Fan Fiction/Narrative Elements Study Guide

What is fan fiction?

A type of narrative writing about characters and/or settings from an original work of fiction.

What literary elements must remain the same moving from an original text to a fan fiction piece?

Characterization and themes.

What literary elements can change when moving from an original text to a fan fiction piece?

Conflicts, plotlines, writing style, and narrative mode.

At what point in a text would a fan fiction writer begin the alternate ending?

At the climax of the original text.

What narrative techniques do authors use in writing?

Flashback/flash forward, multiple plot lines, inner thinking, dialogue, revealing actions, multiple points of view, 1st person narrator, reader knows more than the character/dramatic irony, description/imagery, metaphor/figurative language, tone, and symbolism.

What narrative goals do authors aim to reach in writing?

Provide context, introduce the characters, show the characters’ motivation, stir empathy, create a setting, build a mood, set up the problem, raise the stakes, build suspense, get readers predicting, support the theme, or showing the resolution.

What is narrative mode/mode of narration/perspective/point of view?

The perspective from which the story is being told or who is telling the story.

1st Person

A character in the story telling what's happening from their perspective. Uses “I”.

2nd Person

Someone is speaking to the audience/reader directly.

3rd Person Objective

A narrator tells the story from an outside view, no thoughts or feelings, only actions and dialogue.

3rd Person Limited

Outside narrator tells the story, but reveals only one character's thoughts/feelings.

3rd Person Omniscient

“All knowing” outside narrator, reveals two or more characters’ thoughts/feelings.