Elements

of FICTION
 Introduction
Fiction is make-believe, invented stories. They may
be short stories, fables, vignettes, plays, novellas, or
novels. Although writers may base a character on
people they have met in real life, the characters and
the experiences that the character faces in the story
are not real. Characters, setting, plot, conflict, point
of view, and there are six key elements for writing
fiction.
 1. Characters
Characters are the people, animals, or aliens in
the story. Readers come to know the characters
through what they say, what they think, and
how they ate. M. Forster, an English novelist,
identified that characters are either flat or
round.
 1. Characters
Flat characters - do not play important roles in the stories.
• They often have only one or two traits with little
description about them
• a stock character, which is a stereotypical figure that is
easily recognized by readers, for example, the mad
scientist or the evil stepmother
 1. Characters
The round characters - play an important role, often the
lead roles in stories.
• They are complex, dimensional, and well-developed.
• They often change by going through a life-changing
experience as the story unfolds. When discussing stories
with other readers and writers or when writing an
analysis of a story, fictional characters can be described
as static or developing.
 1. Characters
Static - character stays the same throughout
the story.
- They do not change.

Developing - also called dynamic, means the

character changes.
2. Setting
Setting is where and when the story takes place. It includes
the following:
• The immediate surroundings of the characters such as
props in a scene: trees, furniture, food, inside of a house
or car, etc.
• The time of day such as morning, afternoon, or night.
• The weather such as cloudy, sunny, windy, snow, or rain,
etc.
2. Setting
• The time of year, particularly the seasons: fall, winter,
summer, spring.
• The historical period such as what century or decade the
story takes place.
• The geographical location including the city, state,
country, and possibly even the universe, if the writer is
writing science fiction.
2. Setting
Setting can function as a main force that the characters
encounter, such as a tornado or flood, or a setting can play
a minor role such as setting the mood. Often times, the
setting can reveal something about the main character as
he/she functions in that place and time period.
 3. Plot

Plot is the order of events in the story. The plot

usually follows a particular structure called Freytag’s
Pyramid. Gustav Freytag, a German playwright who
lived during the 1800s, identified this structure.
Freytag’s Pyramid has five parts: exposition, rising
action, climax, falling action, and denouement, also
known as resolution
 Exposition

is an introduction to the characters, time, and the

problem. At the point where exposition moves into
rising action a problem, sometimes called an inciting
incident, occurs for the main character to handle or
solve. This creates the beginning of the story.
 Rising action

includes the events that the main character

encounters. Each event, developed in separate
scenes, makes the problem more complex.
 Falling action

includes the events that unfold after the climax. This

usually creates an emotional response from the
reader.
 Denouement

or resolution provides closure to the story. It ties up

loose ends in the story.
 Denouement

or resolution provides closure to the story. It ties up

loose ends in the story.
4. Conflict
Conflict is the struggle between two entities. In story
writing the main character, also known as the
protagonist, encounters a conflict with the
antagonist. Following are the different types of
conflict: character vs. character, character vs.
nature or natural force, character vs. society or
culture, character vs. machine or technology,
character vs. God, and character vs himself or
herself.
5. Point of View
Stories are generally told in one of two points of
views: First person point of view and third person
point of view
5. Point of View
Stories are generally told in one of two points of
views: First person point of view and third person
point of view
 First-person

point of view means that one of the characters in the

story will narrate– give an account–of the story. The
narrator may be the protagonist, the main character.
Writing in first-person point of view brings the
readers closer to the story. They can read it as if they
are the character because personal pronouns like I,
me, my, we, us, and us are used.
 Third-person

