DEFINITION AND ELEMENTS OF

FICTION

Lecturer:

Andriadi, M.A

Compiled by:

1. Afifah Tiana Rosa (1711230001)

2. Aniza Putri (1711230089)
3. Artin Kunarsi (1711230006)
4. Septian Nur Aryati (1711230044)

ENGLISH EDUCATION
FACULTY OF TARBIYAH AND TADRIS
STATE INSTITUTE FOR ISLAMIC STUDIES BENGKULU
(2018/2019)
 PREFACE

First at all,give thanks for God’s love and grace for us.

Thanks for God for helping me and give chance to finish the assignment timely,and I
would like to say thank you to Mr. Andriadi M.A as the lecturer that always teaches us and
give much knowledge about how to practice English well.

The writers also express his deep and sincere gratitude for those who have guided in
completing this paper. We hope it can be useful for us. Critics and suggestion is needed here
to make the assignment be better.

Hopefully this paper can help the readers to expend their knowledge about Elements of
Fiction.

Bengkulu, October 2018

Writers

i
 CONTENTS

Preface ........................................................................................... I

Contents ......................................................................................... II

Unit I Introduction

A. Background ....................................................................... 1
B. Formula of content ............................................................ 1
C. Purpose .............................................................................. 2

Unit II Content

A. Definition of Fiction .......................................................... 3

B. Element of Fiction
a. Plot .............................................................................. 5
b. Setting ......................................................................... 11
c. Characters .................................................................... 12
d. Theme ......................................................................... 15

Unit III Closing

Conclusion ..................................................................................... 19

Reference ....................................................................................... 20

Attachment ................................................................................... 21

ii
 UNIT I

INTRODUCTION

A. Backgrond
Mid-18thcentury, fiction came to the surface. At that time it was not
necessarily universal fiction like today. But only a genre of fiction that is related to
innovation in science or technology. Usually forms in futuristic management, all of
which are framed in literary ideas. Much of science fiction is about rational writing
about alternative fun. Like people going up to the moon, robots are created, time
repeats and so on. Science fiction is a visual, but not a fantasy. Fantasy freedom
accours. While science fiction might happen. Get rid of these things with the logic
and development of the world. Although some elements in a story are still pure
imaginative speculation.
The meaning of fiction developed much more rapidly until the 21st century.
The evolution of fiction the happens gradually, proves that there is fiction that is
very influential on the development of Indonesia and the world and gets lot from
the community. Those who used to be insecure and hesitant to write fiction are now
the opposite. Fiction is no longer just a dream, and has become part of a motivating
tool. Fiction is no longer just nailed to scientific work. Fantasy-type fiction was
born, fiction adopted from real stories and so on. Until now the type of fiction has
been scattered throughout the earth.

B. Formula of Content
1. What is the Definition of Fiction?
2. What is the Element of Fiction?
3. What is Definition of Plot?
4. What is Definition of Setting?
5. What is Definition of Characters?
6. What is Definition of Theme?

1
C. Purpose
1. To find out the Definition of Fiction
2. To find out the Elements of Fiction
3. To find out the Definition of Plot
4. To find out Definition of Setting
5. To find out the Definition of Characters
6. To find out the Definiton of Theme

2
 UNIT II

CONTENT

A. Definition of Fiction
The evulation of fiction that occurs gradualiy, propes that it turns out that
fiction has a lot of influence on the development of the world and has great support
from the community. Fiction is usually fantasy story fiction can also be based on
real stories and so on. Until now, many types of fiction have been scattered
throughtout the earth. Fiction is derived from the latin word fictum which means
“Created”. Fiction is a term used to denote anything, mainly stories or accounts
that are not real. Abram explained that fiction is any literary narrative wheter in
prose or verse, which is invited instead of being an account of events that actually
happened.
Fiction is one of the works that is in great demand by the public, both
teenagers, children and adults. this is because fiction is imaginative so readers don't
feel bored. Fiction is literary word whose content is produced by imagination and is
not necesarily based on fact. Writing fiction is generaly concided to be
acombination of craft and talent.1 For example a story of “crocodile and mouse
deer” if you read this fiction it is never based on the fact and it is only imagination
because mouse deer and crocodile are the kind of animal that can not speak and as
we know animal can not give us moral value.
Fiction broadly refers any narrative that is derived from the imagination—in
other words, not based strictly on history or fact.2 In other words, fiction does not
occur in the real world and only based on one’s imagination or mind. Altough
fiction is only the imagination of the author, fiction still makes sense and can
contain truths that can dramatize relationships between humans.
It can also refer, in a narrower sense, to narratives written only in prose
(the novel and short story), and is often used as a synonym for the novel.3 Novel

