ELEMENTS OF FICTION

Literary Elements
Literary elements are the components of a literary

piece, such as character, setting, plot, theme, and

ending/resolution.

Fiction
Fiction is books that are made up by

the author, or are not true.

Examples: Harry Potter books, The Hunger Games,
The Hobbit

Authors Perspective
An authors perspective is their beliefs or attitude

expressed in their writing.

Authors Purpose
An authors purpose is the reason an author decides

to write about a specific topic. Then, once a topic is

selected, the author must decide whether his purpose
for writing is to inform, persuade, entertain, or
explain his/her ideas to the reader.

Character Development
Character development is the process of creating a character's
background, physicality, appearance, and personality.
There are two categories of character types:
Flat OR Round
Static OR Dynamic
And
There are two ways to characterize:
Direct characterization
Indirect characterization

Character Types
Flat:
Characterized by a single dominant trait, role, or

function
Often a stereotypical character like
The whiny person who always dies in horror movies
The sneaky servant
The jealous lover

Character Types
Round:
Fully developed with multiple & sometimes

contradictory traits
The reader often sees their thoughts, motivations,
etc.
Character seems like a real person

Character Types
Static: the character does NOT undergo an

important change in their insight, understanding,

values, etc. in the course of the story
Dynamic: the character DOES undergo an important

change in their insight, understanding, values, etc. in

the course of the story

Ways to Characterize - Direct

The writer tells the reader what the character is like

Example:
The patient boy and quiet girl were both well
mannered and did not disobey their mother.
The writer is directly telling the reader the personality
of these two children. The boy is patient and the
girl is quiet.

Ways to Characterize - Indirect

The reader must draw their own conclusions based on the characters:
Speech
What does the character say?
How does the character speak?
Thoughts
What is revealed through the characters private thoughts and feelings?
Effect on others
What is revealed through the characters effect on other people?
How do other characters feel/behave in reaction to the character?
Actions
What does the character do?
How does the character behave?
Looks
What does the character look like?
How does the character dress?

Character Point of View

Character point of view is the attitude or outlook of a

narrator or character in a piece of literature, a movie, or

another art form.
What words do they use when talking, or describing things?
How does the character speak (short, breathless sentences,
or long, rambling ones)? What are the characters emotions
and how do they describe or show them? How might they
compare one thing to another? For example, an older
person might compare a bright sunset to a bomb bursting
over his aircraft carrier during the Second World War,
whereas a teenager might compare it to the flash of fire in
her boyfriends eyes.

Point of View
Point of view is the perspective from which the story

is being told. The three main points of view in

literary texts are omniscient, third person limited,
and first person.

Point of View First Person

Story is told by one of the characters
Character can be a participant or observer
Uses I
Example: As I walked up the hill, I realized that the
atmosphere was just too quiet. There was no sound
from the cardinal who was nearly always singing
from the top of the maple tree. I thought I saw a
shadow move high up on the slope, but when I
looked again it was gone. Still, I shuddered as I felt a
silent threat pass over me like a cloud over the sun.

Point of View Third Person

Three Types:
Limited/Limited Omniscient- most common today
Over the Shoulder perspective
Narrator describes events perceived by the viewpoint character
Writers can shift perspective from one viewpoint character to another
Omniscient
Narrator knows all the facts
Injects narrators own perspective & reputation into story
Common in classic novels
Detached
Fly on the Wall perspective
Objective- without characters thought or opinions
Often used in newspaper articles

Conflict
There are two types of conflict in literature:
External conflict is between a character and an

outside force.
Internal conflict is between a character and himself.

External Conflict
Man vs. Man (a character struggles with another

character)
Man vs. Nature (a character struggles with a force of
nature)
Man vs. Society (a character or a group of characters
struggle against the society in which they live)

Internal Conflict
The characters struggle takes place in his or her own

mind.
Usually has something to do with a choice (right and
wrong)

Exposition in Fiction
Exposition is information essential to understanding

the work. The exposition is also that part of a story in

which important background information is revealed
to the reader.
Example: Harry Potter & the Sorcerers Stone
Harry is left at the Dursleys
Voldemort is introduced through Dumbledore &
McGonagalls discussion
Harry and life with the Dursleys is introduced

Rising Action
Rising action is a related series of incidents in a

literary plot that build toward the point of greatest

interest
The hook
Where the action kicks into gear & it begins to get
interesting
Where the conflict is introduced
Example: Harry Potter & the Sorcerers Stone
Harry begins talking to the snake at the zoo & the
glass disappears

Climax
Climax in literature is the ultimate point of tension

in the story. It is what you have been waiting for

throughout the entire book or play.
Example: Harry Potter & the Sorcerers Stone
when Harry, Ron, & Hermione go through the
challenges protecting the Sorcerers Stone
When Harry faces Quirrell & Voldemort

Falling Action
Falling action is the events of a dramatic or narrative

plot following the climax.

Where the author ties up loose ends that remain after
the climax
Example: Harry Potter & the Sorcerers Stone
Harry wakes up in the hospital
We find out Ron is ok
Dumbledore tells Harry about Nicolas Flamel & the
fate of the Sorcerers Stone
Gryffindor wins the House Cup

Resolution
Resolution is the outcome/conclusion/ending (conflict has

been resolved).
Story wraps up
Long-term effects of conflict are revealed
Example: Harry Potter & the Sorcerers Stone
Exam results
Packing up
Harry is picked up by the Dursleys at the train station
They meet Ron, his family, & Hermione
Foreshadows Harrys summer with them (and the fact that
they dont know he cant perform magic!)

Flashback
A flashback is a narrative technique that allows a writer

to present past events during current events, in order to

provide background for the current narration. By giving
material that occurred prior to the present event, the
writer provides the reader with insight into a character's
motivation and or background to a conflict.
Example:
In Arthur Koestler, Darkness at Noon (first published in
1940) the hero, Rubashov, spends hours in his prison
cell thinking about his own past and reliving it, so to
speak.

Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing refers to the use of indicative

words/phrases and hints that set the stage for a story

to unfold and give the reader a hint of something
that is going to happen without revealing the story or
spoiling the suspense.
Example: Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
Throughout the play both Romeo and Juliet
constantly refer to death, murder and suicide. One of
the most obvious examples is Juliet's fake death
scene after drinking Friar Lawrence's potion.

Moral
A moral is a message conveyed or a lesson to be

learned from a story or event.

Example: At the end of Aesop's fable of the Tortoise and
the Hare, in which the plodding and determined
tortoise wins a race against the much-faster yet
extremely arrogant hare, the stated moral is "slow and
steady wins the race". However, other morals can
often be taken from the story itself; for instance, that
"arrogance or overconfidence in one's abilities may
lead to failure or the loss of an event, race, or contest".

Plot/Plot Development
Plot is the events that make up a story. Plot

development is how the story progresses.

Exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and
resolution are part of plot development.

Protagonist/Antagonist
The protagonist is considered to be the main

character or lead figure in a novel, play, story, or

poem. It may also be referred to as the "hero" of a
work.
The antagonist is a character in a story or poem who
deceives, frustrates, or works again the main
character, or protagonist, in some way.

Setting
Setting is the time, place, physical details, and

circumstances in which a situation occurs. Settings

include the background, atmosphere or environment
in which characters live and move, and usually
include physical characteristics of the surroundings.

Theme
A theme is a thought or idea the author presents to

the reader that may be deep, difficult to understand,

or even moralistic.
Example: Amigo Brothers
Friendship is more important than winning
Competition cannot break friendship
Friends care about each other
Strong friendships can survive even the toughest times

Trait
Character traits are elements of a character's

personality that define who the character is.