Elements of Fiction 4.

Setting - That combination of place,

historical time, and social milieu that
Major elements of fiction: provides the general background for the
characters and plot of a literary work. The
1 Character - A figure in a literary work general setting of a work may differ from
(personality, gender, age. etc) the specific setting of an individual scene
or event.
E. M. Forester makes a distinction
between flat and round characters. Flat 5. Style -- The author's type of diction
characters are types or caricatures (choice of words), syntax (arrangement of
defined by a single idea of quality, words), and other linguistic features of a
whereas round characters have the work.
three-dimensional complexity of real
people. 6. Theme(s) -- The central and dominating
idea (or ideas) in a literary work. The term
2. Plot - the major events that move the also indicates a message or moral implicit
action in a narrative. It is the sequence of in any work of art.
major events in a story, usually in a
cause-effect relation. Character
◆ A character can either be...
3. Point of View - the vantage point from
which a narrative is told. A narrative is 1. Protagonist or Antagonist
typically told from a first-person or 2. Dynamic or Static
third-person point of view In a narrative 3. Round or Flat
told from a first-person perspective, the
author tells the story through a character 1. Protagonist
who refers to himself or herself as ➢ The main character in a story

Third-person narratives come in two Example:

types: ✓ The boy in "The Boy Who Cried Wolf"
✓ Cinderella in "Cinderella"
omniscient and limited
The protagonist can be a "good"
An author taking an omniscient point of character, but does not always have to be.
view assumes the vantage point of an Can you think of a story where the main
all-knowing narrator able not only to character is not necessarily "good"?
recount the action thoroughly and reliably
but also to enter the mind of any character 2. Antagonist
in the work or any time in order to reveal ➢ The character or group of
his or her thoughts, feelings, and beliefs characters that stands against the
directly to the reader. protagonist.

An author using the limited point of view Example:

recounts the story through the eyes of a The Wolf from "The Boy Who Cried Wolf"
single character (or occasionally more ✓ Cinderella's wicked stepmother from
than one, but not all or the narrator would "Cinderella"
be an omniscient narrator).
The antagonist is usually considered to be 5. Round Character
"bad," but this is not always true. ➢ A well-developed, lifelike character
Sometimes he or she may just have with realistic emotions, conflicting
something to learn. feelings, and multiple traits.

