Elements of Fiction (short stories and novels) Senior English

Escapist fiction - designed to help the reader "escape" the daily cares and problems of reality. It has lively, melodramatic plots and stereotyped or flat characters, and requires limited involvement on the part of the reader. Provides entertainment.

Interpretive fiction - stories which have meaningful, usually realistic plots, conflicts, settings, and characters. It is usually serious in tone and is designed to "interpret" or make the reader more aware of, some aspect of reality or human nature.

I. PLOT: The events as they happen in a story.

The plot or action of a story builds up to a climax or crisis, then falls to a conclusion or resolution of the conflict. The action in a story usually comes about as a result of the interaction or conflict between characters and/or

opposing forces.

a) Introduction - catches the reader's interest, introduces the setting and the characters, includes the initial incident

b) Rising Action - the conflict develops, or becomes more complicated

c) Climax - the point of highest interest and emotion. It usually marks the turning point in the protagonist's fortunes and the major crisis of the story. The point at which the conflict is resolved.

d) Denouement/Conclusion - the final unraveling of the plot following the major climax, in which mysteries and misunderstandings are set straight, etc.

Conflict. a struggle between two or more opposing forces in the plot.

Basic Conflicts:

1. person vs. person external

  1. person vs. nature external
  2. person vs. society external
  3. person vs. self internal

Antecedent Action - this is significant action that has taken place before the story begins

Anticlimax - an event or conclusion that is an abrupt shift from the important to the comical or trivial

Crisis - a moment of intense conflict leading up to the climax

Dilemma - a choice between two equally undesirable courses of action

Indeterminate Ending - a story outcome in which there is no clear outcome or result

Foreshadowing - an indication of something that may happen later in the story

Flashback - a switch from the present to a past event

Initial Incident - the event that initiates a conflict

Subplot - a minor storyline, secondary to the main plot

Suspense - the quality of a story that makes the reader uncertain about the outcome

  1. SETTING: The background against which the action takes place.

Setting includes:

a) Geographical Location - place (Surrey, Sahara Desert…)

b) Social Setting - includes occupations, beliefs, etc., of the people concerned.

c) Time - century, year, season; time of day (also called "chronological setting")

d) Mood or Atmosphere - the emotional coloring of the story. Example: haunting, spooky, peaceful, suspenseful…

III. CHARACTERIZATION:

Methods of Characterization (can be direct or indirect)

  1. what the author "tells" you
  2. what other characters say about him/her
  3. what the character him/herself thinks and/or says
  4. what the character does

Protagonist - the main character in the story

Antagonist - the force opposing the main character in a story; could be a person, thing, nature, etc..

Foil - a character whose behaviour, attitudes, or opinions contrast with those of the protagonist. The foil helps us to better understand the main character.

Stereotype - a conventional image held about a certain group

Motivation - the conscious or unconscious need, drive or incentive that causes a character to behave in a certain way

Characters can be …

a) Flat - stereotypes, one-dimensional; often these are minor characters, and can be described in one sentence

b) Round - three-dimensional, well-rounded, complex and realistic. A short story rarely has room for more than one. Often these are major characters and may take several paragraphs to describe/explain

c) Static -the character does not change throughout the story. He/She remains the same "type" of person at the end as at the beginning. Can be flat or round

d) Dynamic - the character who undergoes a permanent change in his/her personality as a result of the conflict he/she is involved in. This change may be for better or for worse. The short story rarely has room for more than one dynamic character

IV. POINT OF VIEW: through whose eyes the events of the story are seen.

Main Types:

  1. Omniscient - (third person) "all knowing", the story teller sees, hears and knows everything each character sees and hears as well as what they think and feel.
  2. Limited Omniscient - (third person) the story teller sees and hears everything through one of the characters in the story. It may be a major character or a minor character. The teller does not know the other characters' thoughts or feelings.
  3. First Person Narrative the story teller sees and hears the events through his/her own eyes. He/She may share his/her own thoughts and feelings but can only speculate about the thoughts and feelings of the other character.
  4. Objective - (third person), the teller is like a roaming video camera, NOT a character in the story. He/She can only report what is seen and heard. The reader must speculate about what the characters think and feel based on the action.

V. IRONY - essentially a difference or a contrast

a) verbal irony - the speaker says the opposite of what is meant.

Example: "Oh goody! It's time to do my homework!

b) situational irony - a difference between what happens and what would be expected to happen

Example: the son of a police chief dedicated to abolishing the drug trade ends up arrested for drug-dealing

c) dramatic irony -the difference between what the audience knows to be true and what a character knows to be true

Example: In Romeo and Juliet, the audience knows that Juliet is sleeping, but Romeo thinks she is dead.

VI. THEME: the main idea of a story, often expressed as an insight about life in general or about human behaviour. It may be expressed directly, but often is implied. Note that not all literary works have a theme - the purpose of a ghost story, for example, may be simply to frighten the reader.

VII. SYMBOL-something chosen to stand for or represent something else - example: the dove can represent peace, black can represent death

VIII. OTHER

allusion - a direct or indirect reference to a familiar figure, place, or event from history, literature, mythology, or from the Bible

dialect- a form of speech characteristic of a particular geographic region, social class, or a people

dialogue - a conversation including two or more characters in a story. Often used to reveal character and conflict

epiphany - a moment of significant realization which happens to the main character, usually at the end of a story

moral - the implied or stated lesson of a story, not to be confused with a more significant fictional element- THEME

tone- the attitude expressed by the author to his material, audience, or both (sarcastic, playful, passionate)..

verisimilitude - a life-like quality possessed by a story as revealed through its

plot, setting, conflict, and characterization

vicarious experience- the feeling reader has when emotionally or mentally involved in a story. He/she imaginitively experiences and shares some of the same things as the characters in the story.

OTHER important literary terms…

Contrast: (juxtaposition) - the overlap or mixing of situations, characters, settings, moods, or points of view in order to clarify meaning, purpose or character or to enhance certain moods. Juxtaposition involves placing dramatic contrasts side-by-side.

Diction: the choice of words used by an author

Imagery. details and descriptions which use the senses of taste, smell, touch, sight and hearing to create clear "pictures in words" for the reader.

Motivation: the circumstances, reasons, or feeling that cause a character to do what he or she does in a story. Motivation must be realistic for a character to be believable.

Satire: the use of irony to ridicule an idea, person, or thing, often with the goal of bringing about change. Usually mocks aspects of human nature.

Realism. the "true to life" aspects of stories which are about everyday life and everyday people.

Stream of consciousness: a style of writing in which the thoughts and feeling of a character are written in a natural way, without logic or interruption.

Style: the individual way in which an author expresses his or her story. An author's style is evident in the images, sentences, and diction of his or her writing