1. Elements of Fiction

2. setting The time, place, and atmosphere of a story including… geographical location (London, Texas, the Caribbean, etc.) time period (1904, WWII, the 60’s, etc.)

3. setting The socio-economic characteristics of the location (wealthy suburbs, dustbowl, etc.) He specific location building, room, vehicle…(school, kitchen, bus, military bus, etc.)

4. setting can also be used to tell the reader about the character, atmosphere, and to “set up” the the story

5. characters The people, animals, things, force, etc., appearing in a literary work… protagonist – main character antagonist - the character or force in conflict with the protagonist

6. characters round character – shows many different traits, good and bad dynamic character – develops and grows during the course of a story

7. characters flat character – shows very few character traits static character – changes little, if at all, during a story

8. plot The sequence of events in a literary work involving characters and a central conflict

9. Gustav Freytag, a 19 th century German novelist, saw common patterns in the plots of stories and created Freytag’s Pyramid which consists of five main elements plot

10. Freytag’s pyramid exposition rising action climax falling action resolution conflict introduced

11. plot exposition – introduces the characters, setting, and the basic situation rising action – all the events leading up to the climax climax – the high point of interest or suspense

12. plot falling action – follows the climax and leads up to the resolution resolution – the end of the central conflict

13. plot inciting incident – introduces the central conflict; occurs after the exposition and before the rising action

14. plot denouement – any events that occur after the resolution [dey-noo-mah]

15. conflict A struggle between two opposing forces (characters).

16. conflict internal conflict – involves a character in conflict with himself or herself

17. conflict external conflict – the main character struggles with an outside source

18. point of view The perspective from which a story is told 1 st person narrator – a character tells the story; can be main or minor character

19. point of view omniscient 3 rd person narrator – a person outside the story narrates the story and can tell what all characters think and feel

20. point of view limited third-person narrator – a person outside the story narrates the story and can see the world through one character’s eyes and reveals only that character’s thoughts and feelings***

21. point of view *** with 3 rd -person limited, other characters thoughts and feelings are revealed through their dialogue and actions

22. theme The central message or insight to life revealed through a literary work may be stated directly or implied by the events and actions in the story

23. symbol Anything that stands for something else A lion can be a symbol for courage. A heart can be a symbol of love.

24. imagery Descriptive or figurative language used to create word pictures for the reader; will appeal to any or all of the five senses (sight, sound, taste, touch, & smell)

25. tone The writer’s attitude toward his audience and/or subject can usually be described by a single adjective

26. mood The feeling created in the reader by a literary work usually suggested by descriptive details can be described in a single word