Elements of Fiction Presentation

(with Fill-in-the-Blank Notes Pages)

Created by Bree Lowry Appropriate for Grades 6-8, 9-12, & Higher Education

EElleemmeennttss ooff FFiiccttiioonn

(c) Bree Lowry 2007

EElleemmeennttss ooff FFiiccttiioonn

• Setting • Characterization • Plot • Point of View • Important

Literary Terms

(c) Bree Lowry 2007

SSeettttiinngg

• Setting – the time, place, and period in which the story itself takes place

The Catcher in the Rye

New York City, 1940’s

Lord of the Flies

Deserted Island, some point in the future

(c) Bree Lowry 2007

SSeettttiinngg • In fiction, the setting is usually revealed by the

description of the physical surroundings.

• In its broadest sense, setting also includes the general social, political, moral, and psychological conditions in which the characters find themselves.

(c) Bree Lowry 2007

SSeettttiinngg • The setting can help establish the mood or

atmosphere of a work

“During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country.”

“The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe

(c) Bree Lowry 2007

CChhaarraacctteerriizzaattiioonn • Characterization – the use of literary techniques

to create a character • Types of characters:

– Protagonist – main character, the central figure in a story

– Antagonist – the character who is in opposition to the protagonist

(c) Bree Lowry 2007

CChhaarraacctteerriizzaattiioonn

• Types of Characters – Major – has a

significant role in the action of a story

– Minor – plays a lesser role

(c) Bree Lowry 2007

CChhaarraacctteerriizzaattiioonn • Types of Characters

– Flat or one-dimensional –a character who isn’t fully developed or exhibits a single dominant quality or character trait

– Full or three-dimensional– a character who is fully developed or exhibits the complexity of traits associated with a real human being

(c) Bree Lowry 2007

CChhaarraacctteerriizzaattiioonn

• Types of Characters – Static – a character who does not change during the

course of a story – Dynamic – a character who does change during the

course of a story

(c) Bree Lowry 2007

CChhaarraacctteerriizzaattiioonn

• Types of Characters – Stock – a type of character

that is found repeatedly in different literary works

• Examples: – the Mad Scientist – the Absent-Minded

Professor – Stereotypes – many

stock characters appear to be stereotypes

(c) Bree Lowry 2007

CChhaarraacctteerriizzaattiioonn

• Methods Used to Develop Characters: – Direct

• “he was an old man . . .” from The Old Man and the Sea

– Character’s own words & actions– Reaction of other characters – Physical appearance – Character’s own thoughts

• Motivation – the reasons characters act as they do

(c) Bree Lowry 2007

PPlloott • Plot - a series of events related to a central conflict or

struggle – Types of Conflict:

• Man vs. Man • Man vs. Nature • Man vs. Society • Man vs. Himself

– Internal and External Conflicts: • Internal – a conflict that occurs between a character

and himself/herself • External – a conflict that occurs between a character

and an outside force (c) Bree Lowry 2007

Exposition The beginning of the story. The way things are before the action takes place.

Rising Action The series of conflicts and crises in the story that lead to the climax.

Climax The turning point of the story. The most intense moment (either mentally or physically).

Falling Action All of the action which follows the climax.

Dénouement The material that

follows the resolution and ties up loose ends of the story.

PPlloott DDiiaaggrraamm

Resolution The point at which the central conflict is ended or resolved Inciting

Incident The event that sets the plot into motion.

(c) Bree Lowry 2007

PPooiinntt ooff VViieeww • The vantage point from

which a story is told – First-Person – the story is told from

the narrator’s point of view; words like

I and me are often used

– Second-Person – the author directly

addresses the characters in the story

(c) Bree Lowry 2007

PPooiinntt ooff VViieeww • Third-Person Omniscient

– the story is told from the author’s or an outsider’s point of view; the thoughts of all characters are made known to the reader

• Third-Person Limited Omniscient – the story is told from the author’s

or an outsider’s point of view; however, the thoughts of only one character (usually the central character) are made known to the reader

(c) Bree Lowry 2007

PPooiinntt ooff VViieeww

• Third-Person Objective (Camera-Eye) – the story is told from an

objective point of view just as if one were viewing a movie, and the thoughts of characters are not known by the reader

(c) Bree Lowry 2007

LLiitteerraarryy TTeerrmmss • Theme - the central idea in a literary work

– Novels and other long works may deal with several interrelated themes.

• Author vs. Narrator – Don’t get the two confused!