1
H. Thomas Milhorn, Writing Genre Fiction A Guide to the Craft (USA : Universal Publisher ) 2006.
Page 2
2
William Harmon and C. Hugh Holman A Handbook to Literature (7th edition). New York: Prentice Hall,
1990, p. 212
3
M. H. Abrams, A Glossary of Literary Terms (7th edition). Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace, 1999. Page
94

3
 and short story are kind of fiction so that’s why novel ussually called as a synonim
of fiction. A novel is relatively long work of narrative fiction.
Generally fiction is devided into several types. The types of literary
fiction in prose include Short Story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be
read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked
incidents4, with the intent of evoking a "single effect" or mood and it is a work of at
least 2,000 words but under 7,500 words5 example “The Story of an Hour by Kate
Chopin” , Novella is a text of written, fictional, narrative prose normally longer than
a short story but shorter than a novel, somewhere between 17,500 words but under
40,000 words “Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad” is an example of a novella,
and Novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, normally in prose, which is
typically published as a book. It is a work of 40,000 words or more, for example
“Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling”.
Fiction is a general term used to describe an imaginative work of prose, either
a novel, short story, or novella. Recently, this definition has been modified to
include both notification works that contain imagintive elements, like The Story of
An Hour by Kate Chopin (Vogue, 1894).

4
H. Thomas Milhorn, Writing Genre Fiction A Guide to the Craft (USA : Universal Publisher ) Boca
Raton 2006. Page 3-4
5
J.A. Cuddon, The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms (1992). London : Penguin Book, 19999, page
600

4
 B. Elements of Fiction
Elements of fiction are important part of genre fiction such as, short story,
novel, etc. These elements will bring the reader into the story. The commonly
known elements of fiction are theme plot, setting, character, and caracterization,
style and point of you, according to Klarer, the most important elements are plot
(what happens?), character (who act?), narrative perspective (who sees what?),
settings (where and when do the events take place?).6 Plot explain the incident in
the story, what happens in the story and give direction the reader to comprehend the
story, character is a figure that conveying a message of the story, setting show the
place and time in the story, and theme is the main idea in the story.

a. Plot

Plot is story which contained event but those characters are important element
in a story. The importance of those elements on characters function plays a role,
thus the story can be understood by reader.7 Without a plot the story will be strange
and difficult to understand.

The character inside the stories will carry out the plot. Plot is story which
contained series of events but every event is connected just by causal relationship
and others events.8 So the funtion of plot in a story is to connected the events in a
story, so the story will be more interest. Plot is every event in Frank’s diary and
Haddon’s novel undoubtfully is connected. Plot and character are therefore
interdependent critical concepts. Many, but far from all, plots deal with a conflict.

According to E.M. Forster, a story is a “narrative of events arranged in their

time-sequence,” Whereas a plot organizes the events according to a “sense of
causality”.9 In the 20th century there have been many attempts to redefine plot as
movement, and some critics have even reverted to the position of Aristotle in giving
primary importance in fiction. These neo-Aristotelians (or Chicago school of critics),

6
Mario Klarer, An Introductdion to Literary Studies, Second Edition (London and USA : Routledge) 1998
page 15
7
Robert Stanton, An Introduction to Fiction, Michigan : University Michigan page 16
8
Burhan Nurgiyantoro, Teory Pengkajian Fiksi, (Yogyakarta : Gajah Mada University : Press). Page 113
9
E.M. Forster, Aspects of novel, (New York: Rosettabooks LLC) 1927) Page 61

5
 following the leadership of the critic Ronald S. Crane, have described plot as the
author’s control of the reader’s emotional responses-his arousal of the reader’s
interest and anxiety and the careful control of many attempts to restore plot its
former place of priority in fiction.
Plot is the logical interaction of the various thematic elements of a
text which lead to a change of the original situation as presented at the
outset of the narrative. Plot is the sequence of events in a story as the author chooses
to arrange them. It is a chain of events, each event the result of some prior events
and the cause of some sub sebsequent events. Its purpose is to get readers involved
by creating tensios so they feel a need to know what happens next. The hero and the
vilian each keep thwarting the other, forcing each to improvise under pressure. This
continues until finally one gains the upper hand.
If the plot is organized around a single central problem, it usually ends
when that problem is resolved. If the plot deals with a series of problems, it ends
when the last problem is dealt with.10 So, the story will be end when the problem in
the story has resolved.
There are some elements of plot, In 1863 Gustav Freytag, a German writer,
advocated a model based upon Aristotle's theory of tragedy. This is now called
"Freytag's pyramid," which divides a drama into five parts, and provides function to
each part. These parts are: exposition (originally called introduction), rising action
(rise), climax, falling action (return or fall), and denouement (catastrophe).11 :

