ELEMENTS

OF FICTION
GENRES OF LITERATURE

FICTION

NON-FICTION
 FICTION
 Anyimaginative recreation and
reconstruction of life.
 It
includes prose such as short
stories and novels.
 Thenovel and short story differ
from each other only in length and
complexity. The novel is longer
because of several complications
and twists to its plot.
ELEMENTS
OF FICTION
 SETTING
 refers
to the time and location in
which the story takes place.
 These two elements together
create the entire social and
environmental context of the story.
Closely related to the setting is
the Atmosphere, the aura or
mood of the story.
 CHARACTERS
 are the representations of a human
being – the complex combination
of both inner and outer self.
 For characters to be true to life, an
author must provide them with
sufficient reason to behave as they
do. This is referred to as a
character’s motivation.
COMPONENTS OF A CHARACTER

Physical Background
Sociological
Background
Psychological
Component
TYPES OF CHARACTERS
 ROUND - is a multidimensional,
dynamic, fully developed character
that recognizes changes and
adjusts to circumstances.
 FLAT – is a one-dimensional and
static character that does not grow
and remains the same throughout
the narrative.
Protagonist
Antagonist / Villain
Confidant
Foil
Stock character –
henpecked husband,
evil stepmother, old-
maid, cunning
 refers
PLOT
to the series of events that
occur in the story. The plot is the
underlying pattern of the story that
gives it unity and order. In
traditional narrative, the plot can
be broken down into the following
elements:
 ELEMENTS OF PLOT
Climax

Rising action
Falling action

Exposition Denouement
Inciting point Resolution
 ELEMENTS OF PLOT

. EXPOSITION: setting the scene. The
writer introduces the characters and
setting, providing description and
background.
 INCITING INCIDENT: something happens
to begin the action. A single event
usually signals the beginning of the
main conflict. The inciting incident is
sometimes called 'the complication'.
 RISING ACTION: the story builds
and gets more exciting.
 CLIMAX: the moment of greatest
tension in a story. This is often the
most exciting event. It is the event
that the rising action builds up to
and that the falling action follows.
 FALLING ACTION: events happen
as a result of the climax and we
know that the story will soon end.
 RESOLUTION: the character solves the
main problem/conflict or someone
solves it for him or her.
 DÉNOUEMENT: the ending. At this
point, any remaining secrets, questions
or mysteries which remain after the
resolution are solved by the characters
or explained by the author. Sometimes
the author leaves us to think about the
THEME or future possibilities for the
characters
 TYPES OF PLOT
 LINEAR– actions or events are
arranged chronologically. This is the
most common plot because it follows
the natural order of events.

Long ago…then…next…afterwards…
years later…finally
 CIRCULAR – this type of
development combines linear with
flashback. The opening scene will
be repeated in the series toward
or at the end.
 ENMEDIAS RES – the story
begins in the middle part of
the action.

IN THE MIDDLE
OF THE ACTION
 FIGURE 8 – the story begins in
the middle part of the action and
will keep looping back to it every
time a different part of the story is
told.
 FRAME STORY – the story is
within another story.

STORY B

STORY A
 HOW TO ANALYZE THE PLOT
 Does the story progress steadily from the
beginning, or does it open with some
event, then go back to tell what
happened before – “flashback”?
 If it employs “flashback” at what point
does the story start?
 Does the author create suspense by
breaking off the story at a critical point to
introduce comment or description?
 CONFLICT
–obstacle; struggle
of opposing forces
KINDS OF CONFLICT
•External Conflict
•Internal Conflict
 EXTERNAL CONFLICT
Character vs. another character
 Character vs. society
Character vs. supernatural
forces
Character vs. forces of nature

 INTERNAL CONFLICT
Character vs. himself
 HOW TO ANALYZE THE CONFLICT
 What is the basic conflict in the
story?
 What other kinds of conflict are
found? Give examples.
 Is the conflict settled? How? What
part of the story shows this?
 THEME
 refers to the general point that the story
attempt to make.
 The theme is not merely limited to the
fictional reality of the character’s lives, but
often comments upon the reality of our
own existence as well.
 The theme is described as the significant
truth about life and human nature
reflected in actions, preoccupations, and
decisions of the characters.
PRINCIPLES IN STATING THE THEME
 It
should be expressed in complete
statements.
 It
must be stated as a generalization
about life.
 It
must account for all major details of
the story.
 It
should avoid statements that reduce
the theme to some familiar saying or
moral.
 POINT OF VIEW
 the narrative technique or
the vantage point that the
writer uses to tell the story.
 There are three main Points
of View that a writer can use
 FIRST PERSON: A narrator who
is a character in the story &
refers to him/her/itself as I. When
First Person Point of View is used,
it is important to realize that the
story is being told from that
character’s individual perception
of reality. Occasionally a story is
told by a narrator who cannot be
trusted to tell the truth. This is
called an unreliable narrator.
 SECOND PERSON: A narrator
who addresses “you” directly.
Reading a story that uses this
point of view is similar to the
experience of reading a letter.

“Perhaps you know that you also

feel the need to vent your anger.”
 Example
“My son, when you asked me this
evening how many Japanese had I
killed during the war, and I
answered you in the negative, I saw
disappointment cross your face and
a smirk play on your lips.”

- To Kill the Enemy,

Roman A. Dela Cruz
THIRD PERSON: A narrator who
does not appear in the story as a
character. There are three types of
third person narrators:
 Omniscient: A non-participating
narrator who sees into the mind
of all other characters, moving
from one to the other when
necessary; An “all-knowing”
narrator.
Dodong thought to himself he would
tell his father about Teang when he
got home, after he had unhitched
the carabao from the plow, and let it
to its shed and fed it. He was
hesitant about saying it, but he
wanted his father to know. What he
had to say was of serious import as it
would mark a climacteric in his life.
Dodong finally decided to tell it, at a
thought came to him his father
might refuse to consider it. His father
was silent hard-working farmer who
chewed areca nut, which he had
• LIMITED OMNISCIENT:
The story is told by a third
person narrator but from
the viewpoint of a
character in the story. The
reader has access to the
thoughts and feelings of
only one character.
 He was young, he realized now, contradicting
himself of nine months comfortable… “Your
son,” people would soon be telling him. “Your
son, Dodong.”
 Dodong felt tired standing. He sat down
on a saw-horse with his feet close
together. He looked at his calloused
toes. Suppose he had ten children…
What made him think that? What was
the matter with him? God!
 He heard his mother’s voice from the house:
 “Come up, Dodong. It is over.”
• OBJECTIVE: A non-
participating narrator
who does not enter the
mind of any characters
but merely describes the
events as they occur.
 Around the tiny plaza in front of
the barrio chapel, quite a stream
of carriages was flowing leisurely.
The Moretas were constantly
being hailed from the other
vehicles. The plaza itself and the
sidewalks were filled with
chattering, strolling, profusely
sweating people. More people
were crowded on the balconies
and windows of the houses. The
moon had not yet risen; the black
night smoldered; in the windless