7. Guidelines
When creating an Elements of Fiction Hand, please follow these guidelines
Trace your hand or use a graphic on a blank piece of paper
Be sure to label each digit with one of the elements of fiction
Where needed, provide names of characters, places, dates, times, locations, etc.
No lined paper: must be in color
As always, be creative and try to do something original and unusual

8. Methods of Characterization
On a new page in the “Literary Terms” section of your notebook, title it “Methods of Characterization” and copy the information from the following slides.

9. Flat Characterization
A character who has one or two sides, representing one or two traits—often a stereotype Flat characters help move the plot along more quickly because the audience immediately understands what the character is about.
Example: Like a geeky science professor

10. Round Characterization
A character who is complex and has many sides or traits with unpredictable behavior and a fully developed personality. Antagonists are usually a round characterization.
Example: Like The Green Goblin (Norman Osborn)

11. Dynamic Characterization
A character who experiences an essential change in personality or attitude. Protagonists are almost always dynamic.
Example: Stitch, from Lilo and Stitch

12. Static Characterization
A character who does not change or develop beyond the way in which she or he is first presented.
Example: Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird.

13. Types of Conflict
In the Literary Terms section of your notebook, please copy the following information about the types of conflict that form the basis of plot.

14. External Conflict
There are three types of external conflict: character vs. character; character vs. society; and character vs. nature.

15. Character vs. Character
The protagonist in the story experiences conflict with others, especially the antagonist.

16. Character vs. Society
The protagonist in the story experiences conflict with society as a whole.

17. Character vs. Nature
The protagonist in the story experiences conflict with the elements of nature.

18. Internal Conflict
The protagonist in the story experiences conflict with her or his conscience.

19. Literary Conflict

20. Conflict
In a story, conflict is the struggle between opposing forces.

21. Protagonist
The main character

22. The character in conflict with the main character
Antagonist
The character in conflict with the main character

23. External Conflict takes place outside of the body

24. There are three types of external conflict

25. The struggle is between two or more characters in the story.
Man vs. Man
The struggle is between two or more characters in the story.

26. External
Man vs. Nature
This type of conflict pits a story's main character or characters against a natural force such as a flood, predatory animal, or disease epidemic.

27. External Man Against Society
In many stories, the protagonist battles against element of government or culture.

28. Internal Conflict takes place inside of the body/mind.

29. There is one type of internal conflict.

30. Man vs. Self
The struggle or opposition is within one character--making a tough decision, for example. A character struggling to overcome fear, addiction, emotional damage or other crippling personal issue.

31. Internal
Man vs. Self
Some literary conflicts take the form of a character struggling to overcome fear, addiction, emotional damage or other crippling personal issue.

32. Practice
Decide what type of conflict is being illustrated in the following pictures

33. 1. Man vs. ?

34. 2. Man vs. ?

35. 3. Man vs. ?

36. 4. Man vs.

37. 5. Man vs. ?

38. 6. Man vs. ?

39. 7. Man vs. ?

40. Now that you have mastered pictures, let’s try some text!
Practice
Now that you have mastered pictures, let’s try some text!

41. 8. Man vs. ? “If she had only proceeded more slowly.
If she had only taken the Southerly route, avoiding the icebergs. If only the watch had had a pair of binoculars.”
(news story about the Titanic)

42. 9. Man vs. ?
Charles decided to break all the rules the day he decided to steal that car. He was immediately arrested and sent to jail to await his trial. He should have known better than to mess with the “rules.”

43. 10. Man vs. ?
“I don’t care who you talk to!” screamed Sarah to West. “I just wish I had never met you!”

44. 11. Man vs. ?
After the light in the cave was completely gone Tom began to stumble through the cave blindly cutting his hands on what appeared to be sharp rocks.

45. 12. Man vs. ?
Tom found a dry spot to sit down in the dark and began to feel guilty over an argument he had had earlier in the day with his mother in which he had said, “I hope I never see you again!”