Complication Resolution

10
Milhorn H. Thomas, Writing Genre Fiction A Guide to the Craft (USA : Universal Publisher ) 2006.
Page 4
11
Gustav Freytag (1900) , Freytag's Technique of the Drama, An Exposition of Dramatic Composition
and Art by Dr. Gustav Freytag: An Authorized Translation From the Sixth German Edition by Elias J.
MacEwan, M.A. (3rd ed.), Chicago: Scott, Foresman and Company. Page 115

6
1) Exposition

The first phase in Freytag's pyramid is the exposition, which introduces the
characters, especially the main character, also known as the protagonist.12 It shows
how the characters relate to one another, their goals and motivations, as well as their
moral character. During the exposition, the protagonist learns their main goal and
what is at stake.

“story Of an Hour story’s, introduces Mrs. Mallard and her conflict: she with a heart
trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her
husband's death. It was her sister Josephine who told her, in broken sentences; veiled
hints that revealed in half concealing. Her husband's friend Richards was there, too,
near her. It was he who had been in the newspaper office when intelligence of the
railroad disaster was received, with Brently Mallard's name leading the list of "killed."
He had only taken the time to assure himself of its truth by a second telegram, and had
hastened to forestall any less careful, less tender friend in bearing the sad message.
She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed
inability to accept its significance. She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment,
in her sister's arms. When the storm of grief had spent itself she went away to her
room alone. She would have no one follow her.” This is a part of story of an hour that
explain and introduction the character.

2) Complication
Complication is a situation that making difficult, involved or intricate and often
appearing unexpectedly enchanging exiting plans, method or attitudes. Plot which
produce suspense and eventually leads to a climax, crisis, or turning point. The
complication sometimes called the inciting incident,is a sing leevent that begins the
major conflict.
The complication based on “Story of an Hour” has explain in exposition “she with a
heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her
husband's death. It was her sister Josephine who told her, in broken sentences; veiled
hints that revealed in half concealing.” It is the conflict of this story, Mrs. Mallard has
a hearth trouble, the sister Josephine confuse how to told with her sister about her
husband was died.

12
Ibid., Page 115-121

7
3) Rising action
Rising action is the third phase in Freytag's five-phase structure. It starts with a
conflict, for example, the death of a character. The inciting incident is the point of the
plot that begins the conflict. It is the event that catalyzes the protagonist to go into
motion and to take action.13 Rising action involves the build up of events until the
climax.In this phase, the protagonist understands his or her goal and begins to work
toward it. Smaller problems thwart their initial success and their progress is directed
primarily against these secondary obstacles. This phase demonstrates how the
protagonist overcomes these obstacles.
“There stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair. Into this she
sank, pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to
reach into her soul. She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees
that were all aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the
air. In the street below a peddler was crying his wares. The notes of a distant song
which some one was singing reached her faintly, and countless sparrows were
twittering in the eaves. There were patches of blue sky showing here and there
through the clouds that had met and piled one above the other in the west facing her
window. She sat with her head thrown back upon the cushion of the chair, quite
motionless, except when a sob came up into her throat and shook her, as a child who
has cried itself to sleep continues to sob in its dreams. She was young, with a fair,
calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength. But now there
was a dull stare in her eyes, whose gaze was fixed away off yonder on one of those
patches of blue sky. It was not a glance of reflection, but rather indicated a suspension
of intelligent thought. The rising action consist of Mrs. Mallard went to her room and
felt sad.

4) Climax

The climax is the turning point or highest point of the story. The protagonist makes
the single big decision that defines not only the outcome of the story, but also who
they are as a person. Freytag defines the climax as the third of the five dramatic
phases which occupies the middle of the story. At the beginning of this phase, the
protagonist finally clears away the preliminary barriers and engages with the

13
Ibid., Page 125-128

8
 adversary.14 Usually, both the protagonist and the antagonist have a plan to win
against the other as they enter this phase. For the first time, the audience sees the pair
going against one another in direct or nearly direct conflict. This struggle usually
results in neither character completely winning or losing. In most cases, each
character's plan is both partially successful and partially foiled by their adversary. The
central struggle between the two characters is unique in that the protagonist makes
a decision which shows their moral quality, and ultimately decides their fate. In a
tragedy, the protagonist here makes a poor decision or a miscalculation that
demonstrates their tragic flaw.

