Elements of Stories

August 30, 2012

English 8th grade

Ms. S. Anderson

Four Main Story Elements

Four Main Elements:

Plot

Setting

Characters

Theme

Plot

Plot is defined as:

Plot has seven main characteristics:

A series of events in a story

1. Exposition and/or Introduction

2. Rising Action

3. Conflict

4. Climax/Turning point

5. Falling action

6. Complications

7. Resolution/Ending

INTRODUCTION

Exposition and/or Introduction:

Introduces us, the readers, to the characters and the setting of the story.

E.g. “Cole Matthews knelt defiantly in the

bow of the aluminum skiff as he faced forward into a cold September wind” (p. 3).

CONFLICT

Conflict is:

Three types of conflicts:

Q:Can you think of

examples of conflict for each type of conflict?

a struggle or disagreement in a story.

1. Nature vs. man—external conflict

2. Society vs. man—external conflict

3. Values vs. man—internal conflict

RISING ACTION

Rising action:

Jurassic Park Clip

– In Jurassic Park, we see the Tyrannosaurus’s compound and the goat waiting, the rain begins to fall, the electrical fences fail, and we see the foot tremors in a pool of water that happens to be a Tyrannosaurus’s print.

– Rising action is the suspense you read/see in a novel or movie.

This is the building of the plot, characters, and setting.

CLIMAX/TURNING POINT

The climax or turning point in the story:

The change of the main character can occur in:

Is where a change takes place in the main character

Attitude

Dress

Behavior

Personality

FALLING ACTION

Falling action:

This is where things in a story start to wind down.

COMPLICATIONS

Complications:

Have you ever thought that in a novel or movie the ending could have happened sooner, but something else happens to drag out the story? (This is the complication.)

This is another conflict to drag out the story to make it longer.

RESOLUTION/ENDING

Resolution/ending: This is where everything is solved for the characters.

SETTING

Setting is:

– If the setting is a desert island, we (as readers) would not expect to read about characters in mountain climbing gear.

The time and place in which the events of a narrative occur.

The setting may be specific and detailed and introduced at the very beginning of the story, or it may be merely suggested throughout the story.

In some stories the setting is vital to the narrative because it may have an effect on the events of the PLOT, reveal character, or create a certain atmosphere.

CHARACTERS Characters are:

Two types of characters:

– Developed by the author and revealed through action, other characters, dialogue, etc.

– Dynamic/round characters. This is usually the main character. This character changes in some way in the story that is why the character is dynamic or round.

– Static/flat characters. These characters are support characters in a story, and these characters NEVER change. The behavior, attitude, personality of each of these characters is static or flat.

THEME

Theme is: The main idea or underlying meaning in a literary work.

A theme may be stated or implied.

Theme differs from the subject, or topic, of a literary work in that it involves a statement or opinion about the topic.

Not every literary work has a theme.