3. Dynamic Character Example

➢ A character who has an important Carrie doesn't know what to do. She
inner change thinks that her friend Veronica may be
getting abused. Carrie keeps finding the
Example: bruising and marks. Carrie talks to
At the beginning of the story, Jenny does Veronica about this, Veronica covers the
not appreciate the life that she has until a marks and tells Carrie that she can't talk
family emergency causes her to stay at about it. Carrie is concerned that if she
her aunt's house. Things are much doesn't do anything, it might get worse,
different at the aunt's house and everyone but she also doesn't want to do anything
who lives there., since they don't get very to threaten her friendship with Veronica.
much. When Jenny is finally able to return
home, she has a new perspective and a Carrie demonstrates multiple, realistic
more appreciative attitude. sides to her personality. She is emotionally
conflicted. This makes her a round char
Notice that Jenny didn't just change her person
shoes or something little? She underwent
a serious and important change in the 6. Flat Character
course of the story; therefore, she is a
dynamic character. ➢ An one-dimensional character that
does not display emotional depth
4. Static Character and has a single set of traits.
➢ A character that does not change
significantly. Example:
Vince was exhausted from doing laps. His
Example throat was dry and scratchy and the
Mr. Hero was defending the streets of summer sun pounded down on him. He
Urbanity City during one of Despair-O's finally summoned the courage to ask
attacks. Despair-O built an army of robot Coach Lewis if he could get a drink of
ninjas and was using them to steal money water and Coach Lewis laughed, "You can
and valuables. Mr Hero fell for one of get everyone some water, water boy."
Despair-O's tricks and was captured; Coach Lewis had a reputation for winning,
however. he soon devised a clever escape but he also had a reputation for doing
trick, shut down Despair-O's robot army, whatever it took to win.
and captured the villain.
Coach Lewis is not a warm guy. We know
Did you notice that neither Mr. Hero nor that he is tough, but we do not learn why.
Despair-O make any significant character No internal struggle with his feelings is
changes throughout the course of the revealed; therefore, he is a flat character.
text? This makes them static characters.
Point of View and soldialogue of the narrator,
What is Point of View? dithered by quotation marks the
narrato focus on characters
◆The term "point of view" has many indicate one is not analyzing the
applications, from video game narrator's point of view.
development to the interpretation of art.
When studying the perspective of the 2. Second-Person Narration
narrator, the reader is concerned with the ★ In this mode of narration "you" are
relationship between the person telling the the agent, such as in this example:
story (the narrator) and the agents you walked down the stairs. As it is
referred to by the story teller (the generally awkward for a story to be
characters). narrated from "your" perspective,
this mode of narration is not used
Modes of Narration very often in narratives ang stories.
There are six key terms used in the study There are some exceptions,
of narrative view point: first-person, however, and second. person
second-person, third-person, third-person perspective is the primary mode of
objective, third-person limited, and narration for choose and similarly
third-person omniscient. styled writings. More frequently,
directions and instructions and
Each term refers to a specific mode of usually narrated from
narration defined by two things: the second-person perspective. In
distance of the narrator from the story (the most cases, directions will be
pronoun case) and how much the narrator written in short imperative
reveals about the thoughts and feelings of sentences, where the implied
the characters (narrative access). Let's subject is "you." But even when
take a closer look at each term. "you" is not explicitly stated, it is
understood that "you" are the
1. First-Person Narration subject of directions and
★ In this mode, the narrator is usually instructions.
the protagonist or central character
in the story. But even if this 3. Third-Person Narration
character is not the protagonist, he ★ With this mode of narration, the
or she is directly involved in the narrator tells the story of another
events of the story and is telling person or group of people. The
the tale "first hand." First-person narrator may be far removed from
narration is easy to identify, or not involved in the story, or he or
because the narrator will be telling she may be a supporting character
the story from "I's" perspective. supplying narration for a hero.
Readers should watch for the Frequent use of "he, she, them,
narrator's use of first-person they, him, her, his, her and their" by
pronouns- "I, me, my, our, us, we the narrator may indicate that a
myself, and ourselves," as these passage is narrated from
will usually indicate that the third-person perspective. There are
passage is narrated from three distinct modes of
first-personperspective. Remember third-person narration; objective,
are trying to identify the with this limited, and omniscient. Which
skill readefore, one must ignore mode the narrator is using is
 determined by a single variable- which are narrated, but the
how much the narrator accesses narrator also directly reveals the
the thoughts, feelings, and internal central character's internal
workings of the characters and perspective.
shares them with the reader
through narration. Characters 6. Third-Person Omniscient:
feelings and motivations can be
inferred and understood through ★ In this mode of narration, the
their behavior and dialogue in each narrator grants readers the most
of the three modes of third-person access to characters' thoughts and
narration; however in each of the feelings. With third- person
thich made the narrator is omniscient narration, the narration
operating, readers should be will reveal more than one
concerned with finding instancents characters' internal workings. The
of prelin the narrator explicitly base word omni means "all," and
reveals a character's thoughts or scient means "knowing," so
feelings. omniscient roughly translates to
"all knowing." In this case the
4. Third-Person Objective Narration etymology is accurate, because in
★ In this mode of narration, the omniscient narration, the narrator
narrator tells a third- person's story is all knowing.
(he, she, him, her), but the narrator
only describes characters' Plot