(c) Bree Lowry 2007

LLiitteerraarryy TTeerrmmss• Symbolism

– The use of symbols to signify people, objects, or ideas

• Allusion– An indirect reference to a

person, place, thing, or idea – Typically a reference to

something of historical, cultural, literary, or political significance

(c) Bree Lowry 2007

LLiitteerraarryy TTeerrmmss

• Foreshadowing – A literary device used by

an author to give a hint of what is to come

• Flashback– Where the writer interrupts

the chronological sequence of a story to flash back in time to an earlier event

(c) Bree Lowry 2007

IIrroonnyy• Dramatic Irony – occurs when

something is known by the reader or audience but is unknown to the characters

• Verbal Irony – occurs when a statement is made that implies its opposite

• Situational Irony – occurs when an event takes place that violates the expectations of the characters, the reader, or the audience

(c) Bree Lowry 2007

© Bree Lowry 2006, 2014

EElleemmeennttss ooff FFiiccttiioonn

Notes Pages

SSeettttiinngg

I. ____________________________ - the time, place, and period in which the story itself

takes place

a. In fiction, the setting is usually revealed by the _________________________

of the ______________________________ surroundings.

b. In its broadest sense, setting also includes the general social, political, moral,

and psychological conditions in which the characters find themselves.

c. Can help establish the ________________________ or

________________________________________ of a work

CChhaarraacctteerriizzaattiioonn

II. _______________________________________ - the use of literary techniques to create

a character

a. Types of Characters:

i. ______________________________________ – main character, the central

figure in a story

ii. ______________________________________ – the character who is in

opposition to the protagonist

iii. ____________________________ – has a significant role in the action of a story

iv. ____________________________ – plays a lesser role

© Bree Lowry 2006, 2014

v. _____________________ or _______________________________________ –

a character who isn’t fully developed or exhibits a single dominant

quality or ______________________________ _______________________

vi. _____________________ or _______________________________________ –

a character who is fully ______________________________ or exhibits the

complexity of traits associated with a real human being

vii. ___________________________ – a character who does not change

during the course of a story

viii. ___________________________ – a character who does change during

the course of a story

ix. ___________________________ – a type of character that is found

_____________________________________ in different literary works

1. Examples:

a. the Mad Scientist

b. the Absent-Minded Professor

2. ________________________________________ - a widely held but fixed

and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or

thing

a. Many stock characters appear to be stereotypes.

b. __________________________________ Used to Develop Characters:

i. Direct

1. “he was an old man . . .” from The Old Man and the Sea

ii. Character’s own _____________________ & _________________________

iii. _______________________________ of other characters

© Bree Lowry 2006, 2014

iv. _______________________________ appearance

v. Character’s own _______________________________

c. ________________________________ – the reasons characters act as they do

PPlloott

III. ______________________ - a series of events related to a central _______________________

or struggle

a. Types of Conflict:

i. Man vs. ____________________________

ii. Man vs. ____________________________

iii. Man vs. ____________________________

iv. Man vs. ____________________________

b. Internal and External Conflicts:

i. _____________________________ Conflict – a conflict that occurs between a

character and himself/herself

ii. _____________________________ Conflict – a conflict that occurs between a

character and an _________________________ __________________________

© Bree Lowry 2006, 2014

PPooiinntt ooff VViieeww

IV. Point of View – the ______________________ _______________________ from which

a story is told

a. ___________ - _______________________ – the story is told from the narrator’s

point of view; words like I and me are often used

b. Second-Person – the author __________________________

____________________________ the characters in the story

c. Third-Person ____________________________________ – the story is told from

the author’s or an outsider’s point of view; the ______________________________

of all characters are made known to the reader

d. Third-Person ______________________ ____________________________ – the story

is told from the author’s or an outsider’s point of view; however, the thoughts

of __________________ ________________ ____________________________ (usually

the central character) are made known to the reader

e. Third-Person ___________________________ (___________________ - ___________) –

the story is told from an objective point of view just as if one were viewing a

_________________________________, and the thoughts of characters are

_______________ _______________________ by the reader

LLiitteerraarryy TTeerrmmss

V. _______________________ - the central idea in a literary work

a. Novels and other long works may deal with several interrelated themes.

© Bree Lowry 2006, 2014

VI. _____________________ vs. ______________________ - Don’t get the two confused!

VII. Symbolism - the use of __________________________ to signify people, objects, or ideas

VIII. Allusion - an ________________________ _____________________________ to a person,

place, thing, or idea

a. Typically a reference to something of historical, cultural, literary, or political

significance

IX. Foreshadowing - a literary device used by an author to give a ______________________

of what is to come

X. Flashback - where the writer interrupts the ______________________________________

_________________________________ of a story to flash back in ________________________

to an earlier event

XI. Irony:

a. _______________________ Irony – occurs when something is _____________________

by the reader or audience but is _________________________ to the characters

b. ________________________ Irony – occurs when a statement is made that

_____________________________ its _______________________________

c. _______________________________ Irony – occurs when an event takes place

that violates the ___________________________________ of the characters,

the reader, or the audience