“There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully. What was
it? She did not know; it was too subtle and elusive to name. But she felt it, creeping
out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the color that filled
the air. Now her bosom rose and fell tumultuously. She was beginning to recognize
this thing that was approaching to possess her, and she was striving to beat it back
with her will—as powerless as her two white slender hands would have been. When
she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She
said it over and over under her breath: "free, free, free!" The vacant stare and the look
of terror that had followed it went from her eyes. They stayed keen and bright. Her
pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body.
She did not stop to ask if it were or were not a monstrous joy that held her. A clear
and exalted perception enabled her to dismiss the suggestion as trivial.” The climax
occurs when Mrs. Mallard suddenly fell so happy, she is free. After her husband was
died she was so sad firstly then she felt glad. The changing of the emotions of Mrs.
Mallard is the climax of the story.

5) Falling action

According to Freytag, the falling action phase consists of events that lead to the
ending. Character's actions resolve the problem. In the beginning of this phase, the
antagonist often has the upper hand. The protagonist has never been further from
accomplishing their goal. The outcome depends on which side the protagonist has put
themselves on.15 The protagonist have to solve the problem by her or himself.

14
Ibid., Page 128-130
15
Ibid., Page 133-135

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 “Her fancy was running riot along those days ahead of her. Spring days, and summer
days, and all sorts of days that would be her own. She breathed a quick prayer that life
might be long. It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be
long. She arose at length and opened the door to her sister's importunities. There was
a feverish triumph in her eyes, and she carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of
Victory. She clasped her sister's waist, and together they descended the stairs.
Richards stood waiting for them at the bottom. Someone was opening the front door
with a latchkey. It was Brently Mallard who entered, a little travel-stained,
composedly carrying his grip-sack and umbrella. He had been far from the scene of
the accident, and did not even know there had been one.” The falling action is when
Mr. Brantly Mallard who entered the door. He wasn’t die yet.

6) Resolution

Resolution is when the character solves the main problem/conflict or someone solves
it for him or her. Resolution are presented in the final parts or chapter of a story.
Literary device resolution means the an unvolding or solustion of a complicated issue
in a story. Acctualy, resolution is recuired to wrap up a story, and it comes after the
climax. Resolution gives reader the oppurtunity to relax. It brings disturbing conflix
into order, and helps the central theme of the story to resonate.

“He stood amazed at Josephine's piercing cry; at Richards' quick motion to screen him
from the view of his wife. But Richards was too late. When the doctors came they
said she had died of heart disease—of joy that kills.” The resolution of the story is
when Mrs. Mallard was died because of heart disease.

7) Denouement

In this phase the protagonist and antagonist have solved their problems and either the
protagonist or antagonist wins the conflict.16 The conflict officially ends. Some stories
show what happens to the characters after the conflict ends and/or they show what
happens to the characters in the future. Denouement is the final of a play,film, or
narrative in which the strands of the plot are drawn together and matters are explained
oe resolved.

“He stood amazed at Josephine's piercing cry; at Richards' quick motion to screen him
from the view of his wife. But Richards was too late. When the doctors came they

16
Ibid., Page 137-140

10
 said she had died of heart disease—of joy that kills.” The denouement of the story
when the doctor said if Mrs. Mallard has died.

b. Setting
Abram explained that the overall setting of a narrative or dramatic work is
the general locale, historical time, and social circumstances in which its action
occurs; the setting of a single episode or scene within the work is the particular
physical location in which it takes place.
Basically, there are two types of setting. Physical setting is the general locate of
work. In other words, it’s the place of the scene. The geographical location of a work
is not synonymous with where it is written. This is referred to as the time setting,
temporal setting or the historical setting. This type of setting in a work may be
immediate or remote.17 The temporal setting of a work entails the time element
which is almost always (but not necessarily so) different from the time the work is
written. The concept of time setting also encompasses what is evokes and carries
along with it or the social circumstances of the story like the cultural, social,
economic and religious issues raises in the work.
The setting is both the time and geographic location within a narrative or within
a work of fiction. A literary element, the setting helps initiate the
main backdrop and mood for a story. Setting has been referred to as story world18
or milieu to include a context (especially society) beyond the immediate
surroundings of the story.

