1. Parts of a Story
Finding Meaning

2. Parts of a Story Analogy: House
FOUNDATION=Setting - provides a foundation for the story by describing the time and place of the action
DOOR=Characters - come in and meet the people who live here—they are the people, animals, or creatures carrying out the action
WINDOW=Point of View - the vantage point from which the story is told—is the story being told from the inside or out?
ROOF LINE=Plot - the pattern of events in the story
CHIMNEY=Theme - the main message that filters throughout the story

3. Theme
THEME
PLOT
POINT OF VIEW
CHARACTERS
SETTING

4. Falling Action/Resolution
Setting and Plot
SETTING—Not just a simple time and place
Can be SYMBOLICALLY significant.
Can be HISTORICALLY significant.
PLOT
Climax—Not always in the middle of action; it is the major turning point.
Resolution—Sometimes the story is left unresolved
Can the Climax and Resolution be one and the same?
CLIMAX
Rising Action
Falling Action/Resolution

5. PLOT EXPOSITION—background info (setting) RISING ACTION
CLIMAX— “apex”; turning point; things change
Rocky movies: last big fight; punch that changes the fight
FALLING ACTION/RESOLUTION—how the story comes to an end

6. Characterization Terms to Know: Protagonist—main character
Antagonist—character pitted against main character
Flat/Static vs. Dynamic/Round
Flat/Static—unchanging
Dynamic/Round—changing/full.
Foil—mirror image of main character.

7. Point of View Third Person Point of View (HE, SHE, THEY)
Here the narrator does not participate in the action of the story as one of the characters, but lets us know exactly how the characters feel. We learn about the characters through this outside voice.
A narrator who knows everything about all the characters is all knowing, or omniscient.
A narrator whose knowledge is limited to one character, either major or minor, has a limited omniscient point of view.
First Person Point of View (I)
In the first person point of view, the narrator does participate in the action of the story. When reading stories in the first person, we need to realize that what the narrator is recounting might not be the objective truth. We should question the trustworthiness of the accounting.

8. Point of View As you read a piece of fiction think about these things:
How does the point of view affect your responses to the
characters? How is your response influenced by how much
the narrator knows and how objective he or she is? First
person narrators are not always trustworthy. It is up to you to
determine what is the truth and what is not.

9. THEME The main idea or underlying meaning of a literary work.
Themes may be major or minor. A major theme is an idea the author returns to time and again. It becomes one of the most important ideas in the story. Minor themes are ideas that may appear from time to time.
It is important to recognize the difference between the theme and subject. The subject is the topic on which an author has chosen to write. The theme, however, makes some statement about or expresses some opinion on that topic.
subject may be war
theme = “War is useless.”
Write theme in a complete, universal statement.

10. THEME cont.
Four ways in which an author can express themes are as follows:
1. By sharing feelings of the main character you also share the ideas that go through his mind.
2. Presented in thoughts and conversations. Authors put words in their character’s mouths only for good reasons. Look for thoughts that are repeated throughout the story.
3. Themes are suggested through the characters. The main character usually illustrates the most important theme of the story. A good way to get at this theme is to ask yourself the question, what does the main character learn in the course of the story?
4. The actions or events in the story are used to suggest theme. In other words, how will the action express an idea or theme?

11. SYMBOLISM: Literal and Figurative Meaning

12. Symbols