1. ELEMENTS OF
FICTION

2. Elements of fiction:
I.PLOT
II.SETTING
III.CHARACTRS
IV.POINT OF VIEW
V.THEME

3. I. PLOT
Plot is the author’s arrangement of events in the
story. It has a beginning, middle and an end. More
specifically, the plot follows the Freytag
pyramid:

4. Narrative Stages
The narrative stages or stages of the plot are as
follows:
• Exposition: The start of the story, the situation before the
action starts
• Rising Action: The series of conflicts and crisis in the
story that lead to the climax
• Climax / Turning Point: The most intense moment –
either mentally or in action – the reader wonders what will
happen next; will the conflict be resolved or not?
• Falling Action: The events and complications begin to
resolve themselves. (The events between the climax and
the resolution)
• Denouement (Resolution): The conclusion, the
untangling of events in the story

5. Types of Plot
Events in a story can be presented in a variety of
orders:
• The chronological order: some stories begin
with what happens first, following the regular
time development of events to end.
• Some stories begin at the end then lead up to
why and how things developed as they did.
• Some stories begin in the middle of things.

6. Flashback
This is a technique in which the author
interrupts the plot of the story to tell an
incident of an earlier time (goes back in time;
like giving the reader a memory).

7. Foreshadowing
This is a writers’ technique in which the author
provides clues or hints as to what is going to
happen later in the story.

8. Conflict
Conflict is the struggle between two forces in
a story. The plot revolves around this conflict.

9. Types of Conflict
• Physical Conflict: Between a character and nature
or the physical world.
• Social Conflict: Between characters or between
the character and his or her society.
• Internal Conflict (Psychological Conflict): Between
different attitudes of beliefs in the character’s
mind.

10. II. SETTING
The setting is the place and time of the story.
It also includes the circumstances of the story,
like the weather conditions, the social class,
etc.

11. III. CHARACTERS
The people (or animals, things, etc.
presented as people) in a literary work.

12. TYPES OF CHARACTERS
Characters can be classified in different
ways:
• Major and minor characters
• Round and Flat characters
• Dynamic and Static characters
• Protagonist and Antagonist

13. ROUND AND FLAT CHARACTERS
• Round Characters are complex
convincing, and true to life characters. They
are described in more detail, having many
different and sometimes even contradictory
personality traits.
• Flat Characters are stereotyped, shallow,
and often symbolic. They have only one or
two personality traits

14. DYNAMIC AND STATIC CHARACTERS:
• Dynamic Characters undergo some type
of change or development in the story, often
because of something that happens to them.
• Static Characters do not change in the
course of the story.

16. Characterization
Characterization refers to the methods used
by the writer to create his or her characters.

17. METHODS OF CHARACTERIZATION:
Characters are revealed to us by means of the
following techniques or some of them.
• Physical appearance
• Names
• What the narrator tells us about them
• What other characters say about them

18. IV. POINT OF VIEW
The angle or perspective from which
the story is told (Who tells the story)
• The point of view is divided into two
main types:
- First person point of view
- Third person point of view

19. First Person Point of View
The story is told from the
viewpoint of one of the
characters, using the first person
pronoun “I”.
The first person narrator can
either be participant or
nonparticipant in the action

20. Third Person Point of View
The story is told using a narrator who
uses third person pronouns such as “he”,
“she”, “his”, “her”, “they” etc.
Third Person Point of View can be broken up into
three different types:
• Omniscient
• Limited Omniscient
• Objective

21. Omniscient Point of View: The narrator
has the power to show the reader what is
happening in the minds of the characters,
their feelings and their thinking.
Limited Omniscient Point of View: The
narrator shows us inside the mind of one
character.
Objective Point of view: The story is told as
if from a camera that follows the characters. Only
what is said and done is recorded.

22. V. THEME
Theme is the central idea or central
message of the story. It usually contains
some insight into the human condition –
telling something about humans and life.

23. OTHER TECHNIQUES
IRONY
• Verbal Irony:: This is the contrast between what is said
and what is meant.
• Dramatic Irony: This is the contrast between what the
character thinks to be true and what we (the readers) know
to be true. Sometimes as we read we are placed in the
position of knowing more than what one character knows.
Because we know something the character does not, we
read to discover how the character will react when he or she
learns the truth of the situation.
• Situational Irony: It is the contrast between what happens
and what was expected to happen.

24. SYMBOLISM
A symbol represents an idea, quality, or concept
larger than itself.
A journey
can
symbolize
life
Water may
represent
cleanliness
and renewal
A lion can be
a symbol of
courage.
A red rose
can
represent
love.