Settings is the physical and social context in which the action of a story
occurs.19 Time major elements of setting are the time, the place, and the social and
environment that frames the characters these elements establish the world in which
the characters act.

Elements of may include Setting of Time (related to when the event in the short story
occurred). Example “present time”, Setting of Place (related to where the events in
the short story occurred). Example “Village”, Setting of Social (a picture of people's

17
Abrams, A Glossary of Literary Terms:2009.(USA: Wads worth C engage Learning) page 330.
18
Truby, John (2007). Anatomy of a Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller. New York, NY:
Faber and Faber, Inc. page 145
19
Truby, John (2007). Anatomy of a Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller. New York, NY:
Faber and Faber, Inc

11
 lives in a certain period of time and place described in the story). Example “Culture,
Religion, Attitude, etc”.20 Sometimes the setting is lightly sketched, presented only
because the story has to take place somewhere and at some time. Often however, the
setting is more immportant, giving the rider the feel of the people who move thought
it. Setting can be used to avoke a mood or atmosper that will prepare the reader for
what is to come.

The example of setting based on The Story of an Hour. The story takes place by the
Mallard house especially in the window at Louise’s bedroom and setting of time is
spring. “There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds
that had met and piled one above the other in the west facing her window”

c. Character
Character is an important element in a story. It is a messenger of author in
conveying a message of the story. E.M. Foster discuss characterization in the novel.
He describe five “The main fact in human life are five : birth, food, sleep, love, and
dead”, and compare these five activities as experienced by real people to these
activities as enacted by characters in novels. He goes on to discuss the character of
Mole Flanders, in the novel by Defoe of the same title. Foster focus on Mole
Flanders as a novel in which the form his derived from the development of the main
character. In a second lecture on character, Foster distinguishes between flat
characters, whose characterization is relatively simple and straightforward, and
round characters, whose characterization is more complex and developed. Foster
finds advantages in the use of both flat and round characters in the novel. He points
to Charles Dickens as an example of a novelist nearly all of whose characters are
flat but who nonetheless creates “a vision of humanity that is not shallow.21 “He
spends less time discussing round characters but provides the example of Russian
novelists Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoyevski, most of whose characters are round.
Foster moves on to a brief mention of point of view, concluding that novels with a
shifting or problematic if the author possesses the skill to integrate these shifts into
the narrative whole.

20
Obstfeld, Raymond (2002). Fiction First Aid: Instant Remedies for Novels, Stories and Scripts.
Cincinnati, OH: Writer's Digest Books.
21
E.M. Forster, Aspects of novel, (New York: Rosetta books LLC) 1927) Page 36-46

12
 Abrams states: “characters are the persons presented in a dramatic or narrative
work, who are interprated by the reader as being endowed with moral, dispositional,
and emotional qualities that are expressed in what they say-the dialogue-and by,
what they do-the action.22 The grounds in the characters’ temperament, desires, and
moral nature for their speech and actions are called motivation. A character may
remain essentialy “stable”, or unchanged in outlook and disposition.whether a
character remains stable or changes, the reader of a traditional and realistic work
expects “consistency” the character should not sudenlly break off and act in a way
not plausibly grounded in his or her temperament”.
Klarer defines that typed character in literature is dominated by one specific trait
and is referred to as a flat character, and term round character usually denotes a
persona with more complex and differentiated features. In short story, character that
commonly emergences is flat character since short story only presents the critical
time of the chief character. Caracter are divided into several types. Here are some
types of character23 :
1. Protagonist
Abram (2008-265) stated that the chief character in a plot, on whom our
interest centers, is called the protagonist (or alternatively24, the hero or
heroine). In many storytelling traditions, the protagonist is usually the main
character or the hero or heroine. It appears as if the story revolves around
the character or that it is his her story that is being told. That character
becomes the driver of action in the story. She or he therefore is responsible
for achieving the story’s objective or goal. For example, the protagonist in
Little Red Riding hood is the red riding hood because the story revolves
around her. The reader is sympathized to her and it centered around her life.

