Lesson 3: Elements of a Story

Voice clip #1 Good morning! How are you doing today? I hope that you are better today than
yesterday. If you are in my class now, hit the heart react for your attendance.

Voice clip #2 Let us now start our learning engagement. For this session, we are going to focus
on and magnify the seamlessly interwoven and interconnected short story elements used by the
author to bring about meaningful significant human experiences.

Voice clip #3 What kind of stories do you like best? First three to hit the raise your hand icon
will have the chance to answer.

Voice clip #4 Okay, let us listen first to _____________.You may use the voice clip to answer
or you may type in your answer in the chat box.

Voice clip #5 Very good! Everyone, of course, enjoys and loves a good story. A story is a teaser,
a glimpse of the world. It does not necessarily reveal the whole thing, and yet a part of it will
always make us wonder. A good story leaves a mark in one’s soul; a good one creates that tingly
feeling in your stomach. A memorable story is a selection of carefully chosen words, words that
connect the dots into something more, something else.

Voice clip #6 Because novels are too long to read, Edgard Allan Poe, the American short story
writer and poet, solved this problem when he developed a theory of short story which he
described as “a brief prose tale.” A short story is read in single sitting. It is a compact
narrative fiction which contains the complete elements. The conflict in a short story is resolved
right away.

Works of fiction share a number of common elements. A writer crafts a short story to convey
an idea about the human experience. The crafting of this story involves the use of a set of
fictional elements that come together to create an imagined world. So, what makes up a story?
Can you give one and explain. First to hit the raise hand icon will be acknowledged.

Voice clip#7 That’s right! The SETTING is the where and the when of a story. It is the time,
place, event, etc. which allow the reader to understand the characters better through the
environment provided by the writer. Setting may be natural or man-made. Natural settings
present the natural view of the environment while man-made settings present manufactured or
constructed things. Setting may also reflect atmosphere, mood and cultural background.

Voice clip#8 Another story element, please.

Voice clip #9 Correct! Next story element is the CHARACTER. The story is about a character
or characters which maybe a man or an animal. The story is usually concerned with the
character and the problem he/she encounters and how he/she is able to face and surpass the
problem. Although the character is the product of the writer’s imagination, he/she is the
facsimile of a real person in the real world. The struggle that the character faces is the same
as the person in the real world faces. A story can have only one character (protagonist) and still
be a complete story. There are two major types of characters – the protagonist or the hero and
the antagonist or the villain. Most stories have multiple characters interacting, with one of
them as the antagonist, causing a conflict for the protagonist. Another meaning of the term
CHARACTER is a trait, characteristic, attribute. The question arises “How does a writer reveal
character traits?” Anyone?
Voice clip #10 Very good! Character traits are shown/revealed through the actions, words, or
feelings of the character. Next, story element, anybody?

Voice clip #11 Absolutely right! If there is no CONFLICT to resolve, then there is no story.
Conflicts vary and these are the same conflicts that people face in the real world. There are
different types of conflicts and sometimes there are more than one conflict to be resolved in
the story. There are two major types of conflicts – the Internal and the External. Can
somebody give the difference between the two?

Very good. Internal conflict happens within the character. It is a self-conflict. On the contrary,
external conflict is a struggle or opposition of a character with outside forces. There are
different types of external conflicts: Man versus Man, Man versus Society, Man versus Nature,
and Man versus God/Fate.

Voice clip #12 The PLOT is the arrangement of the incidents or actions in a story. The problem
to be resolved is presented in the plot. It starts with the exposition which introduces the
setting, characters, and other basics which are to be known by the readers. It is in the plot
where the actions are shown. The plot shows every detail that the characters in the story
experience. Suspenseful conflict, climax and denouement are arranged to achieve a unified
story and finally brings out the theme.

Voice clip #13 The POINT OF VIEW refers to the angle from which the story is told. It
answers the question “Who is telling the story or from whose point of view is the story
narrated?” To be able to answer the question, different points of view are used by authors
should be learned.

Types of Point of View

First Person = may either be participant or narrator; it uses the pronouns I, me or we, us.
The first person is directly involved in the action.

Second person = The second-person point of view belongs to the person (or people) being
addressed. This is the “you” perspective. Stories and novels written in the second person exist,
but they are much rarer than narratives written from a first- or third-person perspective.

Third person limited and omniscient use the pronouns he, she, it, they, them. The
narrator of the story is not involved in the action. The third person limited focuses on the
actions, thoughts, and feelings of the main character while the third person omniscient
presents the actions and thoughts of all the characters in the story. He is all knowing. This
point of view is used in historical narrative.

Voice clip #14 Tone, in written composition, is an attitude of a writer toward a subject or an
audience. Tone is generally conveyed through the choice of words, or the viewpoint of a writer
on a particular subject. The tone can be formal, informal, serious, comic, sarcastic, sad, or
cheerful, or it may be any other existing attitude. Mood, on the other hand, is usually referred
to as the Atmosphere of a literary piece, as it creates an emotional setting that surrounds the
readers. Mood is developed in a literary piece through various methods, including setting,
theme, tone, and diction.

Voice clip #15 Theme is defined as a main idea or an underlying meaning of a literary work,
which may be stated directly or indirectly. It is important not to confuse a theme of a literary
work with its subject. Subject is a topic that acts as a foundation for a literary work, while a
theme is an opinion expressed on the subject.
Voice clip #16 Style is the literary element that describes the ways that the author uses words
— the author's word choice, sentence structure, figurative language, and sentence arrangement
all work together to establish mood, images, and meaning in the text. Different types of
literature need different styles, and different styles need different authors!

Voice clip #17 Those are the elements of a short story. I do hope that those elements will help
you better understand a short story. Moreover, these story elements are interwoven and
interconnected short to bring about meaningful significant human experiences. Through reading
a story, we fee like we are in that story.

Voice clip #18 Let’s see if you have really understood the lesson. Go to our English FB Group and
answer the quiz about the elements of a story.