Subject: CREATIVE NON-FICTION Subject Teacher: Lerramie J.
Bato
Section: GRADE 12- GAS
LESSON 3
PRINCIPLES, ELEMENTS, TECHNIQUES, AND DEVICES OF CREATIVE NONFICTION
ELEMENTS OF CREATIVE NONFICTION
PLOT
a sequence of events that “has a beginning, a middle, and an end” a
pattern of actions, events and situations
involves the sequence of events in a story, showing how time moves, and is linked by patterns of cause and effect
that lead to certain developments which eventually bring out the resolution
gives shape to the different parts of a story just like the framing of a house or the skeleton of the body
EXPOSITION
The writer introduces the characters, situation, and usually the time and place of the narrative.
You can begin a story in media res (in the middle of things).
Signifies that you have chosen a particular opening more than any other.
RISING ACTION
■ Conflict
– an event or situation or circumstance that shakes up a stable situation
– a struggle between two opposing forces
– propels the evens of the story and raises the issues that must be solved
External Conflict
arises between the character and an outside force.
o Man vs Nature – an external struggle which positions the protagonist against an animal or force of nature
o Man vs Man – involves stories where characters are pitted against each other
o Man vs Society – involve stories where man stands against a man-made institution, such as the family, the Church,
Universities, the government and the mass media.
Internal Conflict
arises within the character himself
o Man vs Self - a struggle that involves a character trying to overcome his or her own nature or make a choice between two or
more paths
CLIMAX
the central moment of crisis in a plot.
the point of greatest tension which initiates the falling action.
an effective climax depends on a quick reversal of the situation from an unexpected source.
FALLING ACTION
the section of the plot following the climax, in which the tension from the story's central conflict decreases and the story
moves toward its conclusion.
RESOLUTION or DENOUEMENT
the final part of the plot
the French term denouement refers to the “untying the knot”
makes the characters return to stable situation
a moment of insight, discovery, or revelation by which a character’s life, or view of life, is greatly altered
may be close or open
2. CHARACTER
an imagined person who inhabits a story
may also be based on real people whom the writer uses as models
not limited to human beings
the first essential ingredient in any successful story
Types of Characters
Stock Characters or Stereotyped Characters
1. Hero/Heroine
2. Protagonist
3. Antagonist
4. Major or Main Character
5. Foil
6. Flat Characters and Round Characters
7. Static and Dynamic Characters
Hero/Heroine
the good guy or leading male character who opposes the villain or the bad guy.
• often stronger or better than most human beings and possess godlike traits and qualities.
Protagonist
• an older and more neutral term for ‘hero’ for the leading character which does not imply either the presence or the absence of
outstanding virtue.
• the person the readers most closely identify
Major or Main Character
• also called the lead characters
• we think of them as more complex than the *minor characters
*often plays significant roles in the way we understood or interpret the major characters
*also pivotal in the changes that the major characters undergo
Foil
serves as the contrast to the major character to highlight the particular qualities of the latter
Flat Characters and Round Characters
• mostly in short stories
Flat characters are stock characters or stereotypes who are somehow capable of advancing the plot, but require the barest outlines of
descriptions
Round characters are usually protagonists.
• They have more than just one trait.
• They are complex and at times complicated.
• They possess traits that may even seem contradictory.
• They seem very real to readers just like our friends, neighbors, family
members, and colleagues
Static and Dynamic Characters
Static Characters do not experience basic character changes through the course of the story.
Dynamic Characters experience changes throughout the development of the story.
• DC may undergo sudden changes but these are usually expected based on the events of the story.
3. CHARACTERIZATION
This gives the reader details about the characters involved, which include physical appearance, way of thinking,
feeling, actions, and reactions to events.
It is a writer’s tool, or “literary device” that occurs any time the author uses details to teach us about a person. This is used
over the course of a story in order to tell the tale.
The way a character speaks can inform us of their background and personality, like how educated they are, or what
they consider to be important. Even the way other characters speak to and about our characters is a form of characterization.
4. POINT OF VIEW
refers to the narrator in the story
the vantage point where the readers observe the events of the story
writer’s special angle of vision, the one whose perspective is told
Narrator
teller of the story from whose eyes we look through as we read
through his/her eyes that the events in the story unfold
First Person POV
refers to the narrator in the story
the vantage point where the readers observe the events of the story
writer’s special angle of vision, the one whose perspective is told
Narrator
teller of the story from whose eyes we look through as we read
through his/her eyes that the events in the story unfold
Second Person POV
used to tell a story to another character with the word “You”
mostly told in future tense
the reader may identify himself/herself as the person addressed by the writer
used by a writer to make the readers feels that they are part of the story and they are characters themselves
*Remember that it is hard to maintain the flow of a narrative using the 2nd person POV, shifting into another point of view will
confuse the readers.
“Adjust the light so you won’t strain your eyes. Do it now, because once you’re absorbed in reading there will be no budging you.
Make sure the page isn’t in shadow, a clotting of black letters on a gray background, uniform as a pack of mice…” - If on a Winter’s
Night a Traveler, Italo Calvin
Third Person POV
most common POV
uses the pronouns “he,” “she,” and “they”
employs a nonparticipant narrator who can usually move from place to place to describe the action and report dialogue
can be classified into two major types: all knowing and limited points of view
5. SETTING
refers to the place and time where and when an event happens
where a story takes place is also called its locale
with time, you tell your readers whether your story happens during daytime and nighttime; on a sunny day or rainy
morning; a few months ago or a hundred years ago
More than the place and the time, setting signifies a bigger environment or surrounding.
Physical Environment
refers to all things or characteristics that are discernible, such as shapes, colors and textures, natural features and landscapes
may also include smaller details such as the size of a room, an unmade and dirty bed, or a drop of water on the floor
Sociological Environment
refers to the cultural, economic, and political attributes of a place and its inhabitants
reflects the inhabitants' understanding and experience of the world they live in
their beliefs and attitudes about people and the roles they perform in society, the norms and taboos as well as the dynamics
and dimensions of culture and traditions
Psychological Environment
refers to the “personality” of a place used as the setting.
for example: the old mansion is dreary; the neighborhood is cheerful; the one across town is sleepy.
6. SYMBOLISM
It is the use of symbols to signify ideas and qualities, by giving them symbolic meanings that are different from their literal
sense.
Certain symbols may convey both positive and negative connotations depending on how they are used, presented, and
perceived.
7. IRONY
used when words that are uttered, either by the author or the character in the story, are the opposites of what they actually mean.
the intention here is to present a difference between what is imagined will happen and what actually happens.
Three Types of Irony
1. Verbal Irony
2. Dramatic irony
3. Situational irony
8. FIGURES OF SPEECH
refers to words or phrases which have a different meaning from its literal or ordinary meanings.
1. SIMILE – comparison that uses the expressions “like” and “as”
Example:
Her hair is as black as charcoal.
9. DIALOGUE
the story moves because of the dialogue
it is what the audience ultimately hears and sees in a performance it is important that the dialogues sound like a
natural conversation
since it is performative in nature, the tone of the play and the characters are revealed through the dialogues between
the characters
a change in the character’s attitude or reactions, whether the character gets ecstatic or surprised can only be known
only in the character’s dialogue and relationship with other characters
Dramatic action defines the behavior and disposition of the characters in establishing whether he/she is static
(unchanging) or developing (changing).
The audience can actually witness the characters onstage and see their personality traits through their facial
expressions, bearing and body language