46. 13. Man vs. ?
Tom’s mother was upset that he wanted to skip going to college in order to go exploring in all of the world’s greatest caves before he turned thirty. Tom didn’t understand what the big deal was and wanted to run his own life.

47. Tone / Mood
This is the overall feeling created at the beginning of the story. This is a VERY important part of the Short Story, because it sets up the entire piece of writing. Mood could be scary, happy, suspenseful…whatever the writer wants to create.

48. It was a dark and stormy night.
suspenseful

49. The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny with flowers blooming everywhere you looked.
happy

50. Oliver Twist was born in a poor house where his mother died.
sad

51. The trouble with being a big brother is you’ve got to drag your younger brother everywhere you go.
Frustration, annoyed

52. Point of View

53. The point of view means how the story is being told
The point of view means how the story is being told. Whose “ voice” are you hearing? There are three main types of POV in short stories. Each of them can change the story entirely.

54. 1. In the first-person point of view, the person telling the story is also a character in the story, and uses words such as I, me and my to tell what he/she observes and experiences.

55. 2. In the third-person limited point of view, we see the events from the viewpoint of just one of the characters. This character is referred to in the third person. (ie: he, she)

56. In the all-knowing, or omniscient point of view, the narrator knows what everyone in the story is feeling, thinking and doing.

57. Practice: Identify the Point of View:
1. I groped my way down the tree and fell with a thud into the mud. Then I heard the guard dogs barking furiously as they bounded toward me. My heart began to pound.

58. First person

59. 2. She saw that her father was laughing hysterically, but she had no idea why. Was he reading that silly book again?

60. Third-person limited

61. 3. In the school cafeteria, Jon felt lonely and out of place, so he gobbled his lunch as fast as he could. On the other side of the table, Jeanne was wondering if she would ever get used to this noisy, crowded school. As for Liddy, she was a depressed as ever.

62. All-knowing

63. 4. “Wow, am I ever happy to be home. ” said Diamond to himself
4. “Wow, am I ever happy to be home!” said Diamond to himself. He lay on his back and put his feet up in the air. “That’s the last time I ever run away,” he thought. Now he wondered when his people were going to serve his dinner. If only they knew how absolutely starved an adventurous dog could get!

64. Third-person limited

65. 5. Cassy was a pioneer at heart. It ran in the family
5. Cassy was a pioneer at heart. It ran in the family. Her father and grandfathers had climbed the Alps. And years from now, Cassy would have a daughter who followed in the family footsteps.

66. All-knowing

67. 6. “Get out of my way. ” Tina screamed at me
6. “Get out of my way!” Tina screamed at me. I had always been afraid of her temper, so I stepped aside quickly.

68. First-person

69. Character
A character is a person or other figure that is part of a story. We usually like a book, a story, a movie or a t.v. show because we can relate to an interesting character in it. Interesting characters with strong motivation create action – and get other characters moving and reacting.

70. There are two main types of character in short story
There are two main types of character in short story. The main character is called the protagonist. All the action in the story revolves around him/her. You can usually identify the protagonist by asking, “To which character has a very significant change occurred?”

71. The character that creates a conflict for the protagonist is called the antagonist. This could be a person, could be society, a force or even an aspect of the protagonist’s self.

72. A foil is a character that is closely related to the main character (protagonist). The foil has characteristics that are in direct contrast to the main character in an effort to amplify them.

73. Minor characters are not the main focus, but they add to the total story.

74. Authors tell us about characters in several ways:
Character’s speech (what does he/she say?)
Character’s appearance (what does he/she look like?)
Character’s private thoughts (what does he/she think or feel?)
Character’s actions (what does he/she do?)
How other characters within the story interact with him/her (how do others feel about and how do they react to him/her?)

75. Point of View
The Story’s Voice

76. What Is Point of View?
Point of view is the vantage point from which a writer tells a story.
A writer tells a story through the voice of a narrator. A narrator may be an outside observer or a character in the story.
Everything you learn about the characters, events, and places in a story depends on the narrator’s point of view.

