Elements of Fiction
Characterization is how writers present and reveal characters by direct description, action, or the presentation of other characters. Characters are typically classified as major (protagonist), minor (secondary), static (unchanging), or dynamic (exhibiting change in attitude, purpose, or behavior).
Irony is a pervasive quality involving a contrast or discrepancy between one thing and another. It emerges as verbal irony (what is said vs. what is meant), situational irony (what is expected vs. what happens), or dramatic irony (what a character believes vs. what the reader knows).
Plot is the action element in fiction, the arrangement of events that make up a story, often centered on a conflict. A typical plot structure includes exposition (background information, setting, characters), complications (intensification of conflict), crisis (moment of great tension), climax (turning point), and resolution or dénouement (sorting out of complications).
Point of view refers to who tells the story and how it is told. Points of view can be grouped into two categories:
- Third-Person Narrator (uses he, she, or they):
- Omniscient: The narrator is all-knowing, taking the reader inside characters’ thoughts and feelings.
- Limited omniscient: The narrator accesses the inner life of only one (or a few) characters.
- Objective: The narrator reports the action and dialogue without seeing into the mind of any character.
- First-Person Narrator (uses I): The narrative is limited to what that one character knows, experiences, or infers.
Setting is the physical and social context. Major elements are the time, the place, and the social environment that frames the characters. Setting can be used to evoke a mood or atmosphere.
Style is the writer’s verbal identity, the way they choose words (diction), arrange them (syntax), and exploit their significance.
A symbol is a person, object, image, word, or event that evokes additional, more abstract meanings beyond its literal significance. Conventional symbols are widely recognized by a culture (e.g., a flag), while a literary or contextual symbol maintains its literal significance while suggesting other meanings within a specific work.
Theme is the central idea or meaning of a story. It is abstracted from the details of character and action, providing a unifying point for other elements. Distinguish theme from plot (actions) and subject (what the story is generally about).
Tone is the author’s implicit attitude toward the reader, subject, or the people/events in a work, revealed by the elements of style.
