The Elements of Fiction 1

SELECT AMERICAN LITERARY WORKS

1. PLOT
1.1. Definition:
A casual sequence of events, the way in which the story elements are arranged draws the reader
into the character's lives helps the reader understand the choices that the characters make. Plot’s
structure depends on the needs of the story.

1.2. The Five Elements of Plot Structure

1.2.1. Exposition - the Beginning
The characters and setting are established. The conflict or main problem is also introduced.
Questions: Who are the central characters? What do they aspire to? Where/when do the
characters live? Does the setting contribute to the narrative? What are the challenges facing the
protagonist(s)?

1.2.2. Rising Action: Introduction of the Problem or Conflict

A new event frequently jostles the smoothness of things and changes the course of action. →
Incentive Moment
A series of separate events in the plot occur and build from one situation to the next → Episodes
The conflict becomes more and more intense, demanding some sort of resolution.

1.2.3. Climax: the high point or the critical point

The probable outcome of the main conflict is finally revealed and the ultimate suspense reaches
its peak → the turning point of the story.
The events and complications begin to resolve themselves.
The turning point: physical or emotional

1.2.4. Falling Action: Winding Down

The events and complications begin to resolve themselves. The reader knows what has happened
next and if the conflict was resolved or not (events between climax and resolution).

1.2.5. Epilogue – Resolution - The End

The Part of the plot that concludes the falling action by revealing or suggesting the outcome of
the conflict (what happens to the characters well after the story is finished).

1.3. Author's Role in Plot

1.3.1. Plot grows out of the characters.
1.3.2. The author is usually in control of what happens; manipulates events → it is created.
1.3.3. Central focus of the story has to be intrigued, and the author has to arrange events in such
a way as to:

 Eliminate all events that are not significant.

 Make each succeeding event more and more intriguing until he reaches the climax.
1.4. Plot Techniques
1.4.1. Suspense: Put characters into an awkward situation (dilemma) forcing them to make a
choice.
1.4.2. Flashback: Waits until the story is moving and then flashes back to reveal biographical
data or deep psychological reasons for the character actions.

1.4.3. Telescoping:
Is a technique of compressing time used when the author can't describe every motion of the
character or event during the time the story covers
The result is that events which might normally require several days happen within a much
shorter span of time.
It is particularly necessary within a short story.
1.4.4. Foreshadowing:
The outcome of a conflict is often hinted at before the climax and resolution.
→ foreshadowing clues which you don't realize until you've finished the story

1.5. Conflict in Plot

1.5.1. person vs. the environment
1.5.2. person vs. person: including person vs. society
1.5.3. person vs. fate
1.5.4. person vs. self: an inner struggle
1.5.1 → 1.5.3: external conflict
1.5.4: internal conflict

Identifying Conflict:
Who or what is the protagonist?
Who or what is the antagonist?
Why is this person or thing the antagonist?
Why are the antagonist and the protagonist in conflict?
Which events contribute to the developing conflict?
Which event or episode is the climax?
What does the outcome of the conflict reveal to you about the protagonist?
Did you feel sympathetic toward the protagonist or the antagonist? Explain why.

2. Setting
2.1. Definition:
Setting is defined as the physical location and the time of a story.
The location where the story takes place is called physical setting.
The chronological setting, the “when,” can be equally general or specific.

2.2. Setting’s function

Setting versus Characters
Setting is the physical world in which Characters live
Characters can be revealed by Setting & Setting can be revealed by Characters
Plot Assisted by Setting
Some stories or plots can take place only in certain settings.
Traditions established over many generations exert great influence on what characters do.
Physical nature also creates conditions that affect plot: setting can confine action.
Setting can have influence on Theme and Atmosphere

3. Characters
3.1. Flat Characters = secondary characters or minor characters
Do not undergo substantial change or growth in the course of a story.
3.2. Round Characters - Writer focus on developing round characters. – Readers put the most
effort into following and understanding.

