APlit Elements of Fiction

Theme

The authors main point or central idea:

Does it…

-present a personal view of a historical event?

-make a social comment or criticism?

-teach a lesson or present a moral?

Setting

-Time: When does the story take place?

-Place: where does a story take place?

-Object: What things, man-made or otherwise, affect a story?

Characters / characterization

Dynamic - changing

Static - No change

Round - Developed

Flat - Underdeveloped

Stock characters

-Flat; standard traits

• “Bored hotel clerk”

Stereotype characters

-Ordinary, unoriginal, seems to have been cast in a mold; representative

Character development

-What is observed about the character

-What the character says, especially about him/herself (P.O.V)

-What the character does

-Interaction with the character

Point of View

The speaker, voice, narrator, or person of the work; the position from which details are perceived.

• 1st person

• 2nd person

• 3rd person dramatic or objective

• 3rd person Omniscient

• 3rd person limited omniscient

Conflict

Opposition between two forces:

• man v man

• Man v self

• Man v nature

• Man v society

• Man v fate

• Man v technology

Complication

The onset of the major conflict—the plot. (Propels the conflict in a way):

• good v evil

• Freedom v suppression

• Independent v dependent

• Love v hate

• Knowledge v ignorance

Crisis

Separates what has gone on before and what will come after. Usually an action or decision undertaken to resolve the plot.

• greatest point of tension

• Often followed CLOSELY by the climax

Climax

• consequence of the crisis

• The storys high point/turning point

• No new major development follows

Dénouement (Resolution)

• The finishing of things after the climax

• Relaxation of tension

• A brief action underscores the finality