Elements of Fiction

Conflict: a clash of actions ideas desires or will

 man versus himself

 man versus man

 man versus external force physical nature society or fate

 man versus nature environment

 protagonist central character in a conflict sympathetic or unsympathetic

 antagonist any force against protagonist

Suspense

 Mystery- an unusual set of circumstances for which the reader craves an

explanation

 Dilemma- a position in which he or she must choose between two courses of

action both and desirable

Ending

 Surprise ending- a sudden unexpected turn or twist and furnishes meaningful

illumination not just a reversal of expectation

 Happy ending- more common and commercial fiction

 Unhappy ending- more common in literary fiction because it more closely mirrors
real life and forces readers to contemplate the complexities of life

 Indeterminate ending- no definitive conclusion is rich but need not be in terms of

a resolved conflict

Artistic Unity

There must be nothing in the story that is irrelevant.

Nothing that does not advance the central intention of the story.

 Flat manipulation- unjustified turn in the plot by the situation or the characters
  Deus machina- Latin for god from a machine the protagonist is rescued at the
last moment from some impossible situation by a god descending from heaven

 Chance- the occurrence of an event that has no apparent cost in previous events
or in predisposition of character

 Coincidence- the chance occurrence of two events that may have a peculiar
correspondence

Characterization

 Direct presentation- readers are told straight out what the characters are like or
they have another character in the story describe them little emotional impact

 Indirect presentation- the author shows as the characters through their actions
we determine what they are like by what they say or do. in good fiction
characters are dramatized

Principles of Characterization

Characters are consistent in their behavior unless there is a clear reason for the change.

Characters words and actions spring from motivations the reader can understand and
believe.

Characters must be plausible or life like not perfectly virtues or monsters of evil nor can
they have some impossible combination of contradictory traits. the character could have
existed so we have the illusion the person is real.

Characters can be classified based on their development:

 Flat characters- usually have only one or two predominant traits they can be
summed up in a sentence or two

 Round characters- complex and many sided they have the three dimensional
quality of real people

 Static characters- type of flat characters stereotype figures who have record so
often in fiction that we recognize them at once silent sheriff mad scientist
brilliant detective

 Dynamic character- developing undergoes distinct change of character

personality or outlook. usually experiences on epiphany which is a moment of
spiritual insight into life or into the characters own circumstance. this epiphany
usually defines the moment of the dynamic characters change.
Theme

 the controlling idea or central insight

 the unifying generalization about life and stated or amplified by the story

 give the story its unity

 what view of life does the author want readers to support

 not just motherhood or loyalty

 the theme should be stated as a generalization about life

 it is the central and unifying concept of a story

Point of view- who tells the story and how much do they know about the thoughts of the
characters

 Omniscient the story is told and first person by a narrator whose knowledge and
prerogatives are unlimited

 Third person limited from the viewpoint of one character in the story no
knowledge of what other character says thinking or feeling

 First person the author disappears into one of the characters who tells the story
and the first person. this may be either a minor or major character protagonist
tells the story or someone else tells it shares the limitation of the third person
limited point of view

 Objective point of view dramatic pov the narrator disappears into a kind of roving
sound camera. this camera can go anywhere but can record only what is seen
and heard. it cannot comment interpret or enter a character's mind.

 Objective point of view is a form of third person perspective characterized by a

totally objective narrator. The narrator describes what is happening in empirical,
rational terms; only that which is seen and heard is given to the reader.

Symbol- something that means more than what is suggest on the surface. it may be an
object person situation action or other elements.

 Name symbolism

 Object symbolism
  Action symbolism

 Setting symbolism

Clues for Identifying Symbols

The story itself must furnish a clue that a detail is to be taken symbolically usually by
emphasis repetition or position.

The meaning of the literary symbol must be established and supported by the entire
context of the story.

A symbol may have more than one meaning a cluster of meanings.

Allegory- a story that has a second meaning beneath the surface adding significance

Fantasy- non-realistic story and transcends the bounds of known reality

Humor- appears in the story many serious works usually conveyed through irony

Irony- a technique used to convey a truth about human experience by exposing some
and congruent of a characters behavior or a society's traditions. irony helps to critic the
world in which we live by laughing at the many varieties of human eccentricity and folly.

Verbal irony- simplest kind sarcasm wordplay

Dramatic irony- the contrast between what a character says or things and what the
reader knows to be true

Situational irony- the discrepancy is between appearance and reality expectation and
fulfillment or what is and what would seem appropriate

Sentimentality- contrived or excessive emotion

Style- the author's type of diction or choice of words syntax arrangement of words and
other linguistic features of a work

Themes- the central and dominating idea in a literary work the term also indicates a
message for moral implicit in any work of art.