point of view means that the narrator is not in the

story. The third-person narrator is not a character.
 Third-person limited

means that the narrator limits him/herself by being

able to be in one character’s thoughts.
 third-person omniscient

means the narrator has unlimited ability to be in

various character’s thoughts. Writing in thirdperson
point of view removes readers from the story
because of the pronouns he, she, it, him, her, his,
hers, they, them, and theirs.
6. Theme
A theme is not the plot of the story. It is the
underlying truth that is being conveyed in the
story. Themes can be universal, meaning they
are understood by readers no matter what
culture or country the readers are in. Common
themes include coming of age, circle of life,
prejudice, greed, good vs. evil, beating the odds,
etc.
II.TECHNIQUES
AND DEVICES OF
FICTION II
1. Mood
is a literary element that evokes certain feelings or
vibes in readers through words and descriptions.
Usually, mood is referred to as the atmosphere of a
literary piece, as it creates an emotional setting that
surrounds the readers. The mood of fiction may be
developed through the following elements.
1. Mood
a. Setting. - A particular setting not only provides
background and context to the contents of one’s
story but also sets the mood of the reader.

Example: Charles Dickens effectively created a calm

and peaceful mood in the setting. “The river,
reflecting the clear blue of the sky, glistened and
sparkled as it flowed noiselessly on”. (Pickwick Papers
(1836.
1. Mood
b. Point of View. The story is observed
through the narrator’s eyes. Accordingly,
the readers always rely on the writer’s
point of view of the events taking place
in a story.
1. Mood
Example: “It would have been difficult to sink to a lower ebb of disorder,
but to Raskolnikov, in his present state of mind, this was positively
agreeable. He had got completely away from everyone like a tortoise in its
shell, and even the sight of a servant girl who had to wait upon him and
sometimes into his room made him writhe with nervous irritation. He was
in the condition that overtakes some monomaniacs entirely sending him
in meals, and he had not yet thought of expostulating with het, though he
went without his dinner. Nastasya, the cook and only servant, was rather
pleased at the lodger’s mood and had entirely given up sweeping and
doing his room; only once a week or so she would stray into his room with
a broom. She waked him up that day.” - Crime and Punishment (1866).
Fyodor Dostoevsky
1. Mood
c. Diction - refers to the authors choice of words.
When describing the events of her story, an author
never has just one word at her disposal.
1. Mood
Example: Imagine that a child in a story comes home
from school and tells his parents about his day.
Tommy made fun of me, so I nicked his eye with a
stick. Tommy made fun of me, so I poked his eye with
a stick. The words nicked and poked have similar
denotative meanings but notice how an author’s
choosing one or the other would drastically affect
how we understand how well Tommy fared.
2.Allusion
An allusion is when an author refers to the
events or characters from another story in
her own story with the hopes that those
events will add context or depth to the story
she's trying to tell.
2.Allusion
Example: One of the most alluded to texts in literature
is the Bible, and specifically the New Testament. Here is
an allusion that a writer might make to the Biblical story
of Lazarus, who famously rose from the dead. Notice
how using the allusion below: Night after night our hero
lay in bed with the flu, hacking mucus and blood and
seeing behind his eyelids the angels or devils come to
collect him. But one morning, like Lazarus, he was
whole again.
2.Allusion
Example: One of the most alluded to texts in literature
is the Bible, and specifically the New Testament. Here is
an allusion that a writer might make to the Biblical story
of Lazarus, who famously rose from the dead. Notice
how using the allusion below: Night after night our hero
lay in bed with the flu, hacking mucus and blood and
seeing behind his eyelids the angels or devils come to
collect him. But one morning, like Lazarus, he was
whole again.
3. Epigraph

A reference to another work that an

author hopes will help readers
understand her own work. Unlike an
allusion, an epigraph stands apart from
the text itself rather than being
included in it.
3. Epgraph

