1. Elements of Fiction

2. Characters
the people, animals, or imaginary creatures that take part in the action of the story

3. 2 Types of Characters:
A. Protagonist - often referred to as the story's main character. He or she (or they) is faced with a conflict that must be resolved. Usually we see the story through the protagonist’s eyes and root for him or her to come through victorious.
B. Antagonist - The antagonist is a force opposing the protagonist. This is usually a person—
the ‘bad guy’—but can be a natural disaster or an oppressive society or a boring math class, or just about anything else

4. Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol
Dynamic Character—Main character(s) that go through a big change; he/she/they evolve into a new or better person.
Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol

5. Character:
Static Character—this type of character is usually a minor character. In other words, this character does not change from the beginning of the story to the end of the story.
The evil stepmother in Cinderella is mean in beginning and mean in the end.

6. Identifying Character Traits
What is a character trait?
When we talk about a character, we often describe that character is terms of character traits, descriptive adjectives such as happy, sad, brave, funny that tell us specific qualities of the character. They’re the same type of words we could use to describe ourselves or others, but we are using them to describe fictional characters.

7. Identifying Character Traits
The author may tell us these traits directly OR
author will show us these traits in action. As a reader, you mustdraw a conclusion about the character's traits (to infer them) from
what the character says, thinks, and does.
something a character does only once,
from a series of things the character says and does.
How do we find character traits?

8. Setting: The setting is where and when the story takes place.
The setting could be a specific time or place
Ex: The south during the 1950s
The
setting could be make-believe such as a faraway kingdom or outer space
Ex: Hogwarts

9. Setting and Mood
Setting contributes not only to the plot, but also to the mood. For example, a story about vampires could be an old, dark mansion tucked away in a foggy bayou.
This setting lends an air of suspense and uneasiness to the plot and characters.
IF the setting were the busy streets of New York City, there would be a different mood.
PLACE

10. Setting (time) One important element of setting is time.
How I would travel to Raleigh in 1890….
One important element of setting is time.
The period of time in which a story takes place dictates how the characters will talk, dress, act, react to each other, or even travel.
How I would travel to Raleigh in 2010…yea right
TIME

11. Plot: All fiction is presented in a structured format called PLOT
The sequence of events in the story (what the story is about)
Plot is the series of events. Plot centers around the conflict of the story!
Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain

12. Stages of Plot: Exposition
1) Exposition is the beginning. It establishes the setting, introduces the main characters, and sometimes hints at the conflict.
The way things are before the action starts.
Exposition A B C D E
“The exposition sets the tone for the entire story.”
Sherlock Holmes,
Arthur Conan Doyle

13. Stages of Plot: Rising Action
Rising action is the series of conflicts and crisis in the story that lead to the climax.”
Harry Potter
Stages of Plot: Rising Action
2) Rising Action-
Events that move the story forward
Suspense builds
Complications start to arise
B. Rising Action A C D

14. Stages of Plot: Climax 3) Climax- Turning point of the story
“When determining the climax, find the greatest conflict of the story and then find the turning point when that problem starts to get solved.”
Peter Pan
3) Climax-
Turning point of the story
Point of greatest interest of suspense
C. Climax A B C D E

15. Stages of Plot: Falling Action
“Falling action is the contrast to the rising action which leads up to the plot's climax.”
Alice
4) Falling Action
story dies down
events and problems fall into place
D. Falling Action A B C D E

16. Stages of Plot: Resolution
Conflicts are resolved, creating normality for the characters, and a release of tension and anxiety, for the reader.
5. Resolution- The end. The conclusion. The tying up of all the threads and loose ends.
Juliet

17. Resolution C B D
E. Reolution A E

18. Putting It All Together
1. Exposition
2. Rising Action
Beginning of Story
3. Climax
Middle of Story
4. Falling Action
5. Resolution
End of Story

19. Stages of Plot Climax Rising Action Falling Action Exposition
Resolution

20. The main message the writer wishes to share with the reader.
Theme
The main message the writer wishes to share with the reader.
In fiction, theme is not presented directly at all. You extract it from the characters, action, and setting that make up the story. In other words, you must figure out the theme yourself.

21. Theme:
Common themes appear in many works of fiction. Some of the themes you will see in short stories, novels, and poems include:
“Make new friends, but keep the old ones.”
“Never give up, persevere.”
“Love is what makes the world go around.”
“Good friends stick by each other.”

22. Point of View
The point of view is the perspective that the story is being told (first or third person).
Third-Person point of view: has a narrator who does not take part in the action of the story and who
Uses : He, she, they, them
First-Person point of view: shows the action through the eyes of one of the characters.
Uses: I, me, us, we

23. Third Person Omniscient
the “all knowing” point of view. The narrator knows everything about the characters and their problems and uses the pronouns he, she, and by their character names. Can tell reader about the past, present and future and what the characters are thinking and what is happening in several different places and to several different characters at the same time. Narrator does NOT take part in the story’s action, but stands above the action and watches like a puppeteer or a sun up in the corner of a picture

24. C. Third Person Limited
This narrative type also uses the pronouns "he," "she," "it" and "they," but the reader stays firmly with one character at a time.
The character can only report what has happened, and cannot look into the minds and motives of the other characters, beyond basic speculation. Character "switches" may take place during scene or chapter breaks.
This is the most common type of narrative.

25. - a struggle between two opposing forces
Conflict
- a struggle between two opposing forces

26. Conflict The conflict is a problem or struggle that drives the story.
Usually the entire story revolves around a main conflict.

27. External Conflict a character struggles against another character or an outside force
Man vs. Man: a fight; argument
Man vs. Nature: man lost in woods
Man vs. society: an inventor or prisoner

28. Internal Conflict -the struggle is within a character.
Man vs. Himself:
Ex: Man unable to make a decision
Character struggling with guilt.

29. Reading for Conflict: As you read a story:
identify the main characters
decide what conflict they face
look for steps they take to settle that conflict
see if the steps cause other conflict
watch for clues and try to predict what the characters will do
enjoy the buildup of suspense
put yourself in the story
decide if you would have solved the conflict in the same way

30. The End 