Elements of a Story

English 9

The four main elements

• Point of View– Every story needs a person to tell it.

• Characters– If you’re telling a story, you need

someone to be in it!

• Plot– If there’s a character, something needs to

happen.

• Setting– It must take place somewhere!

But aren’t they more specific?

• Point of view– First person– Third-person omniscient– Third-person limited

• Setting– A time and place

6 Points on a plot curve

• Exposition– The introduction, where we’re

EXPOSed to the characters and essential details

• Inciting moment– aka – narrative hook– Where the action kicks into gear– The conflict is introduced here– Where it starts getting interesting

6 Points on a plot curve

• Rising action– Where the story gets complicated

and more intense– Takes up the bulk of the story

• Climax– The emotional peak of the story– Where the conflict reaches its

ultimate intensity/complication

6 Points on a plot curve

• Falling Action– “Tying up loose strings” – sorting

out the details that are left after the climax

• Resolution (aka denouement)– Conflict is resolved, and the story

has finished

Characterization

• How a character is portrayed (displayed/developed)

• Direct characterization– When a writer tells us directly what

a character is like– “He was an impolite oaf who had

never made a good first impression.”

Characterization

• Indirect Characterization– When a writer shows us what a

character is like without telling us directly

– through actions, words, physical appearances, etc.