Post by ernesto thaddeus m. solmerano on May 5, 2021 20:23:09 GMT -5
The Basic Elements of Fiction
Analyzing the elements fiction is just like asking the journalist’s five questions: what? who? why? where? and how?
The plot is the what? element of a story. It is a sequence of intentionally constructed, causally linked events that happen in a story. The structures of a plot are generally specified as (1) exposition, (2) rising action, (3) climax, (4) falling action, and (5) denouement or conclusion or resolution.
Of course, plots cannot happen in isolation from characters, the who? element of a story. Not only are there major and minor characters to consider, we need to note whether the various characters are a protagonist/antihero or an antagonist, static or dynamic, stock character or round character, foil or archetype.
The interweaving of plot and character influences in large part the theme of a work, the why? of the story. It is the generalized meaning or the central and unifying idea or concept of the story. A theme is NOT the subject or “moral” of the story.
Setting is the where? element of the story. It is the place where the story actually happens. But setting is also the when? element: time of day, time of year, time period or year; Setting is also the atmosphere: which refers to the mood or feeling a writer conveys to a reader through the description of setting. Simply put, setting is the time, place and atmosphere of the story.
The final question, how? relates to an author’s style. Style refers to the particular or unique ways in which an author manages and handles words. It includes diction (word choice), syntax (word order, sentence type, and length), point of view (the narrator’s perspective of the story), the use of vivid and descriptive passages (imagery), the balance between narration and dialogue (the conversation between two or more characters) and other aspects of the narrative (literary devices and techniques) employed by the author to create fictional worlds.
Hopefully, the reader will see that the five basic elements of fiction (plot, character, theme, setting, and style) are interconnected and fundamentally interdependent. A literary work must really be read as a whole, rather than analyzed in segment or parts.
Analyzing the elements fiction is just like asking the journalist’s five questions: what? who? why? where? and how?
The plot is the what? element of a story. It is a sequence of intentionally constructed, causally linked events that happen in a story. The structures of a plot are generally specified as (1) exposition, (2) rising action, (3) climax, (4) falling action, and (5) denouement or conclusion or resolution.
Of course, plots cannot happen in isolation from characters, the who? element of a story. Not only are there major and minor characters to consider, we need to note whether the various characters are a protagonist/antihero or an antagonist, static or dynamic, stock character or round character, foil or archetype.
The interweaving of plot and character influences in large part the theme of a work, the why? of the story. It is the generalized meaning or the central and unifying idea or concept of the story. A theme is NOT the subject or “moral” of the story.
Setting is the where? element of the story. It is the place where the story actually happens. But setting is also the when? element: time of day, time of year, time period or year; Setting is also the atmosphere: which refers to the mood or feeling a writer conveys to a reader through the description of setting. Simply put, setting is the time, place and atmosphere of the story.
The final question, how? relates to an author’s style. Style refers to the particular or unique ways in which an author manages and handles words. It includes diction (word choice), syntax (word order, sentence type, and length), point of view (the narrator’s perspective of the story), the use of vivid and descriptive passages (imagery), the balance between narration and dialogue (the conversation between two or more characters) and other aspects of the narrative (literary devices and techniques) employed by the author to create fictional worlds.
Hopefully, the reader will see that the five basic elements of fiction (plot, character, theme, setting, and style) are interconnected and fundamentally interdependent. A literary work must really be read as a whole, rather than analyzed in segment or parts.