3.3. Static Characters

Refer to the characters who don’t change themselves in the course of the story.
3.4. Stock Characters - The conventional or stereotypical characters through repeated use in
particular types of stories.
3.5. Dynamic Characters
The opposite of static characters

3.6. Protagonists
The story's main characters. They are faced with a conflict that must be resolved.
The protagonist may not always be admirable (e.g. an anti-hero)

3.7. Anti-heros: major characters, usually the protagonists

Lacks conventional nobility of mind
Struggles for values not deemed universally admirable.

3.8. Antagonists: essential to many literary works

Represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend.
An obstacle that the protagonist must overcome.
3.9. Foil characters usually antagonists or important supporting characters
Have personal qualities contrast with another character (usually the protagonist)
Helping us know more about the other character.

3.10. Symbolic
A symbolic character is any major or minor character whose very existence represents some
major idea or aspect of society.

Ten (Direct or Indirect) Ways in which a Character can be revealed

a. By physical description.
b. By psychological description.
c. By probing what s/he thinks.
d. By what s/he says.
e. By how s/he says it.
f. By what s/he does.
g. By what others say about him or her.
h. By his or her environment.
i. By her reaction to others.
j. By his/her reaction to himself/ herself.

a. By physical description.
Jack Potter
brick-colored hands
Red face
Scratchy Wilson
Face: flamed in a rage begot of whisky
Eyes: rolling and yet keen for ambush
The long revolvers in his hands

b. By psychological description.
c. By probing what s/he thinks
d. By what s/he says.
e. By how s/he says it.
f. By what s/he does.
Sulamif
g. By what others say about him or her.
h. By his or her environment.
i. By his/her reaction to others.
Quo Vadis
The gift of the magi
j. By his/her reaction to himself/ herself.

The Elements of Fiction 2

SELECT AMERICAN LITERARY WORKS

An attitude of a writer toward a subject an author’s use of words and writing style to convey his
or her attitude towards a topic.
- create a writing style. Comprises a central theme or subject matter. Define the mood.

ex:
Absurd illogical; ridiculous; silly; implausible; foolish
Accusatory suggesting someone has done something wrong, complaining
Acerbic sharp; forthright; biting; hurtful; abrasive; severe
Admiring approving; think highly of; respectful; praising
Aggressive hostile; determined; forceful; argumentative
Aggrieved indignant; annoyed; offended; disgruntled
https://writerswrite.co.za/155-words-to-describe-an-authors-tone/

5. Mood or Atmosphere
The feeling the reader gets while reading the story. The feeling the author wants the reader to
pick up subconsciously. Is established to affect the reader emotionally and psychologically and
to provide a feeling for the narrative.
- Depending on the writer’s attitude and perspective.

-Created by using carefully chosen descriptive or evocative words - diction (the description of
settings, the characters and events).
Be compared to the use of music in films. Examples: hostile, optimistic, threatening, ominous,
bitter, defiant, etc.

TONE and MOOD

What the author feels about the subject is often defined as the tone. What the reader feels is
known as the mood.

The unifying or central concept of a story. A theory of life which acts as the unifying force in a
story, or the universal truth that the story illustrates. The description of the basic challenges of
mankind.

6. Theme
A recurring social or psychological issue. It's not just a simple moral. The title of the story or
poem is often of significance in recognizing the theme.

6. Theme
Identifying a story's theme: The character's situation and the plot: “Why did the characters act as
they did?” The central conflict. Overcoming a conflict - the basis of the recurrent human
challenge in the theme.

6. Theme
Look closely at the events and/or characters that seem relevant to the main line of action. Why
are they included? Does the author offer an explicit viewpoint about the theme, or does s/he
merely describe the many points of view? Look for literary devices such as symbolism or irony.
They often reveal key elements of the theme.

7. POINT OF VIEW
7.1. Definition:
Angle of vision from which the people, events, and details of a story are viewed - the way the
author allows you to "see" and "hear" what's going on.7.2. Types of Point of View
7.2.1. First Person Point of View
The narrator does participate in the action of the story. What the narrator is recounting might not
be the objective truth.

