What are the important elements of Fiction?

1. What are the important elements of Fiction?

2. Here’s how I want you to take notes…

3. Setting • Time and place of action

4. Characters • Person or animal that takes part in the action • Protagonist- Main character • Antagonist- Opposes the main character

5. Character Types • Round – show many traits good & bad (real people) • Flat- show one trait- • Static -stays the same throughout the story • Dynamic- changes over the course of the story

6. Conflict • External Conflict-character struggles with outside forces • Person vs. Person • Person vs. Nature • Person vs. Society • Person vs. Supernatural • Person vs. Technology

7. Conflict • Internal Conflict- within one character’s mind • Person vs. self

8. Plot • Order of events in story

9. Plot- Sequence of events • Exposition- gives background information about characters, conflict , setting • Rising action- Suspense build because complications arise as the characters try to resolve the conflict • Climax- turning point in the action • Falling action- things start slowing down. Leads to… • Resolution- all the loose ends are tied up.

10. Plot Diagram Climax Rising Action Falling Action Introduction Conclusion

11. Theme • what the story is trying to say about life or people • the main idea or author’s message • Must be a complete idea; cannot be a single word like love, anger, childhood What is the author revealing about the subject?

12. Universal Theme • A theme that occurs across genres, time periods and cultures Love is blind. Good will triumph over evil. Arrogance and pride bring destruction.

13. Characterization • Direct characterization- telling the reader directly what the character’s personality is like; cruel, kind, sneaky, brave…

14. Characterization • Indirect Characterization is accomplished by- • letting the reader hear the character speak • letting the reader listen to the character’s inner thoughts • revealing what other characters in the story think or say about the character • showing the reader what the character does- how he or she acts

15. Narrator • The voice telling a story

16. Point of View • Definition- the vantage point from which a writer tells a story • There are three possible points of view • Third Person Omniscient • First Person • Third Person Limited

17. Point of View Definition of types: First Person – the narrator takes part in the action. This is expressed by the pronoun I. Third Person-the narrator does not take part in the action. May be limited or omniscient

18. Point of View – Third Person Types • Limited- the reader only has knowledge of the main character’s thoughts and/ or feelings • Omniscient- the reader has knowledge of all or many the characters’ thoughts and / or feelings.

19. Irony • Dramatic- When the audience knows something the character’s don’t • Situational – When things turn out the opposite from the way they were expected • Verbal- When the opposite of what is meant is said.

20. Foreshadowing • when the author uses clues to hint at events that have not yet occurred.

21. Imagery • Language that appeals to the senses

22. Diction • Word choice House or residence? Vehicle or automobile? Sad or morose? Hello or what’s up?

23. Tone • Attitude of the speaker angry, sarcastic, sympathetic, admiring, whiney

24. Mood • Overall atmosphere peaceful, frightening, ominous

25. Flashback • A scene that interrupts the present action to flash backward and tell what happened in an earlier time • Stories that use flashback begin en media res or in the middle.

26. Symbolism • When a person place, thing or event is used to represent something beyond itself.

27. Textual Evidence • Specific quotations or examples from the text that are used to support one’s ideas or conclusions about a text. • May be explicit- directly stated • or implicit - implied

28. In this unit you will: • review the short story elements and learn to follow and map the sequence of events in a story • learn to distinguish the various points of view from which a story may be told • learn about all of the previously mentioned short story elements

29. QUIZ TIME The following slides contain questions about literary and stylistic devices. On a sheet of notebook paper, answer the parenthetical items (what’s in parentheses).

30. Question 1 How do short stories address universal themes of human existence and conflict? (1. Define universal theme.)

31. Question 2 How do literary devicesenhance our understanding of short story as a genre? (2. What are literary devices?)

32. Questions 3a., 3b., 4a., 4b. How does the author use characters to reveal and resolve conflicts in the short story? (3a. & 3b. What are two types of characterization?) (4a. & 4b. What are two types of conflict?)

33. Questions 5a., 5b. 5c. How can we identifypoint of view in the story and how does it shape the story? (5a., 5b., 5c. What are three points of view from which a story can be told?)

34. Question 6. What impact does the author’s historical context have on our interpretation of the short story? (6. Why is it important to know when and where a story was written? How is that different from the setting of a story?)

35. Question 7. How do authors use symbolism to enhance short stories? (7. What is a symbol?)