Example in the story of an hour characters Mrs. Mallard is the characters we

know the most about by far of course that’s not saying much. She is
protagonist, the center of attention, and the person around home all the other
characters revolve. At the beginning of the story, when Mr. Mallard dies the
22
M.H., Abrams, Glossary of Literature Terms. (America : Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College) 1985.
Page 23-24

23
Karen Bernando, Characterization in Literature. Colin Welch’s Education Resources. 2011. Page 147
24
Stephen Duncan, A Guide to Screenwriting Success : Writing for Film and Television. Roman and little
field 2006

13
 other characters (Richards Jossephine) put aside their personal grief to
console Mrs. Mallard. Their first priority is taking care of her-making sure
she gets through the hard news without dying herself. Likewise, at the end
of the story, the other characters try to take care of her first, rather than
concentrating on there on feelings about seeing Mr. Mallard alive and well
after all.
2. Antagonist
The character that stands constantly in opposition to the protagonist is the
antagonist. He opposes the protagonist or is pitted against him or he in all
cases and situation. In Little Red Riding Hood, the antagonist is the Wolf.25
He is opposes the hero or the protagonist. He impersonates red riding hood’s
grandmother and tries to consume her as well.
3. Flat character
The flat characters are those characters who remain the same in the course
of the story from the beginning to the end.26 Some scholars refer to them as
static characters. They do not undergo significant changes during the course
of a story. The flat characters are very predictable because there seems not
to be any change in their growth and activities.
According to E.M Foster flat characters were called “humors” in the
seventeenth century, and are constructed round a single ide or quality: when
there is more than one factor in them, we get the beginning of the curve
towards the round.27 A flat characer is term referring to a character who
boasts no mental or emotional development.
4. Round character
Round characters are those characters that grow in the course of the
narration.28 Most of the time, they grow from innocence to maturity and
adapt to situations accordingly. They respond to changes in their
environment and react differently to different situations. According to E.M.
Foster round character is the direct opposite of a flat character. A round
character is extremely realistic, behaving and speaking in a real life “real

25
Ibid., 153
26
Obstfeld (2002), p. 1,65, 155,117
27
E.M. Forster, Aspects of novel, (New York: Rosetta books LLC) 1927) Page 48
28
Obstfeld, Raymond (2002). Fiction First Aid: Instant Remedies for Novels, Stories and Scripts.
Cincinnati, OH: Writer's Digest Books.

14
 life” manner. The character is complex and increases in complexity
throughout the story. A round character is capable of contradiction and
change with evidence of emotional and psychological development.29 A
round character who are fit to perform tragically for any length of time and
can move as to any feelings except humor and appropriateness.

d. Theme

The theme of a work literature is the central or dominant idea.30 Theme in

fiction is rarely presented at all. It is abstracted from the details of character and
action that compose the story. It provides unifying point around which the plot,
characters, setting,poin of view, symbols,and other elements of a story organized.
Becareful to distinguish theme from lot-the story’s sequence of actions-and from
subject-what the story is generally about.

Theme In contemporary literary studies, Theme is the central topic as a text

treats.31 Themes can be divided into two categories : a work’s thematic concept is
what readers “think the work is about”. A work’s thematic concept is broader topic it
touches upon (love, forgiveness, pain, etc.) and its thematic statement being “what
the work says about the subject”. Thematic statement is what the work says about
the topic.32 For example, the thematic concept of a romance novel might be love, and
depending on what happens in the story, its thematic statement might be that “Love
is blind”, or that “`You can’t buy love”.

The most common contemporary understanding of theme is an idea or point that

central to a story, which can often be summed in a single word. (e.g. love, death,
betrayal). Typical examples of themes of this type are conflict between the
individual and society; coming of age,; human in conflict with technology; nostalgia
and the dangers of unchecked ambition.33 A theme may be exemplified by the
action, utterances, or through of a character in a novel. An example of this would be

29
Ibid., page 52
30
Laurie G. Kirszner, Stephen R. Mendell (1993). Fiction : Reading, Reacting, Writing, Paulinas p. 239
31
Oxford English Dictionary, retrieved January 26, 2012
32
Griffith, Kelley (2010), Writing Essays about Literature(8 ed.) Cengage Learning, p. 40
33
Kirszner, Laura G.; Mandell, Stephen R. (1994), Fiction : Reading, Reacting, Writing, Paulinas p. 3-4

15
 thematic idea of loneliness in John Steibeck’s Of Mice and Men, wherein many of
the characters seem to be lonely.34 It may differ from the thesis-the text’s or author’s
implied worldview.

