a look at what makes a story a story Elements of a Story a look at what makes a story a story

Characters: The WHO? Main Characters, support characters, villains and heroes. Characters are the people (human or otherwise) in the story.

Protagonist vs. Antagonist Protagonist: the hero of the story, typically there is only one protagonist. Antagonist: The villain of the story, not necessarily evil but causes the conflict.

Dynamic vs. Static Dynamic: Changing; a dynamic character will see major changes in the way they behave through the story Static: stays the same; a static character will not change at all in motives, actions, values or beliefs.

Round vs. Flat Round: they have many traits, we are given lots of information about them and the reader knows a lot about who they are, what they think etc. Flat: the reader knows very little about a flat character - they add little to the plot, and are usually just mentioned by name

Special character: Anti-Hero Anti-Hero: a protagonist that doesn’t have the traditional features of a hero

Special Character: Foil Foil: a character whose characteristics are in contrast to another’s in order to make them look better.

Setting: The WHERE and WHEN? The setting is more than just where the story happens, it is the entire world in which the story happens. Sometimes an author will create an entirely new reality to tell his or her story. It is also the when - stories set in reality but 100 years ago will look very different from ones set today

Setting: the WHERE and WHEN? Class Brainstorm: with your elbow partner develop a list of settings stories can take place in - don’t be too specific like naming specific towns be general for example: a city, in the country, on a farm, small town, on a ship in space, be ready to share once the

Quick Write: With your elbow partner, find another pair to group up with. You should be in a group of 4. number yourselves from 1-4 Using the set class character and plot point, roll your dice to determine what setting your story will take place in. Write your setting at the top of your chart paper As a group, start writing a chain story Person one - writes a sentence - describing the setting person two - adds on a sentence - describing the character person three - adds a sentence - describing how the plot point becomes a problem Person four - adds a sentence - describing how the character reacts to the problem Person one - adds a sentence - describing how the problem grows Person two - adds a sentence - describing how the characters try to solve the problem and fail person three - adds a sentence - describing how the problem is solved person four - adds a sentence - describing how the characters have been changed by the problem.

Quick Write What is your idea of a perfect world? Write 1-2 paragraphs describing the setting of a perfect world - what problems have we solved? what rules are in place? are rules even needed? After you’re done, find someone to switch with. how do your perfect worlds differ? how are they the same? would you consider your partner’s world to be perfect or flawed?

Utopia vs. Dystopia Utopia - a perfect world. Complete order, usually set in the future. Dystopia - an imperfect or broken world one which the protagonist must fight against. Usually set in the future, after some catastrophic event has ended the world as we know it.

Fantasy vs. Real World Fantasy: an imagined world can combine some of the real world with fantasy or be completely fantasy. Real World: the events take place in our world, characters can still face unrealistic problems or have larger - than life adventures, but all exists in our world.

Perspective: The HOW? There are plenty of different ways to tell a story, these are based on who tells the story. Brainstorm - 3 minutes How can changing who tells a story change the way it is told?

Narrator The narrator is the person telling the story. They can be: a character in the story someone from outside the story

First Person This narrator is a character in the story. They will use “I”, “we” or “us”. “I could picture it. I have a habit of imagining the conversations between my friends. We went out to the Cafe Napolitain to have an aperitif and watch the evening crowd on the Boulevard.” -Ernest Hemingway as the Protagonist Jake Barnes, The Sun Also Rises Think of it as something that happened to the narrator.

Second Person The narrator refers to her or himself as “you” fairly rare in fiction more common in short stories “You are not the kind of guy who would be at a place like this at this time of the morning. But here you are, and you cannot say that the terrain is entirely unfamiliar, although the details are fuzzy.” Jay McInerney's Bright Lights, Big City (1984)

Third Person Most common narrative style narrator refers to all characters as “he”, “she”, “they”, “it”. narrator is not a character in the story.

Third Person - Subjective The narrator tells the story from the point of view of one of the characters - they are still called “he” or “she” NOT “I” but the reader is limited to knowing his or her thoughts and feelings. “Harry had taken up his place at wizard school, where he and his scar were famous but now the school year was over, and he was back with the Dursleys for the summer, back to being treated like a dog that had rolled in something smelly. The Dursleys hadn't even remembered that today happened to be Harry's twelfth birthday. Of course, his hopes hadn't been high.” JK Rowling - Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

Third Person - Objective The narrator tells the story objectively - he or she simply retells events, without bias or unfairly favouring the opinions of one character over another. Is only able to see what characters do or say.

Third Person - Omniscient This narrator is all-knowing. He or she is aware of the thoughts, feelings and actions of all characters in the story.

Alternating This style is more rare and usually more difficult to follow. The perspective of the narrator will change throughout the novel. Usually from one character to another.

Theme: The WHY? there are plenty of reasons to tell a story. The theme of the story is the central topic the story addresses. It isn’t always obvious for example . . .

Plot: The WHAT? Plot can be defined as the series of events that takes place in a story, but it is also so much more than “first this, then that, and finally this happened”.

Introduction The opening words of a story. This is when we are first introduced to the world in which the story takes place, the characters and the narrator of the story. My personal favourite “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole filled with ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor a dry, bare sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat. It was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.” JRR Tolkien - The Hobbit or There and Back Again

Inciting incident This is the moment that forces the protagonist into an adventure. The thing that gets the story going.

Rising Action (Conflict) Man vs. Man Man vs. Himself Man vs. Nature Man vs. Supernatural Man vs. Machine

Falling Action (Resolution)

Denouement (Conclusion)

Re-writing a crappy story!