A reference to another work that an

author hopes will help readers
understand her own work. Unlike an
allusion, an epigraph stands apart from
the text itself rather than being
included in it.
3. Epigraph
Example: The epigraph is from Dante's Inferno, and is
meant to help Eliot's reader understand that the poem that
follows is a kind of confession. If I but thought that my
response was made to one perhaps returning to the world,
this tongue of flame would cease to flicker. But since, up
from these depths, no one has yet returned alive, if what I
hear is true, I answer without fear of being shame
4. Euphemism
A writer wishes to describe some
graphic or offensive event using
milder imagery or phrasing. When
an author does this, it's called a
euphemism.
4. Euphemism
Example: Imagine that a sports broadcaster calling the
action in a baseball game has to say into the microphone
that a player has just been struck in the genitalia with a
line drive. Obviously in the interests of taste, he doesn't
wish to say 'genitalia' on the air, and so instead he says
'…it's a line drive up the middle and, oh my goodness,
ladies and gentlemen, he seems to have taken one below
the belt…
5. Foreshadowing
When an author hints at the
ending of or at an upcoming
event in her story without fully
divulging it.
 5. Foreshadowing
Example: At the end of Ernest Hemingway's famous
novel, A Farewell to Arms, a key character dies while
it's raining. To hint at that death, Hemingway earlier
in the book includes a scene where the character
admits that she is afraid of the rain because
sometimes she sees herself dead in it.
 6. Imagery

When an author chooses words for

their connotative associations, she
chooses sensory details for the
associations or tones they evoke. This
is the author's selection of imagery
 6. Imagery
Example: In Theodore Roethke's famous poem, 'My Papa's Waltz,'
we see a young boy dance with his drunken father. It's a happy
memory for the boy, but also the poem hints at the father's
dangerous condition. One of the ways Roethke achieves this is
through his selection of imagery. Consider the first stanza The
whiskey on your breath Could make a small boy dizzy; But I hung
on like death: Such waltzing was not easy. While there are several
examples of imagery here, think specifically about Roethke's
choice of 'whiskey' as the alcohol the father is drinking
7. Metaphor
When attempting to describe an image or
event, an author often will find it useful to
compare what she's describing to another
image or event. This is called metaphor, and it
gives the reader a fresh, sometimes startling
way of imagining what's going on.
7. Metaphor
Example: In Andrew Marvell's famous poem,
'To His Coy Mistress,' the speaker uses the
following metaphor to describe his fear of
pending death. But at my back I always hear
time's winged chariot hurrying near
8. Tone
It is the attitude you, as the writer assume toward
the theme or subjects of the story. The manner of
how you tell the story, how you presented its
theme, or how you approached a particular subject
shows the tone of your work. Tone can be any
attitude, such as formal, informal, serious, comic,
sarcastic, sad, or cheerful.
8. Tone
Example: “Thus, the young and pure would be
taught to look at her, with the scarlet letter framing
on her breast, - at her, the child of honorable
parents, - at her, the mother of a babe, that would
hereafter be a woman, - at her, who had once been
innocent, - as the figure, the body, the reality of
sin.” The Scarlet Letter (1850), Nathaniel
Hawthorne
 9. Symbolism and Motif
Symbolism gives the writer the freedom to add
double levels of meanings in fiction: a literal
one that is self- evident and the symbolic one
whose meaning is far more profound than the
literal one.
 9. Symbolism and Motif
Motif - It can be seen as an image, sound,
action or other figures that have a symbolic
significance and contribute toward other
figures that have a symbolic significance and
contribute toward the development of the
theme.
I. JOURNAL WRITING
Journal writing is the process of recording
personal insights, reflections and questions on
assigned or personal topics.
Journal projects assigned in class may include
your thoughts about daily experiences,
reading assignments, current events or science
experiments.
I. JOURNAL WRITING
Journal entries are a form of reflective writing,
in that you can use them to consider and
respond to something you have read or
learned.
I. JOURNAL WRITING
Journal writing can also provide you with the opportunity
to
• Become more confident about writing
• Broaden your perspective about topics
• Gather material for later essays
• Identify progress in writing
• Overcome writing blocks
• Spend more time on self-reflection
• Write without fear of critic