A story may have several themes. Themes often explore historically common or
cross-culturally recognizable idea, such as ethical question, and are usually implied
rather than stated explicitly. An example of this would be whether one should live a
seemingly better life, at the price of giving up parts of one’s humanity, which is a
theme in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. Along with plot, character, setting, and
style, theme is considered one of the fundamental components of fiction.35

Theme is the central underlying and controlling idea or insight of a work of

literature. The writer wishes to convey about the writers view of the world or
revelation about human nature. Theme means the story’s main ideas on the message
the writer intends to communicate. Short stories often have single themes and
illustrate a single idea such as the result of certain action on behalf of either the
protagonist and antagonist. Theme can be reflected in a variety of ways through the
story. Theme can be incorporated in a story trough setting, clothing, musing, sounds,
certain smells, things, things the character touch or hold, transportation and the
occupation, abilities of the characters etc. For example, in the story, “The Refugee”
the theme of the aftermath of a natural disaster is developed through the old man’s
behavior and his views.

The theme of the short story is essential meaning of the tale short stories often
have single themes and illustrate a simple idea, such as the result of certain action on
behalf of either protagonist or antagonist. Theme can be reflected in a variety of
different ways throughout your story.

In contemporary literary studies, a theme is a central topic, subject, or concept

the author is trying to point out, not to be confused with whatever message, moral, or
commentary it may send or be interpreted as sending regarding said concept (i.e., it
inferred “thesis”). While the term “theme” was for a period use to reference
“message” or “moral”, literary critics now rarely employ it in this fashion, namely

34
Weitz, Morris (2002), “Literature without Philosophy : “Antony and Cleopatra””, Shakepeare Survey, 28
Cambridge University Press, p. 30
35
Obstfeld (2002), p. 1,65, 155,117

16
 due to the confusion it causes regarding the common denotation of theme; “the
subject of discourse, discussion, conversation, meditation, or composition.; a topic.
One historic problem with the previous usage was that readers would frequently
conflate “subject” and “theme” as similar concepts, a confusion that the new
terminology helps prevent in both scholarship and classroom. Like moral or
message, themes often explore historical common or cross-culturally recognizable
ideas and are almost always implied rather than stated explicitly. Along with plot,
character, setting, and style, theme is considered on of the fundamental components
of fiction.

To identifying theme we have so many steps, but generally we could

identifying the theme in five steps. The first step to identify the theme, be sure that
you’ve first identified the story’s plot. A book theme is not the same as it plot or its
moral lesson, but these elements are related all necessary in building the larger story.
The plot of a novel is the action that take place within the course of the narrative.
The moral is the lesson that the reader is supposed to learn from the plot’s
conclusion.36 Both reflect the larger theme and work to present what theme is to the
reader. Theme is the main idea that connects all elements of the narrative.

1. Summarize the plot by writing a one sentence description for the exposition, the
conflict, the rising action, the climax, the falling action, and the resolution.
2. Identify the subject of the work.
3. Identify the insight or the truth that was learned about the subject
- How did the protagonist change?
- What lesson did protagonist learn from the resolution of the conflict?
4. State how the plot presents the primary insight or truth about the subject
5. Write one more generalized declarative sentences that state what was learned and
how it was learned

Example the theme in “The Story of an Hour” is The Forbidden Joy of Independent. In
“The Story of an Hour”, independent is a forbidden pleasure that can be imagined only
privately when Louise hear from Josephine and Richard of Brently’s dead, she reacts
with obvious grief, and although her reaction is perhaps more violent than other woman’s

36
Obstfeld, Raymond (2002), Fiction First Aid: Instant Remedies for Novels, Stories and Scripts,
Cincinnati, OH: Writer's Digest Books. Page 171

17
it is an appropriate one. Alone, however, Louise begins to realized that she is now an
independent woman, a realization that enlivens and excites her.

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 UNIT III

CLOSING

A. CONCLUSION
Fiction is derived from the latin word fictum which means “Created”. Fiction
is a term used to denote anything, mainly stories or accounts that are not real.Abram
explained that fiction is any literary narrative wheter in prose or verse, which is
invited instead of being an account of events that actually happened.Fiction is
literary word whose content is produced by imagination and is not necesarily based
on fact. Writing fiction is generaly concided to be acombination of craft and talent
H. Thomas Milhorn : 2006th. The elements of fiction are Plot,Charecter,Setting,and
them. Plot is the logical interaction of the various the matic elements of a text which
lead to a change of the original situation as presented attheoutset of the narrative.
Abram 2009:330 explained that the overall setting of a narrative or dramatic work is
the general locale, historical time, and social circumstances in which its action
occurs; the setting of a single episode or scene within the work is the particular
physical location in which it takes place. characters are the persons presented in a
dramatic or narrative work, who are interprated by the reader as being endowed with
moral, dispositional, and emotional qualities that are expressed in what they say-the
dialogue-and by, what they do-the action. And theme Is the central idea or meaning
of a story. Theme in fiction is rarely presented at all. It is abstracted from the details
of character and action that compose the story.

