Universidad Pedagógica Nacional

Francisco Morazán

LIN-2206: Introduction to Literary

Studies

Elements of Fiction
 Fiction
Literature with imaginary people, events, or places. It
can be inspired by fact and can include some real
events or people, but also includes at least one
made-up element.

Types of Fiction – classified according to length

1. Novels – long works of fiction (main plot with conflict,
plus sub-plots with conflicts)

2. Short stories – brief, focus is upon one single conflict.

3. Novellas – shorter than novels but longer than short

stories.
Example: Narnia stories (Prince Caspian)
 Elements of Fiction

Plot

Setting

Theme

Characterization

Point of View
 Plot
What happens in the story.
 Elements of the Plot

• Exposition
- Background information a reader must understand
in order to know what is going on in the story.
- Introduces the characters, problem, and setting.
- Found in the beginning of the story.

• Rising Action
- Events that occur when the main character tackles
the problem (complications); level of excitement and
suspense builds
• Climax
- The main character comes face to face with the
problem; most exciting part of the story.

• Falling Action
- Things begin to get back to normal; life goes
on (even if the problem isn't solved).

• Resolution
- Loose ends are tied off; allows reader to clearly
understand what happened.
 Setting-Part of the Exposition

• When the story takes place.

• Where the story took place.

• Context or historical background in which the story is

set provides us with additional plot information.
Examples: geographic location, time period, specific
location (building, room, street, etc.), socio-economic
characteristics of a location, etc.
 Setting
Can help in the portrayal of characters.
“I write this sitting in the kitchen sink. That
is, my feet are in it; the rest of me is on the
draining-board."
I capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

“Sir Walter Scott the Younger of

Buccleugh was in church marrying his
aunt the day the English killed his granny."

Dorothy Dunnett
Disorderly Knights
 In some works of fiction action is so closely
related to setting that the plot is directed by it.
"Francis St. Croix spotted it first, a black dot floating in
an ocean of water and ice. When he and Ernie rowed
alongside for a look, they couldn't believe their eyes.
There was a baby inside a makeshift cradle on an ice
pan, bobbing like an ice cube on the sea. How had a
baby come to be in the North Atlantic?"
Latitudes of Melt
Joan Clark

It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were

striking thirteen.”

George Orwell, 1984;

 Can establish the atmosphere of a work.

It Was a Dark and

Stormy Night…
Snoopy

"It was the best of times,

it was the worst of
times..."
A Tale of Two Cities
 The Theme
of a piece of fiction is its central idea.
It usually contains some insight into the human condition.
The Literary Element of Theme
A general statement of the central, underlying, and
controlling idea or insight of a work of literature.

The idea the writer wishes to convey about the

subject—the writer’s view of the world or a revelation
about human nature.

Can be expressed in a single sentence.

Theme is NOT-
• Expressed in a single word • The purpose of a work
• The moral • The conflict
 The Literary Element of Theme

Identifying the Theme in Five Steps

To identify the theme, be sure that you’ve first identified
the story’s plot, the way the story uses
characterization, and the primary conflict in the story.

1. Summarize the plot by writing a one-sentence

description for the exposition, the conflict, the rising
action, the climax, the falling action, and the
resolution.

2. Identify the subject of the work.

3. Identify the insight or truth that was learned about the
subject.
• How did the protagonist change?
• What lesson did the protagonist learn from the resolution
of the conflict?
4. State how the plot presents the primary insight or
truth about the subject.

5. Write one or more generalized, declarative sentences

that state what was learned and how it was learned.

Theme Litmus Test

• Is the theme supported by evidence from the work itself?
• Are all the author’s choices of plot, character, conflict, and
tone controlled by this theme?
 Symbolism
A symbol represents an idea, quality, or concept larger
than itself.
A journey can Water may represent
symbolize life. a new beginning.

Black can represent A lion could be a

evil or death. symbol of courage.
 Other Fiction Elements

• Allusion: a reference to a person, place or literary,

historical, artistic, mythological source or event.
“It was in St. Louis, Missouri, where they have that
giant McDonald’s thing towering over the city…”(Bean
Trees 15).
• Atmosphere: the prevailing emotional and mental
climate of a piece of fiction.
• Dialogue: the reproduction of a conversation
between two of the characters.
• Foreshadowing: early clues about what will happen
later in a piece of fiction.
• Irony: a difference between what is expected and
reality.
- Three types🡪 dramatic (the audience knows
something the character does not know, verbal
(similar to sarcasm), and situational (not what you
would expect)
•Style: a writer’s individual and distinct way of writing.
The total of the qualities that distinguish one author’s
writing from another’s.
• Structure: the way time moves through a novel.
- Chronological: starts at the beginning and
moves through time.
- Flashback: starts in the present and then goes
back to the past.
- Circular or Anticipatory: starts in the present,
flashes back to the past, and returns to the
present at the conclusion.
- Panel: same story told from different viewpoints.
 Examples

Cinderella:

Characters: Cinderella, stepmother, stepsisters,

fairy godmother, etc…

Setting: timeless fairytale land of castles and

princesses.

Plot: young girl living in a wicked step-family is

magically transformed and dances with prince, loses
her glass slipper, and then reclaims it (lives happily
ever after).
Narrator/Point of View : (3rd person - s/he, narrator
outside of story).

Symbolism: Glass slipper is a symbol of freedom

and a second chance. The wicked stepmother and
stepsisters are symbols of society and the cruelness
in the world.

Theme: kindness and goodness triumph over

meanness and evil
 Characters

• Protagonist
The main character in a
literary work.

