Elements%20of%20Fiction%20NCTE%20elements%20of%20fiction%201.%20Plot%202.%20Character%203.%20Conflict%204.%20Theme%205.%20Setting%206.%20Point%20of%20View%207.%20Tone%20and%20Mood

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Elements of FictionNCTE elements of fiction1.
Plot2. Character3. Conflict4. Theme5.
Setting6. Point of View7. Tone and Mood
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Plot a series of events, or action, in the
story (what happens in the story)Main plot
vs.Subplot--a second story, or side story, that
is complete and interesting in its own right
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• FREYTAGS TRIANGLE

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• Freytags Pyramid
• exposition--gives the background information for
  the story
• inciting incident--an incident or event which
  begins the central conflict
• rising action--the central conflict is developed
• climax--high point of interest, or suspense in
  the story
• crisis, or turning point--the point of the story
  at which something decisive happens to determine
  the future course of events and the working out
  of the conflict
• falling action--the events that occur after the
  turning point
• resolution--the point in the story where the
  central conflict is resolved
• denouement--tells the final outcome of loose ends
  in the plot

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• Character--any person or figure in the story
• Types
• main characters
• Protagonist
• Antagonist
• minor characters
• static vs. dynamic--Does the character stay the
  same during the story or change?
• round vs. flat--Is the character
  realistic/life-like or unrealistic (a
  caricature)?
• How is a character revealed? Through
• her or his appearance or appearance of her or his
  possessions
• her or his thoughts (omniscient narrator (or
  first person))
• her or his actions (what she or he does)
• her or his own words (what she or he says)
• others words (what others say about her or him)

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• Conflict--challenge that lies within the storya.
  types of conflicts 1. individual vs. him-
  or herself (internal conflict)
• 2. individual vs. individual
• 3. individual vs. society 4.
  Individual vs. nature 5. individual vs.
  God/Fate/Destiny
• (external conflicts)

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• 4. Theme
• a central idea that runs throughout the story
• the message of the story or poem, what the story
  adds up to
• Motif--a recurring image, symbol, or even event
  that occurs throughout a work of literature

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• 5. Setting
• 1. definition the time and place of the story.
• 2. examples
• a. John Steinbecks Of Mice and Men takes place
  on a northern California ranch during the Great
  Depression of the 1930s
• b. The Catcher in the Rye is set over a
  three-day period in late 1940s New York City.

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• 6. Point of View
• 1. definition the angle from which the story
  is narrated
• 2. three most common types
• a. First Person
• stories told with I as the narrator
• usually the narrator is the protagonist, but not
  always (Catcher vs. Mockingbird) sometimes the
  narrator is a minor character
• b. Third Person, Omniscient
• stories where the narrator uses he and she
  and knows whats in every characters mind
  (omniscient all knowing)
• most common form of narration (Of Mice and Men)
• c. Third Person, Limited
• the narrator cant see whats in the characters
  minds
• the story is presented through the protagonists
  perspective (Animal Farm)

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• 7. Tone and Mood
• 1. Tone the attitude of the author or narrator
  toward the story or characters (angry, playful,
  satirical)
• 2. Mood the attitude or emotions of the reader
  toward the story or characters (sad, hopeful,
  nostalgic)
• 3. Example
• In The Catcher in the Rye, Holdens tone is
  sarcastic and angry, while Salinger wants the
  readers mood to be a sympathetic feeling and/or
  sadness for Holdens trouble