CharactersPoint of View

SettingConflict (problem)

Plot (events)Theme

Characters are the people, animals, or objects who make the action happen in a story.

A story can have many characters, or just a few.

Protagonist: the central character (main character)

Antagonist: whatever opposing force the protagonist struggles with (it may be a character, the environment, or something within the protagonist)

The Three Little PigsCinderellaSpider-ManToy Story

Point of View: The vantage point from which a story is told

We will look at three different points of view

OmniscientFirst personThird person

Omni: means-all-knowingThe author writes the story so that the reader knows what everyone is feeling and thinking.

In first person the main character tells the story.

The story is written using the pronoun “I.” (or we)

In the third person point of view the narrator focuses on the thoughts and feelings of only one character

The setting is the time and place of the story

In some narratives, setting is extremely important.

In the short story, “There Will Come Soft Rains” the setting is, itself, also the characters in the story.

PlaceThis picture is of a

beachTimeWhile we can’t tell

what time of day, or what year, we can tell that it is daylight.

Sometimes the author doesn’t come out and explain the setting. Can you make an inference with the paragraph below?

Anna sighed. She hated having to do so many chores. Her mother was always telling her to fetch the water from the well, watch her brothers and sisters, and fetch wood for the fire. “I wish that I could go to school,” she sighed, looking at her bare feet. But with her father in the Union Army, she had to help her mother.

The clues tell us that this happens in the past. Can you guess the exact time period? There is a clue!

Anna sighed. She hated having to do so many chores. Her mother was always telling her to fetch the water from the well, watch her brothers and sisters, and fetch wood for the fire. “I wish that I could go to school,” she sighed, looking at her bare feet. But with her father in the Union Army, she had to help her mother.

Sometimes students tell me that a narrative that we are studying “doesn’t have a setting.” That usually means that the setting doesn’t play an important part of the story, so the author does not, specifically, tell the reader where or when the event occurred.

There is still a setting, however. You can label such settings in general terms. Such as: in a city during modern times. Or, in a castle, long, long ago, or at the beach one summer.

With fantasy stories, it’s hard to tell a time and place

Sometimes you can just say that a story happened in a “fantasy world” or in “fairy tale time”

What two story elements have we learned about so far?

Character and settingWhat are the two parts of setting?

Time and place

First PersonThird PersonOmniscient

The conflict in a story is the problem

Every story has to have a conflict

The conflict is what drives the action in the story

Stories have different kinds of conflict. It’s not always just two people fighting!

In this kind of conflict, two people have different ideas about what should happen

Here is a playground. What kind of person versus person conflict could happen here?

In this kind of conflict, the problem is inside the main character

Suppose that you were hired to work on this ship and climb up into the rigging. What kind of internal conflict might you have?

In this kind of conflict, someone has to battle the environment, usually to survive

Suppose you were stranded at this place. What would you need to survive?

Think about a story that you have read lately. What was the conflict?

Short stories often have just one conflict. Longer chapter books may have one main conflict, and several less important conflicts

The story element that includes the time and place of the story

SettingThe people or animals who act in a

storyCharactersThe problem in a storyConflict

The events of a story make up the plot

In other words, the plot is what happens!

Climax

Falling Action

Rising Action

Exposition Resolution

The exposition is the beginning of the story

The author introduces the characters and the setting

Things get more exciting with the rising action

This is when the conflict is introduced

The climax is the turning point of the story

It’s often the most exciting part

Nothing will be the same again

The plot of a story looks like a mountain. Why do you think the climax is at the top?

The falling action is the part of the story that happens after the climax

In some stories, this is a long part; in other stories, it happens quickly

The resolution is the end of the story

Everything is resolved and explained

A story that ends at the climax is called a cliffhanger. Why do you think this is so?

climax

The theme of a story is the underlying idea. It’s the big message, the big idea.

The theme is the point of the story. Without a theme, a story doesn’t make much sense.

You’ll often see the same themes pop up again and again.

Good will triumph over evil

Honesty is the best policy

Friendship is more important than popularity

Hold onto dreams, because they might come true

Slow and steady wins the race

Hard work will pay off in the end

Can you think of stories or movies that show these themes?

What is the plot of a narrative?The events that happen in the narrative.

Which part of the plot is the most exciting?This term is called, climax.What is the main idea or message of a story?Theme

This PowerPoint was adapted from one by Emily Kissner.