behaviour and dialogue. The
narrator does not reveal any ◆Plot is the structure of the action of a
character's thoughts or feelings. story. In stories, plot has three main parts:
Again, readers will be able to rising action, climax, and falling action
understand characters thoughts leading to a resolution or denouement.
and motivations based on conventional
characters' actions and dialogue,
which are narrated; however, the "Plot is a sequence of events that occurs
narrator will not explicitly reveal to characters in situations in the
character's thoughts and/or beginning, middle, and end of a story".
motivations in narration.
There are four primary types of plots:
5. Third-Person Limited:
★ When a narrator uses third-person 1. Linear - plot is constructed logically and
limited perspective, the narrator's not by coincidence. There are three major
perspective is limited to the internal parts to a linear plot:
workings of one character. In other
words, the narrator reveals the ✓ Beginning - the characters and setting
thoughts and feelings of one are introduced, and the central
character through explicit conflict/problem of the story is revealed.
narration. As with objective Usually the main character sets a goal to
narration, readers may be able to overcome the conflict/problem, or s/he
infer characters' thoughts and may set a goal that creates a
feelings based on the behaviors conflict/problem.
and dialogue of those characters,
✓ Middle - the main character make predictions, inferences, and draw
participates in a series of events or conclusions about these complex plots.
attempts to reach the goal that leads to a
resolution of the conflict/problem. 3. Cumulative - plots with lots of repetition
of phrases, sentences, or events with one
✓End - the main character may or may new aspect added with each repetition.
not reach his/her goal, thus resolving the The Gingerbread Man and The Great, Big,
conflict/problem. The linear plot is Enormous Turnip are examples of
common in folktales, such as Goldilocks cumulative plots.
and the Three Bears, as well as realistic
fiction (e.g., Make Way for Duckling, 4. Circular - the characters in the story
McCloskey, 1941) and fantasy (e.g., The end up in the same place that they were at
Rainbow Fish, Pfister, 1992). the beginning of the story. Examples of
circular stories are If You Give a Mouse a
2. Episodic - "one incident or short Cookie (Numeroff, 1985) and Where the
episode is linked to another by common Wild Things Are (Sendak, 1963).
characters or a unified theme".
Conflict
✓ An episodic plot features distinct ➤ is the interaction of plot and character
episodes that are related to one another or the opposition of two forces.
but that also can be read individually,
almost as stories by themselves (eg. the There are four primary types of conflict:
chapters in Frog and Toad All Year. Lobel. 1.character against self
19769 and chapters of short books with 2.character against another character
Toad All Structure like Frog and Toad can 3.character against society
be used to teach noisodic structure as 4.character against nature
ones would with a picture storybook,
becauarrative chapter functions like a Setting and Atmosphere
story that can stand alone.
There's a place for us, Somewhere a
Most novels involve more complex plots, place for us..
in which the story builds on itself, so that There's a time for us, Someday a time for
each episode evolves out of a previous us...
one and produces another one (e.g., There's a place for us, A time and place
Beverly Cleary books. such as Ramona for us..
the Brave, and Judy Blume books, such
as Superfudge, etc.). A big thank you to Leonard Bernstein and
Stephen Sondheim for the wonderfully
Picture books, not novels, should be used magnificent "Somewhere" from West Side
to provide explicit instruction in Story. Not only is it a great song, it makes
narrative/story structure. Novels are very a strong illustration for setting, the place
complex stories that have many linear and and time of story.
episodic plots embedded in them.
However, novels may be used to provide While plot and characters draw readers to
opportunities for students to apply, fiction, stories must take place somewhere
analyze, and synthesize what they know and at some time. And where and when
about narrative/story structure in order to they take place can ultimately be as
important as who's involved and what ● Era - a time period (medieval
happens. Europe) or a moment (the sixties in
the U.S.)
✓ Setting is the place and time of story.
● Time - An age or epoch or a
✓ Setting can be detailed or vague, specific year, even a time of day or
overwhelming or barely there, nuanced or a season
heavy-handed.
● Culture - laws, social practices,
✓ Setting can be so fully written that societal taboos, societal
readers can feel the cloying mugginess of expectations, politics and
humidity on a woman's face, hear the long government, entertainment/games,
whistle of the 10 p.m. train as a father religious practices, education, war,
makes one more round to check on his mores, technology
children before turning in himself, almost
taste the warm beer and sweet funnel ● Geography - type and/or condition
cake of a county fair. of land to include mountains,
plains, lowlands, islands, cloud
✓ We use setting to give characters a cities, volcanoes, and so on.
place to play out their actions and Terrain. Plant and animal life.
dialogue, so they don't become talking
heads adrift in the mists of a vague Irony
nowhere land. How unsettling for readers
to follow a character's thoughts or story ◆Irony is one of the most taught, and
dialogue for several pages, all the while most misused, literary terms. In fiction,
uncertain about location. How odd that a and in life, irony is all around. Three
character would talk or think for pages or common and easily recognized types of
paragraph after paragraph without irony are: verbal, situational, and dramatic
interacting with the objects around him, as
there were none.
Verbal Irony The use of words
Particulars of setting can include- to mean
something
● Locale - planet, country, city, different than what
building, field, woods, vehicle, at they appear to
sea, in space. Any place where mean
you can put characters and action.
Situational The difference
between what is
● Weather - rain, snow, sunshine, expected to
fog, temperatures, hurricanes, happen and what
droughts, and so forth actually happens.

Dramatic When the

● Objects - any physical items a
audience is more
character can touch or use or refer aware of what is
to (think props) happening than a
character