Elements of Fiction

PLOT
The structure of action in a story and the sequence of events.
The events in stories are generally intended to build toward a particular event. In some stories, this turning point, or climax, occurs close to the middle of the action or series of events. In others, the climax comes very near the end of the action. Rising action- events leading up to the climax. Falling action-events leading to a resolution.

CHARACTERIZATION
Main characters, minor characters, and how they are developed.
Methods of developing a character:
• The writer describes the character.
• The writer reveals what the character thinks.
• The writer tells what the character says and does.
• The writer tells what others say about the character.
• The writer tells how others react to the character.

SETTING
The time and place in which the events of the story occur.

THEME
Reveals the central truth, main idea or moral of the story.

POINT OF VIEW
First person, Third person, and Omniscient (all knowing)
First person point of view-the author is inside a character and allows the character to tell the story. The first person pronouns I, me, us, my, and our are used.

Third Person (limited) point of view-the author follows one character throughout the story. The character’s thoughts, feelings, and motives are the only ones known. The only way the thoughts the other characters are known is by the main character’s interpretation of them. Third person pronouns are: he, she, they, him, her and them.

Omniscient (all knowing) point of view-the reader knows the thoughts, feelings, and motives of everyone in the story. This point of view is also written with third person pronouns. See above.