SHORT STORIES

Elements of Fiction

THE SEVEN PARTS OF A PLOT (plot elements)

  1. Exposition-background information about setting and characters are given.
  2. What is the basic situation as the reader joins the story.
  3. Where and when does the story take place? (Some writers may wait until a more relevant time to introduce this)
  4. What interesting or relevant information about characters or situations are to catch the reader’s attention?
  5. 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’.
  6. Rising Action-the story builds and gets more exciting.
  7. Episodes-there may be other small events with their own climaxes.
  8. Climax-high point of interest; turning point of the drama. The moment of greatest tension in a story.
  9. How do the characters plan to deal with the problem once and for all?
  10. What do the characters do to try to solve or make the problem go away?
  11. What important question is about to be answered?
  12. Falling action-events happen as a result of the climax and we know that the story will soon end.
  13. Resolution-the character solves the main problem/conflict or someone solves it for him or her.

Plot elements (diagram)

Climax

Falling action

Rising action Resolution

Inciting Incident

Exposition

COMMON TERMS USED IN FICTION

  1. Plot-the storyline or what happens to the characters in the story.
  2. Conflict-the struggle or problem in the story. The major types of conflict are:
  3. man vs. man
  4. man vs. nature
  5. man vs. society
  6. man vs. himself (inner conflict)
  7. man vs. supernatural
  1. Protagonist-the main character, the “good guy”, the hero.
  2. Antagonist-the opposing character(s) or force(s).
  3. Setting-the approximate time or era; the place or geographical location.
  4. Theme-the author’s general message or moral of the story.
  5. Flashback-an interruption in the story that recalls the past.
  6. Tone-the attitude/mood of the story.
  7. Point-of-view-the perspective of the person telling the story.
  8. Formal language-proper and appropriate language used in literature.
  9. Informal language-casual use of language, everyday language; slang may be used.
  10. Figurative language-type of language that does not use the literal meaning (idiom, simile, metaphor, etc.).
  11. Foreshadowing-clues given by the author that suggest how the story will end.
  12. Major character-the protagonist and/or antagonist are considered major characters. They affect the story a great deal. They are extremely important to the story.
  13. Round character-a major character. We know details about the character (feelings, actions, personality, etc.)
  14. Minor character-not as important as the major character but helps the story. Reader doesn’t know a lot about character.
  15. Flat character-a minor character. Not really described.
  16. First person narration-the narrator is telling the story from his/her perspective and is part of the story (a character). He/she is usually the major character. He/she uses words like: me, us, we, etc.
  17. Third person narration-the narrator is telling the story but is not a character. He/she tells the story as an outsider and uses words like: them, they, him, her, etc.
  18. Omniscient narration-all knowing. Knows everyone’s thoughts, actions, etc. for all characters but is not a character in the story and is an outsider.