7.2.2. Objective Point of View

The writer tells what happens without stating more than can be inferred from the story's action
and dialogue. The narrator never discloses anything about what the characters think or feel,
remaining a detached observer.
7.2.3. Third Person Point of View
The narrator does not participate in the action of the story as one of the characters, lets us know
exactly how the characters feel. We learn about the characters through his outside voice.

7.2.3.1. Omniscient Points of View

Knows everything about all the characters. Head jump.

7.2.3.2. Limited Omniscient Points of View

Has limited knowledge of characters. All the reader sees is what the protagonist sees. There may
be more than one point of view.

Skillful authors can fix their readers' attention on exactly the detail, opinion, or emotion the
author wants to emphasize by manipulating the point of view of the story. The tone and air of the
story, and even its meaning can be changed radically depending on who is telling the story.

8.1. Simile
Explicit comparison using the words “like” or “as” to compare one object or idea with another to
suggest they are alike.
Examples:

as busy as a bee brave as a lion as clean as a whistle as dry as a bone as easy as shooting fish in a
barrel as funny as a barrel of monkeys they fought like cats and dogs

8.2. Metaphor
Implicit comparison. States a fact or draws a verbal picture by the use of comparison. Doesn’t
make sense literally, only makes sense when the similarities between the two things become
apparent or someone understands the connection. A simile would say you are like something; a
metaphor is more positive - it says you are something.

**Examples: The world is my oyster You are a couch potato Time is money He has a heart of
stone America is a melting pot You are my sunshine

8.3. Symbolism
A symbol is an object, event or a character that's used to represent an abstract idea; it is
something which stands for something else. Symbols are clues to what's going on in the story
and often stand for key parts of the theme. A symbol is related to metaphor and simile insofar as
it's a type of figurative (indirect/dual) language.

8.4. Hyperbole
An exaggeration that is so dramatic that no one would believe the statement is true.
Example:
He was so hungry, he ate that whole cornfield for lunch, stalks and all.
8.5. SYNECDOCHE & METONYMY
SYNECDOCHE: Substituting a part for a whole or a whole for a part.

 "Fifty sails" for "fifty ships"

  "The smiling year" for spring
METONYMY: Substituting the name of something for its attribute or whatever it is
associated with ("crown" for king).

8.6. Personification
Attributing animation to something inanimate; giving an animal or an object human
characteristics; treating a thing or abstract quality as though it were a person.
Example:

 My teddy bear gave me a hug.

 "a grieving nation"
The Story of an Hour – Kate Chopin

8.7. Irony
The contrast between actual meaning and the suggestion of another meaning.
a.) Verbal: Meaning one thing and saying another.
b.) Dramatic: Two levels of meaning: what the speaker says and what the author/reader means.
c.) Situational: When the real outcome of a situation differs from the anticipated or intended
effect; when something unexpected occurs.

8.8. Oxymoron
A locution that produces an incongruous, seemingly self-contradictory effect.
Examples:

 “cruel kindness”
 “to make haste slowly”
Rhetorical oxymora: Words that are not inherently mutually exclusive but express an
opinion that the two cannot occur together, usually for satirical intent.

8.9. Imagery
A type of figurative language that appeals to the senses. The descriptions can be about living
things or inanimate objects.
Purposes:

 To save time and words.

 To reach the reader's senses.
Examples:
 A host of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in
the breeze.
"I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" – Wordsworth
 What are you looking for? Spacious skies? Amber waves of grain? Yes.

8.10. A Paradox
A statement or a concept that seems to be self-contradictory. In Logic, a paradox is a statement
that contradicts itself absolutely.
Examples:
 When you increase your knowledge, you understand how little you know.
 To shut down your computer, first click Start.
 You have to be cruel to be kind.
 Don't go near the water until you've learned to swim.
 Everything I say is a lie.
 If you didn't get this message, call me.
The Name of the Rose – Umberto Eco