Elements of Fiction:
- Plot: is the shape of the story:
- Exposition: Beginning of the story, the characters and setting is
introduced.
- Rising action: Where the main character faces a series of challenges.
- Climax: The most exciting part of the story; where we learn the outcome.
- Falling action: Events leading to the end of the story.
- Resolution: The end of the story
- Setting: Place and time. Where and when is the story set?
- Character:
- Protagonist: The main character
- Antagonist: A character who opposes the protagonist. Creates conflict.
- Static: A character who does not change by the end of the story.
- Dynamic: Character who changed by the end of the story.
- Flat: Static, simple character
- Round: Complex, more realistic character
- Conflict:
- Conflict is necessary in a story. It moves the events along.
- Not just fights; it is any form of opposition that faces the main character.
- Character vs. Character: The leading character struggles against an
antagonist
- Character vs. Fate: The leading character struggles against fate, or the
circumstances of life facing him/her
- Character vs. Society: The leading character struggles against ideas,
practices, or customs of other people
- Character vs. Self: The leading character struggles with himself/herself;
with his/her own soul, ideas of right or wrong, physical limitations,
choices, etc.
, - Character vs. Environment: The leading character struggles as a result of
his/her environment - usually a natural environment
- Point of view:
- Point of view is the angle from which the story is told
- Narrator: voice telling the story
- First Person: The reader sees the story through this person's eyes as
he/she experiences it and only knows what he/she knows or feels. It can
be reliable or Unreliable.
- Third Person Omniscient: “God-eye”: The narrator knows and sees all
Narrator may or may not choose to tell the reader everything Narrator
may or may not be objective
- Third Person Limited: The narrator knows all about ONE character. The
narrator may be a different character in the future and may or may not be
objective.
- Theme:
- A central insight of the story. The big ideas and main message.
- You must figure it out yourself, and there is often more than one.
Figurative Language:
- Metaphors: are comparisons which leave out the words “like” and “as”. Instead
of saying that one thing is “like” another, metaphors imply that one thing “is”
another.
- Simile: A direct comparison between two things that are basically unlike, but
are similar in one way. The words “like” or “as” are always used in the
comparison.
- Hyperbole: Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.
- Plot: is the shape of the story:
- Exposition: Beginning of the story, the characters and setting is
introduced.
- Rising action: Where the main character faces a series of challenges.
- Climax: The most exciting part of the story; where we learn the outcome.
- Falling action: Events leading to the end of the story.
- Resolution: The end of the story
- Setting: Place and time. Where and when is the story set?
- Character:
- Protagonist: The main character
- Antagonist: A character who opposes the protagonist. Creates conflict.
- Static: A character who does not change by the end of the story.
- Dynamic: Character who changed by the end of the story.
- Flat: Static, simple character
- Round: Complex, more realistic character
- Conflict:
- Conflict is necessary in a story. It moves the events along.
- Not just fights; it is any form of opposition that faces the main character.
- Character vs. Character: The leading character struggles against an
antagonist
- Character vs. Fate: The leading character struggles against fate, or the
circumstances of life facing him/her
- Character vs. Society: The leading character struggles against ideas,
practices, or customs of other people
- Character vs. Self: The leading character struggles with himself/herself;
with his/her own soul, ideas of right or wrong, physical limitations,
choices, etc.
, - Character vs. Environment: The leading character struggles as a result of
his/her environment - usually a natural environment
- Point of view:
- Point of view is the angle from which the story is told
- Narrator: voice telling the story
- First Person: The reader sees the story through this person's eyes as
he/she experiences it and only knows what he/she knows or feels. It can
be reliable or Unreliable.
- Third Person Omniscient: “God-eye”: The narrator knows and sees all
Narrator may or may not choose to tell the reader everything Narrator
may or may not be objective
- Third Person Limited: The narrator knows all about ONE character. The
narrator may be a different character in the future and may or may not be
objective.
- Theme:
- A central insight of the story. The big ideas and main message.
- You must figure it out yourself, and there is often more than one.
Figurative Language:
- Metaphors: are comparisons which leave out the words “like” and “as”. Instead
of saying that one thing is “like” another, metaphors imply that one thing “is”
another.
- Simile: A direct comparison between two things that are basically unlike, but
are similar in one way. The words “like” or “as” are always used in the
comparison.
- Hyperbole: Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.