77. Points of View The three most common points of view are omniscient
third-person limited
first person

78. Omniscient Point of View
In the omniscient point of view, the narrator plays no part in the story but can tell us what all the characters are thinking and feeling as well as what is happening in other places.
The omniscient narrator
can tell us as much or as little as the writer permits
may tell us what all—or only some—of the characters are thinking, feeling, and observing
may comment on the story’s meaning, characters, or events

79. Omniscient Point of View
Just outside the auditorium entrance, students milled about nervously and waited to be called in for the audition. A few had paired off to practice their lines together, but most stood or sat alone engaged in their own calming rituals. Ruth stood in the corner and talked to the wall in a low voice. She would be graduating this year, and she desperately wanted to be Juliet. She was trying to get just the right tone of voice for the balcony scene. Gary, dressed in all black, paced back and forth in front of the mirror- lined wall and periodically glanced at his reflection and smoothed his dark hair. He was auditioning for Mercutio, but he was worried that Mr. Glover would think he was too much of a “comedic” actor to give him a more serious role. Janis sat with her back against the row of lockers, her knees tucked up close to her body, and stared at the floor as she recited the lines in her head. She didn’t really care what part she got as long as she had a speaking role. She had been an extra in the last two productions and was ready for more responsibility.

80. Third-Person-Limited Point of View
In the third-person-limited point of view, the narrator plays no part in the story but zooms in on the thoughts and feelings of one character.
The third-person narrator
views the actions from the vantage point of a single character
can tell us only what that single character is thinking, feeling, and observing

81. Third-Person-Limited Point of View
Gary paced back and forth in front of the mirror-lined wall. He glanced toward Ruth and smiled. She looked so odd standing in the corner talking to the wall. He admired the way she could totally immerse herself in a character and ignore the outside world. He was too aware of what other people thought of him. He sometimes played the clown, but only when he knew that he could get a laugh. Mr. Glover said he tried too hard to entertain people. Maybe that was why Mr. Glover always cast him in a comic role.
This time, though, he wanted a chance to try his hand at more serious acting. Mercutio’s character seemed the perfect role for him—sometimes foolish and other times brooding and angry.

82. First-Person Point of View
In the first-person point of view, the narrator is a character in the story and tells the story using the first-person pronoun I.
The first-person narrator
participates in the action of the story
can tell us only what he or she is feeling, thinking, or observing
may or may not be objective, honest, or perceptive about what’s going in the story

83. First-Person Point of View
I stared at the wall and tried to remember what it felt like to be fourteen and have a major crush on a guy. I’ve never felt love as intensely as Juliet. Personally, I always thought that Juliet’s character was a bit too impulsive and naïve. But, who was I to quibble with Shakespeare? I was willing to set aside my personal opinions for a chance to play one of the most famous female characters in drama. What better way to end my high school drama career than to play the role of Juliet.
Before I could get the role, though, I would have to impress Mr. Glover. I closed my eyes and pictured myself standing on the balcony as Juliet: My heart is heavy because my love is my sworn enemy, and I’ll probably never get the chance to see him again. My voice is sad and full of longing. “O, Romeo…”

84. Why Is Point of View Important?
The narrator’s point of view determines what and how much you learn about the story’s characters, events, and places.
It’s important to evaluate the credibility and knowledge of the narrator. Ask yourself:
How much does this narrator know and understand?
How much does this narrator want me to know?
How would this story be different if someone else were telling it?
Can I trust this narrator?

85. What Have You Learned? Match these terms with the correct definition.
Omniscient Third-person limited First person
Omniscient
First person
Third-person limited
_________________— The narrator is a character in the story and tells what he or she experiences.
_________________— The narrator is an observer and knows everything about all the characters.
_________________— The narrator is an observer and describes the thoughts and feelings of just one character.

86. The End