• Antagonist
The character who opposes the
protagonist.
 Dynamic Characterization

A character who undergoes some type of

change in a story because of something that
happened to him/her. Protagonists are almost
always dynamic.

Example: Stitch, from Lilo and Stitch

 Static Characterization
A character who does not change or develop beyond
the way in which she or he is first presented.

Example: Atticus Finch from to Kill a Mockingbird.

 Flat Characters
• A character who has one
or two sides,
representing one or two
traits—often a
stereotype.

• Flat characters help

move the plot along
more quickly because
the audience
immediately understands
what the character is
about.
 Round Characters

• A character who is complex

and has many sides or traits
with unpredictable behavior
and a fully developed
personality.

• Round characters are

convincing, true to life and
have many traits.
 Definitions
Characterization is the process by which the author
reveals the personality of the characters.

There are two types of characterization: direct and indirect.

Direct characterization is when the author TELLS the

audience what the personality of the character is.

Example: “The patient boy and quiet girl were both at the
game.”
The author is telling us that the boy is patient and the girl is
kind.
Indirect characterization is when the author shows
things that reveal the personality of the character.

There are five different methods of indirect

characterization: speech, thoughts, effect on other
characters, actions, and looks (STEAL).

Remember, the difference between direct

characterization and indirect characterization is Telling
vs Showing
Indirect characterizations are like clues about the
characters. There is no mystery with direct
characterization because the author gives us the
information we need to know!
 Indirect Characterization

Speech - What does the character say? How does

the character speak?
Example: “Hey, we can have lots of fun at camp this
summer! I love being outside!”
This shows us the character is upbeat and happy.

Thoughts - What is revealed through the character’s

thoughts and feelings?
Example: I wish it would stop raining. I am tired of
sitting inside!
This shows us the character is not happy about the
situation.
Effect on Others - What is revealed through the
character’s effect on other people? How do other
characters feel or behave in reaction to the character?
Example: The boy glared at his sister as she ate his
dessert.
This shows us that the character is upset about his
sister’s behavior and inability to think of others.

Actions - What does the character do? How does the

character behave?
Example: The girl rode the lawn mower through the house
and into the garage.
This shows us the girl is not concerned with rules or
safety.
Looks - What does the character look like? How
does the character dress?

Example: The little girl left the game with slumped

shoulders and a frown on her face.

This shows us the little girl is not enjoying herself and

is upset.
 Foreshadowing vs. Flashback
Definitions

• Foreshadowing: when an author mentions or

hints at something that will happen later in the story
Hint
• Now try breaking the word FLASHBACK apart.
• FLASH: a quick glimpse.
• BACK: a look back in the story at something that
previously happened.

Example:
And now you will see portions from the well known
children’s story Little Red Riding Hood.
 Little Red Riding Hood

Once upon a time, there was a

little girl who lived with her mother.
Her mother asked her to take her
old and lonely grandmother some
food one day. "Don't stop along the
way. Go straight to your
Grandma's house and back. Don't
talk to any strangers and watch out
for the wolf in the woods! Now get
along!"

Foreshadowing
 Foreshadowing
The first set of underlined words is an example of
foreshadowing. Little Red Riding Hood’s mother is
warning her about the wolf in the woods, which hints at
what may happen next.
While she was walking through
the woods, a wolf was walking
past her. "I bet I could convince
her to take the long way. Then I
could get to her grandmother's
house first and trick her into
thinking that I was her grandma.
That way I could have her and
her grandma for a large feast,”
he thought.
The wolf went up to Little
Red Riding Hood and told
her that he knew a shortcut.
Little Red Riding Hood
thought back to what her
mother told her. “Don’t talk to
any strangers and watch out
for the wolf in the woods!”
But it was too late, she had
already listened to the wolf’s
directions.

Flashback
 Flashback
The second set of underlined words is an example of
flashback. Little Red Riding Hood is thinking back to
something that happened earlier in the story.

Most know how the rest of

the story ends. Little Red
Riding Hood and her
grandma are saved from the
wolf. Hopefully you can
understand foreshadowing
and flashback now.
 Point of View
• First Person Point of View
The narrator tells the story and is a character in the
story (Pronouns: I, me, us, we, our, etc.).

• Third Person Omniscient

The narrator is not a character in the story but can
tell you the thoughts and actions of all characters at
all times (Pronouns: he, she, him, her, they, them,
etc.).

• Third Person Limited:

The narrator is not a character in the story but can
tell you the thoughts and actions of a few key
characters at all times (Pronouns: he, she, him,
her, they, them, etc.).
 Conflict
The problems encountered by the characters in the
story.
Two types
- Internal
- External
Internal Conflict
Character Vs. Self
•The protagonist in the story experiences conflict
with her or his conscience.
 External Conflict
Main character fights against something or struggles to
overcome something outside of himself.

• Character versus Nature

• Character versus Character

• Character versus Society

• Character versus Technology

• Character versus the Supernatural

• Character versus Fate

 Character vs. Nature

The protagonist in the story

experiences conflict with the
elements of nature.

Character Vs. Character

The protagonist in the story
experiences conflict with
others, especially the
antagonist.
 Character vs. Society

The protagonist in the

story experiences conflict
with society as a whole.

Character Vs. Technology

The protagonist in the story

experiences conflict with
technology.
 Character Vs. Supernatural

The protagonist in the story

experiences conflict with
unnatural elements.

Character Vs. Fate

When the protagonist tries to
break free of a predetermined
path chosen before him prior to
his knowledge. It can also be
referred to as an issue between
destiny and freewill.