Elements of a Story

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Elements of a Story

• The most important components that make up a
  story, novel, or piece of literature.

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PLOT

• The series of related events that make up a story
  or drama.

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SETTING

• The time and place of a story

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IRONY

• Contrast or discrepancy between expectations and
  reality

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WHAT KIND OF IRONY?

• VERBAL
• SITUATIONAL
• DRAMATIC

• Writer says one thing but means another
• What really happens is opposite of what has
  happened
• When the audience/reader knows something the
  character does not

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Ironic
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IMAGERY

• LANGUAGE THAT APPEALS TO THE SENSES

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Symbolism

• A symbol stands for or represents something else
• ? - happiness
• ? -sadness
• ? - love
• ?
• ?
• ?
• ?

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TONE

• The attitude the writer takes toward the reader,
  a subject, or a character(s).

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Mood

• The feeling the reader gets after reading the text

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Style

• The way an author uses language to write a story

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THEME

• The central idea or insight of a work of
  literature.

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Foreshadowing

• A hint in the text (from the author) that
  something is going to happen
• Examples Dark clouds, thunderstorms, blood,
  graveyards

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CONFLICTA clash of actions, ideas, goals, or
desires in the plot of a story or novel.

• CHARACTER VS. CHARACTER
• CHARACTER VS. ENVIRONMENT
• CHARACTER VS. HIMSELF

• One character against another.
• Character against the environment around him/her.
• Character versus his inner self.

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External ConflictA struggle between a character
and an outside force is an external conflict.
Characters may face several types of outside
forces. The outside force may be another
character. It may be the character and the
community. The outside force may also be forces
of nature. For example, a story might be the main
character struggling against the arctic cold.
Man against manMan against natureInternal
ConflictA struggle that takes place in a
character's mind is called internal conflict. For
example, a character may have to decide between
right and wrong or between two solutions to a
problem. Sometimes, a character must deal with
his or her own mixed feelings or emotions. Man
against himself.
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• The Importance of Conflict
• Conflict is necessary to every story. In short
  stories, there is usually one major conflict. In
  longer stories, there could be several conflicts.
  
• Conflict adds excitement and suspense to a story.
  The conflict usually becomes clear to the
  beginning of a story. As the plot unfolds, the
  reader starts to wonder what will happen next and
  how the characters will handle the situation.
  Many readers enjoy trying to predict the final
  outcome.
• The excitement usually builds to a high point, or
  climax. The climax is the turning point of the
  story. Something has happened to resolve the
  conflict.

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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

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Point of View

• 1st uses I told from one persons point of
  view
• 3rd limited told in 3rd person a narrator
  dont know characters thoughts and opinions
• 3rd omniscient as if God is telling the story
  we know everything about every character

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Characterization

• The creation of the image of imaginary person in
  drama, narrative poetry, the novel, or a short
  story.
• Characterization generates plot and is revealed
  by actions, speech, thoughts, physical
  appearance, and the other characters thoughts or
  words about him.

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Types of Characters

• Static Character- Static characters are minor
  characters in a work of fiction who do not
  undergo substantial change or growth in the
  course of a story. Also referred to as
  "two-dimensional characters" or "flat
  characters," they play a supporting role to the
  main character, who as a rule should be round, or
  complex.
•  Dynamic Character- The opposite of static
  characters, dynamic characters will undergo some
  kind of change in the course of the story.

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Types of Characters

• Flat Character- A flat character is a minor
  character in a work of fiction who does not
  undergo substantial change or growth in the
  course of a story. Also referred to as
  "two-dimensional characters" or "static
  characters," flat characters play a supporting
  role to the main character, who as a rule should
  be round.
• Round Character- A round character is a major
  character in a work of fiction who encounters
  conflict and is changed by it. Round characters
  tend to be more fully developed and described
  than flat, or static, characters. If you think of
  the characters you most love in fiction, they
  probably seem as real to you as people you know
  in real life. This is a good sign that they are
  round characters.

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Types of Characters

• Stock characters draw from widely known cultural
  types for their characteristics and mannerisms,
  and are often used in parody. Every culture has
  its own set of stock characters.
• The protagonist is the main character in a story,
  novel, drama, or other literary work, the
  character that the reader or audience empathizes
  with. The antagonist opposes the protagonist. In
  the most archetypical narratives, this boils down
  to bad guy vs. good guy
• The antagonist in a work of fiction is the
  character who opposes the hero, or protagonist.
  The antagonist, when there is one, provides the
  story's conflict.

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.Personality of a Character

• When you write a character analysis, you will be
  expected to describe a character's personality.
• We get to know characters in our stories through
  the things they say, feel, and do. It's not as
  difficult as it may seem to figure out a
  character's personality traits based on his/her
  thoughts and behaviors
• You will receive clues about a character's
  personality through his or her
• Words
• Actions
• Reactions
• Feelings
• Movements
• Thoughts
• Mannerisms

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Character Role

• When you write a character analysis, you must
  also define each character's role.
• In addition to having personality traits,
  characters also fill certain roles in a story.
  They either play a major role, as a central
  element to the story, or they play a minor role
  to serve a supporting role in the story.
• Protagonist The protagonist of a story is often
  called the main character. The plot revolves
  around the protagonist. There may be more than
  one main character.
• In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck Finn
  is the protagonist.
• In Little Red Riding Hood, the little girl is the
  protagonist.

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Character Role, cont.

• Antagonist The antagonist is the character who
  represents a challenge or an obstacle to the
  protagonist in a story. In some stories, the
  antagonist is not a person!
• In Little Red Riding Hood, the wolf is the
  antagonist.
• In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, society is
  the antagonist. Society, with its unfair laws and
  rules, represents the obstacle to Huck's
  development as a person.
• Foil A foil is a character who provides contrast
  to the main character (protagonist), in order to
  emphasize the main character's traits. In A
  Christmas Carol, the kind nephew Fred is the foil
  to nasty Ebenezer Scrooge.

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Characterization

• When you are asked to write a character analysis,
  you will be expected to explain how a character
  changes and grows. Most characters go through
  changes as a story unfolds-otherwise, stories
  would be pretty boring!
• There is direct characterization and indirect
  characterization.
• Direct characterization is when the author tells
  the reader something about the character.

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Characterization

• Indirect characterization is when the author uses
  words to show the reader something about the
  character. The author can show you what the
  character says, do and thinks and through water
  other characters say about, think about, or how
  they act towards that character.
• 1) Action2) How Others View Them3) Private
  Thoughts4) Dialogue5) Appearance

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Persona

• A persona is a fictional character. Sometimes the
  term means the mask or alter-ego of the author
  it is often used for first person works and lyric
  poems, to distinguish the writer of the work from
  the character in the work.