SIX ELEMENTS OF FICTION

THE SIX ELEMENTS OF FICTION

..SETTING

The time and location in which a story takes place is called the setting.  For some stories the setting is very important, while for others it is not.  There are several aspects of a story's setting to consider when examining how setting contributes to a story (some, or all, may be present in a story):

a.       place

geographical location.  Where is the action of the story taking place?

b.      time

When is the story taking place? (historical period, time of day, year, etc)

c.       weather conditions

Is it rainy, sunny, stormy, etc?

d.      social conditions

What is the daily life of the characters like? Does the story contain local colour (writing that focuses on the speech, dress, mannerisms, customs, etc. of a particular place)?

e.       mood or atmosphere

What feeling is created at the beginning of the story?  Is it bright and cheerful or dark and frightening?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrPjBYEp8Sw

..PLOT

The plot is how the author arranges events to develop his basic idea;  It is the sequence of events in a story or play.  The plot is a planned, logical series of events having a beginning, middle, and end.  The short story usually has one plot so it can be read in one sitting.  There are five essential parts of plot:

1.      Introduction

The beginning of the story where the characters and the setting is revealed.

2. Exposition

the background information that is needed to understand the story properly is provided. Such information includes the protagonist, the antagonist, the basic conflict, the setting, and so forth.The exposition ends with the inciting moment, which is the single incident in the story's action without which there would be no story. The inciting moment sets the remainder of the story in motion beginning with the second act, the rising action.

3. Inciting Incident

Something happens to begin the action.  A single event usually signals the beginning of the main conflict.  The inciting incident is sometimes called ‘the complication’.

4.      Rising Action

This is where the events in the story become complicated and the conflict in the story is revealed (events between the introduction and climax). the story builds and gets more exciting

5.      ..Climax

This is the highest point of interest and the turning point of the story.  The reader wonders what will happen next; will the conflict be resolved or not?

6.      Falling action

The events and complications begin to resolve themselves.  The reader knows what has happened next and if the conflict was resolved or not (events between climax and denouement).

7.      Resolution/Conclussion/Denouement

This part follows quickly after the climax and provides the last pieces of information for the reader. “Denouement” is French for “unknotting”; you may therefore think of denouement as the “unknotting” or “untangling” of the plot. Other words for denouement are conclusion or resolution (think about it as the resolution of the climax). However, not all conclusions provide resolution.

Conflict

Conflict is essential to plot.  Without conflict there is no plot.  It is the opposition of forces which ties one incident to another and makes the plot move.  Conflict is not merely limited to open arguments, rather it is any form of opposition that faces the main character. Within a short story there may be only one central struggle, or there may be one dominant struggle with many minor ones.

There are two types of conflict:

1)      ..External

A struggle with a force outside one's self.

2)      Internal

A struggle within one's self; a person must make some decision, overcome pain, quiet their temper, resist an urge, etc.

There are four kinds of conflict:

1)      Man vs. Man (physical)

The leading character struggles with his physical strength against other men, forces of nature, or animals.

2)      Man vs. Circumstances (classical)

The leading character struggles against fate, or the circumstances of life facing him/her.

3)      Man vs. Society (social)

The leading character struggles against ideas, practices, or customs of other people.

4)      Man vs. Himself/Herself (psychological)

The leading character struggles with himself/herself; with his/her own soul, ideas of right or wrong, physical limitations, choices, etc.

..THEME

The theme in a piece of fiction is its controlling idea or its central insight.  It is the author's underlying meaning or main idea that he is trying to convey.  The theme may be the author's thoughts about a topic or view of human nature.  The title of the short story usually points to what the writer is saying and he may use various figures of speech to emphasize his theme, such as: symbol, allusion, simile, metaphor, hyperbole, or irony.  

Some simple examples of common themes from literature, TV, and film are:
- things are not always as they appear to be
- Love is blind
- Believe in yourself
- People are afraid of change
- Don't judge a book by its cover

CHARACTER

the fictional people, animals, or things in a short story or novel.  Characters may be real or fictional (created by the author’s imagination).  Characters reveal themselves through their dialogue (what they say and how they say it), their action (what they do), their thoughts, their physical appearance, and what others say about them.  Every character in a story will have their own individual and unique personalities.  In real life, character is observed; in fiction, it is created.  Novels develop a greater number of characters in more detail due to their length.

Types of Characters:

1.       Protagonist - the central or main character struggling for or against something.

2.       Antagonist - the person, thing, or force struggling against the protagonist.

3.       Flat or Static Character.. - a minor, oversimplified character who is not well developed and who does not change, grow, or develop as the story progresses; their personalities are easily summed up because they are usually one dimensional  possessing one or two main character traits; as a result, their actions are often easy to predict; these characters’ personality and values remain unchanged by the events of the story.

4.       Round or Dynamic Character - a complex character with several developed personality traits (sometimes contradictory ones); they are usually the character in conflict in a short story; they grow, change, and develop as the story unravels; round characters often have mixed thoughts and feelings so their actions are difficult to predict.

5.       Stock or Stereotyped Character - a character who at one time might have been fresh and original, but has become, through overuse, trite, conventional, and boring;  often these characters are just caricatures or exaggerated, flat, and familiar characters having one main character trait, feature gesture, mannerism, or speech pattern (examples: bully, jock, nag, miser, villain, cop, detective, Newfoundlander, gossip, absent-minded professor, etc.); their actions are easy to predict because we all recognize their character traits.

..POINT OF VIEW

Point of view, or p.o.v., is defined as the angle from which the story is told.

1)       First Person – Story told by the protagonist or a character who interacts closely with the protagonist or other characters; speaker uses the pronouns “I”, “me”, “we”.  Readers experiences the story through this person's eyes  and only knows what he/she knows and feels.

2)       Second Person – Story told by a narrator who addresses the reader or some other assumed “you”; speaker uses pronouns “you”, “your”, and “yours”. Ex: You wake up to discover that you have been robbed of all of your worldly possessions. 

3)       Third Person – Story told by a narrator who sees all of the action; speaker uses the pronouns “he”, “she”, “it”, “they”, “his”, “hers”, “its”, and “theirs”.  This person may be a character in the story.  There are several types of third person POV:

·         Limited – Probably the easiest POV for a beginning writer to use, “limited” POV funnels all action through the eyes of a single character; readers only see what the narrator sees.

·         Omniscient- God-like, the narrator knows and sees everything, and can move from one character’s mind to another.  Authors can be omniscient narrators by moving from character to character, event to event, and introducing information at their discretion.  There are two main types of omniscient POV:

4)       Innocent Eye/Naïve Narrator – Story told through child’s eyes; narrator’s judgment is different from that of an adult.

5)       Stream of Consciousness – Story told so readers solely experience a character’s thoughts and reactions.

STYLE

writers use many, many different techniques to attract reader interest and attention or to accomplish literary purpose in short stories, novels, poems and plays. Several such techniques follow here:

·         ..Irony: When there is a surprising gap between what might be expected and what actually occurs.

·         Satire: Style of writing that has the goal of mocking or scorning either an individual, an institution, or society as a whole. Angry and bitter satire is called Juvenalian satire while gentle mockery is called Horatian satire.

·         Symbol: A symbol has two levels of meaning: a literal level and a figurative level. Objects, characters, events and settings can all be symbolic in that they represent something else beyond themselves. E.g. the dove is literally a bird, but has become a universal symbol of peace.