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Elements of Fiction

The document defines key elements of fiction including plot, setting, character, conflict, point of view, symbol, and theme. It explains that plot involves the arrangement of story events including exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. Setting refers to the physical location and time period of the story. Character traits can be static or dynamic, and flat or round. Conflict can be external or internal struggles. Point of view determines the narrator's perspective in first, second, or third person. Symbolism and theme convey deeper meaning beyond literal elements.

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Sabel Ross Caliliw
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61 views

Elements of Fiction

The document defines key elements of fiction including plot, setting, character, conflict, point of view, symbol, and theme. It explains that plot involves the arrangement of story events including exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. Setting refers to the physical location and time period of the story. Character traits can be static or dynamic, and flat or round. Conflict can be external or internal struggles. Point of view determines the narrator's perspective in first, second, or third person. Symbolism and theme convey deeper meaning beyond literal elements.

Uploaded by

Sabel Ross Caliliw
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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ELEMENTS OF FICTION

PLOT
the arrangement of events
that make up a story
1. Exposition (introduction) - Beginning of the
story; characters, background, and setting
revealed.
2. Rising Action - Events in the story become
complicated;
3. Climax - Turning point of the story.
4. Falling action - Resolution begins; events and
complications start to fall into place.
5. Resolution (Conclusion) - Outcome of events in
the story.
SETTING
the place and time in which
the action of a story occurs
1.The physical setting is of course
where the story takes place. The
“where” can be very general

2.The chronological setting, the


“when,” can be equally general
or specific.
CHARACTER
They have specific moral,
psychological, and physical traits
or characteristics in accordance
with their role in the story.
Characters can be:

• Static (they do not change


throughout the story) or dynamic
(they change throughout the
story).
Characters can be:

• Flat (they only have a few


personality traits) or round (they
have many and complex
personality traits).
CONFLICT
The problem in the story.
External conflict Struggle with a
force outside one's self. Could be man
against nature or man against man.

Internal conflict Struggle within one's


self.
symbol
A symbol is a person, object, image,
word, or event that evokes a range
of additional meanings beyond and
usually more abstract than its literal
significance.
Conventional symbols have
meanings that are widely
recognized by a society or
culture, i.e., the Christian cross,
the Star of David, a swastika, a
nation’s flag.
A literary or contextual symbol can
be a setting, a character, action,
object, name, or anything else in a
specific work that maintains its literal
significance while suggesting other
meanings.
For example, the white whale in
Melville’s Moby Dick takes on multiple
symbolic meanings in the work, but
these meanings do not automatically
carry over into other stories about
whales.
POINT OF VIEW
the “narrative point of view,”
how the story is told—more
specifically, who tells it
First Person - Story told by the
protagonist or a character who
interacts closely with the protagonist
or other characters; speaker uses the
pronouns "I", "me", "we". Readers
experiences the story through this
person’s eyes and only knows what
he/she knows and feels.
Second Person - Story told by a
narrator who addresses the reader or
some other assumed "you"; speaker
uses pronouns "you", "your", and
"yours".
Ex: You wake up to discover that you
have been robbed of all of
your worldly possessions.
Third Person - the story is not
told by a character but by an
“invisible author,” using the
third person pronoun (he, she,
or it) to tell the story.
There are several types of third person
POV:
1. Omniscient: The narrator is all-
knowing and takes the reader inside
the characters’ thoughts, feelings, and
motives, as well as shows what the
characters say and do.
There are several types of third person
POV:
2. Limited omniscient: The narrator
takes the reader inside one (or at most
very few characters) but neither the
reader nor the character(s) has access
to the inner lives of any of the other
characters in the story.
There are several types of third person
POV:
3. Objective: The narrator does not
see into the mind of any character;
rather he or she reports the action and
dialogue without telling the reader
directly what the characters feel and
think. s and reactions.
THEME
the central idea or meaning of a story.
Theme in fiction is rarely presented at all;
it is abstracted from the details of
character and action that compose the
story.

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