19
 REFERENCES

Abrams. (2009) A Glossary of Literary Terms, USA :Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

E.M. Forster. (1927). Aspects of novel, New York : Rosetta books LLC.

Griffith, Kelley.(2010) Writing Essays about Literature (8 ed.) Cengage Learning.

Kirszner, Laura G.; Mandell, Stephen R. (1994), Fiction : Reading, Reacting, Writing,
Paulinas
Klarer Mario. (1998). An Introductdion to Literary Studies, Second Edition, London and
USA: Routledge.
M.H., Abrams (1985). Glossary of Literature Terms.America : Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
College.
Milhorn H. Thomas, (2006). Writing Genre Fiction A Guide to the Craft, USA : Universal
Publisher.
Robert Stanton. (1965) An Introduction to Fiction, Michigan : University Michigan.

20
 ATTACHMENT

“The Story of an Hour”

Kate Chopin 1894

Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was
taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband's death. It was her
sister Josephine who told her, in broken sentences; veiled hints that revealed in half
concealing. Her husband's friend Richards was there, too, near her. It was he who had
been in the newspaper office when intelligence of the railroad disaster was received,
with Brently Mallard's name leading the list of "killed." He had only taken the time to
assure himself of its truth by a second telegram, and had hastened to forestall any less
careful, less tender friend in bearing the sad message. She did not hear the story as
many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its
significance. She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister's arms.
When the storm of grief had spent itself she went away to her room alone. She would
have no one follow her. There stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy
armchair. Into this she sank, pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her
body and seemed to reach into her soul. She could see in the open square before her
house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious
breath of rain was in the air. In the street below a peddler was crying his wares. The
notes of a distant song which some one was singing reached her faintly, and countless
sparrows were twittering in the eaves.

There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds that
had met and piled one above the other in the west facing her window. She sat with her
head thrown back upon the cushion of the chair, quite motionless, except when a sob
came up into her throat and shook her, as a child who has cried itself to sleep
continues to sob in its dreams. She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines
bespoke repression and even a certain strength. But now there was a dull stare in her
eyes, whose gaze was fixed away off yonder on one of those patches of blue sky. It
was not a glance of reflection, but rather indicated a suspension of intelligent thought.

21
 There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully. What
was it? She did not know; it was too subtle and elusive to name. But she felt it,
creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the color
that filled the air. Now her bosom rose and fell tumultuously. She was beginning to
recognize this thing that was approaching to possess her, and she was striving to beat
it back with her will—as powerless as her two white slender hands would have been.
When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips.
She said it over and over under her breath: "free, free, free!" The vacant stare and the
look of terror that had followed it went from her eyes. They stayed keen and bright.
Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her
body. She did not stop to ask if it were or were not a monstrous joy that held her. A
clear and exalted perception enabled her to dismiss the suggestion as trivial.

She knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded
in death; the face that had never looked save with love upon her, fixed and gray and
dead. But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that
would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in
welcome. There would be no one to live for her during those coming years; she would
live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind
persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private
will upon a fellow-creature. A kind intention or a cruel intention made the act seem no
less a crime as she looked upon it in that brief moment of illumination. And yet she
had loved him—sometimes. Often she had not. What did it matter! What could love,
the unsolved mystery, count for in the face of this possession of self-assertion which
she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being! "Free! Body and soul
free!" she kept whispering. Josephine was kneeling before the closed door with her
lips to the keyhole, imploring for admission. "Louise, open the door! I beg; open the
door—you will make yourself ill. What are you doing, Louise? For heaven's sake
open the door." "Go away. I am not making myself ill." No; she was drinking in a
very elixir of life through that open window.

Her fancy was running riot along those days ahead of her. Spring days, and
summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own. She breathed a quick
prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder
that life might be long. She arose at length and opened the door to her sister's

22
importunities. There was a feverish triumph in her eyes, and she carried herself
unwittingly like a goddess of Victory. She clasped her sister's waist, and together they
descended the stairs. Richards stood waiting for them at the bottom. Some one was
opening the front door with a latchkey. It was Brently Mallard who entered, a little
travel-stained, composedly carrying his grip-sack and umbrella. He had been far from
the scene of the accident, and did not even know there had been one. He stood amazed
at Josephine's piercing cry; at Richards' quick motion to screen him from the view of
his wife. But Richards was too late. When the doctors came they said she had died of
heart disease—of joy that kills.

23