LESSON: READING AND WRITING FICTION

Elements of a Short Story

1. CHARACTER
 A character is a person, or sometimes even an animal, who takes part in the action of a
short story or other literary work.

Types of characters:

 Round vs. Flat – Round characters show different traits; flat characters show one trait.
 Dynamic vs. Static – Dynamic characters are the ones who change over the course of the
story; static characters remain the same throughout.

2. POINT OF VIEW
- is the angle of considering things, which shows us the opinion, or feelings of the individuals
involved in a situation. In literature, point of view is the mode of narration that an author
employs to let the readers "hear" and "see" what takes place in a story, poem, essay etc.

Point of view is a reflection of the opinion an individual from real life or fiction can have.
Examples of point of view belong to one of these major kinds:
3. CONFLICT
- It is defined as struggle between two
opposing forces.
4. PLOT
- It is a series of events in a story.
- In 1863, Gustav Freytag, a German writer, advocated a model based upon Aristotle's
theory of tragedy. This is now called "Freytag’s pyramid," which divides a drama into five
parts, and provides function to each part. These parts are: exposition, rising action,
climax, falling action, and denouement

- EXPOSITION: This part of the story primarily introduces the major fictional elements – the
setting, characters, style, etc.
- RISING ACTION: The rising action explores the story’s conflict up until its climax. Often,
things “get worse” in this part of the story: someone makes a wrong decision, the
antagonist hurts the protagonist, new characters further complicate the plot, etc.
- CLIMAX: Highest or turning point; the story’s conflict peaks and we learn the fate of the
main characters.
- FALLING ACTION: In falling action, the writer explores the aftermath of the climax.
- DENOUEMENT: It refers to the last event that ties up the story’s loose ends.

KINDS OF PLOT

- LINEAR PLOT
o In literature, a linear plot begins at a certain point, moves through a series of events
to a climax and then ends up at another point.
o Also known as the plot structure of Aristotle
- NON-LINEAR PLOT
o Non-linear plot structures present the events of a story in a non-chronological order.
- EPISODIC PLOT
o These follow many actions or events chapter-by-chapter.

5. THEME
- It is what the author is trying to convey; in other words, the central idea of the story.
TECHNIQUES AND LITERARY DEVICES

1. TONE
- It is a literary device that reflects the writer’s attitude toward the subject matter or audience
of a literary work.
- EXAMPLE: If you’re reading an article where the author describes an octopus as
“glistening, gorgeous, and perfect,” you can tell through the word choice that the author’s
opinion towards the sea creature is deeply positive, meaning her tone could be described
as “worshipful” or “adoring.”

2. MOOD
- Mood is the feeling a reader gets.
- You’re being asked to say how the vibe of it makes YOU feel. These feelings are evoked by
the setting (where the story or scene is taking place), plot (what’s going on in the story),
and by the author’s word choice.
- EXAMPLE: A short story features dimly lit hallways with creepy voices echoing, slime
dripping off the walls, and a villain running in with a sword, the mood would be scary or
threatening, because you as the reader would likely be feeling a little scared.

3. MOTIF
- It is a recurring idea in a work of literature that supports a theme.
- It is a recurring element—such as an image, phrase, situation, or concept—that appears
multiple times throughout a work of literature.
- It is not just a word but can be a sound or even an image that is used to help in developing
the theme in a literary work.

4. SYMBOLS
- A symbol is an object, a picture, a written word, or a sound that is used to represent
something else either by resemblance, convention, or association.
- carry a deeper meaning and are used to compare something with something else.

5. FORESHADOWING
- Foreshadowing is a literary device that writers utilize as a means to indicate or hint to
readers something that is to follow or appear later in a story.
- EXAMPLES:
o Dialogue, such as “I have a bad feeling about this”
o Symbols, such as blood, certain colors, types of birds, weapons