Plot elements
Plot is built on five main parts:
- Exposition
– Rising Action
– Climax
– Falling Action
– Resolution (Denouement)
Plot
• Exposition – introduces setting, characters, basic situation; introduction
• Rising Action- inciting incident; central conflict introduced; leads to climax
• Climax – high point of interest or suspense; turning point; light bulb moment
Plot
• Falling Action - Conflict begins to resolve; story tapers off; leads to resolution
• Resolution – Denouement; end of story; conflicts resolved
Characterization
• Direct Characterization - Writer directly states character’s traits; tells reader what kind of person the character is.
• Indirect Characterization – Author provides clues; reader must use own judgment to identify personality traits of a character
Character Indirect Characterization
Five methods for revealing character: - Actions (what he does) *
– Appearance (what he looks like)
- Other characters’ reactions
– Speech (how he speaks & what he says) *
– Thoughts (what he thinks)
* Most effective techniques
Characterization
• Static character does NOT change during story
• Dynamic character develops and grows during story
Characterization
• Flat character: Shows only one personality trait; cartoon character
• Round character– Many different personality traits (virtues & vices)
Characterization
• Protagonist – Main character; often changes; may NOT be the good guy
• Antagonist – Character or force in conflict with protagonist;
may NOT be the bad guy
Conflict
Struggle between opposing forces
Internal: character struggles with self
e.g. fear vs. duty/ duty vs. pride/ training vs. instinct
External: character struggles against outside forces
Character: Dialogue
• Conversation between characters
• May reveal traits & advance action
• Indicated by quotation marks
• New paragraph = change of speaker
Character: Motivation
• Reasons character thinks, feels, acts, or behaves in certain way
• Result of personality & situation
Narrator
• Speaker/character who tells story
• NOT always the author!
• Choice of narrator determines POV
Point of View: POV
Vantage point from which
the author tells the story
Controls info (type & amount)
the author reveals
First Person POV
One of characters tells story, using pronoun “I”
May be reliable narrator
May be unreliable narrator
Third Person POV
• Voice outside story narrates story using 3rd person pronouns,
e.g. he, she, they
Two types:
Limited: one character
Omniscient: all characters
Third Person Limited POV
Narrator sees the world through one character’s eyes
Reveals only that one character’s thoughts.
Third Person Omniscient POV
“All Knowing”
Narrator outside the story tells readers what all
characters think and feel.
Setting
Time and place of action in a story or play
Time: historical period, year, season, climate, time of day
Place: geographic, social, economic, cultural
Setting can provide/reveal:
Atmosphere: mood or feeling created in reader
Background: place for characters to live & act
Character: how he lives where he lives
Conflict: something against which character must fight
Setting
• One of oldest story plots in the world:
a person fights against something in the physical world
drought, horde of ants, heat of the desert, storm, shipwreck, etc.
Theme
Central idea or message or insight into life contained in the story
Subject/topic
+ answer to question:
“What about it?”
THEME
Theme
• A theme reveals something about a subject
• Subject of story is NOT theme of story • Subject = topic of story
e.g. love, war, greed, journey
• “Love” is a subject, NOT a theme. Ask yourself. . . What about “love”?
Theme
Stated: author directly reveals message, e.g. moral at end of folk/fairy tale
Implied: author indirectly suggests his belief about people or life;
reader must figure it out.
Finding a Theme
• Does the title signify something important about the story?
• Does the main character change during the story? Does he realize something he didn’t know before?
• Are there any important statements about life or people made in the story - by the words/actions of the narrator or characters?
Other Terms to Know
• Allusion: reference in a story that refers to Bible, history, or work of literature/art
• Dialect: way a character speaks
(directly related to setting &
time period)
Other Terms to Know
Feelings/ attitudes:
• Mood – (atmosphere) Feeling created in reader by story details
• Tone – writer’s attitude toward audience or subject
e.g. formal or informal, serious or playful, bitter or ironic
Other Terms to Know
• Flashback: info/material that occurred earlier than present time of narrative
• Foreshadowing: clues suggest events yet to occur in story; creates suspense
• Frame story: story within a story,
e.g. Arabian Nights
Irony is a contrast or difference between:
•Between expectation and reality
(between what is expected to happen and what really happens)
• Between what is said and what is
really meant
Between appearance and reality
(between what appears to be true vs.
what is really true)
Types of Irony • Verbal - writer or speaker says one thing
but means another
• Situational - what we expect to happen is different than what actually happens
• Dramatic - Audience or reader knows what is happening but the characters do not.
(Audience knows; characters don’t)
Other Terms to Know
• Suspense - The uncertain feeling about what is going to happen next in a story.
Other Terms to Know
• Symbol - Anything that stands for or represents another person, object, or abstract idea
e.g. Red rose = ?
American flag = ?
storm = ?