Elements of Fiction
Characterization is a means by which writers present and reveal characters – by direct
description, by showing the character in action, or by the presentation of other characters who
help to define each other.
Characters in fiction can be conveniently classified as major and minor, static and dynamic. A
major character is an important figure at the center of the story’s action or theme. The major
character is sometimes called a protagonist whose conflict with an antagonist may spark the
story’s conflict. Supporting the major character are one or more secondary or minor characters
whose function is partly to illuminate the major characters. Minor characters are often static or
unchanging: they remain the same from the beginning of a work to the end. Dynamic
characters, on the other hand, exhibit some kind of change – of attitude, purpose, behavior, as the
story progresses.
Irony is not so much an element of fiction as a pervasive quality in it. It may appear in fiction in
three ways: in a work’s language, in its incidents, or in its point of view. But in whatever form
it emerges, irony always involves a contrast or discrepancy between one thing and another. The
contrast may be between what is said and what is meant (verbal irony), what is expected to
happen and what actually happens (situational irony) or between what a character believes or
says and what the reader understands to be true (dramatic irony).
Plot, the action element in fiction, is the arrangement of events that make up a story. Many
fictional plots turn on a conflict, or struggle between opposing forces, that is usually resolved by
the end of the story. Typical fictional plots begin with an exposition, that provides background
information needed to make sense of the action, describes the setting, and introduces the major
characters; these plots develop a series of complications or intensifications of the conflict that
lead to a crisis or moment of great tension. The conflict may reach a climax or turning point, a
moment of greatest tension that fixes the outcome; then, the action falls off as the plot’s
complications are sorted out and resolved (the resolution or dénouement). Be aware, however,
that much of twentieth-century fiction does not exhibit such strict formality of design.
Point of view refers to who tells the story and how it is told. The possible ways of telling a story
are many, and more than one point of view can be worked into a single story. However, the
various points of view that storytellers draw upon can be grouped into two broad categories:
Third-Person Narrator (uses pronouns he, she, or they):
1. Omniscient: The narrator is all-knowing and takes the reader inside the characters’
thoughts, feelings, and motives, as well as shows what the characters say and do.
2. Limited omniscient: The narrator takes the reader inside one (or at most very few
characters) but neither the reader nor the character(s) has access to the inner lives of
any of the other characters in the story.
3. Objective: The narrator does not see into the mind of any character; rather he or she
reports the action and dialogue without telling the reader directly what the characters
feel and think.
First-Person Narrator (uses pronoun I):
The narrator presents the point of view of only one character’s consciousness, which
limits the narrative to what the first-person narrator knows, experiences, infers, or can
find out by talking to other characters.
Setting is the physical and social context in which the action of a story occurs. The major
elements of setting are the time, the place, and the social environment that frames the characters.
These elements establish the world in which the characters act. Sometimes the setting is lightly
sketched, presented only because the story has to take place somewhere and at some time.
Often, however, the setting is more important, giving the reader the feel of the people who move
through it. Setting can be used to evoke a mood or atmosphere that will prepare the reader for
what is to come.
Style is the way a writer chooses words (diction), arranges them in sentences and longer units of
discourse (syntax) and exploits their significance. Style is the verbal identity of a writer, as
unmistakable as his or her face or voice. Reflecting their individuality, writers’ styles convey
their unique ways of seeing the world.
A Symbol is a person, object, image, word, ore vent that evokes a range of additional meanings
beyond and usually more abstract than its literal significance.
Symbols are devices for evoking
complex ideas without having to resort to painstaking explanations. Conventional symbols have
meanings that are widely recognized by a society or culture, i.e., the Christian cross, the Star of
David, a swastika, a nation’s flag. A literary or contextual symbol can be a setting, a character,
action, object, name, or anything else in a specific work that maintains its literal significance
while suggesting other meanings. For example, the white whale in Melville’s Moby Dick takes
on multiple symbolic meanings in the work, but these meanings do not automatically carry over
into other stories about whales.
Theme is the central idea or meaning of a story. Theme in fiction is rarely presented at all; it is
abstracted from the details of character and action that compose the story. It provides a unifying
point around which the plot, characters, setting, point of view, symbols, and other elements of a
story are organized. Be careful to distinguish theme from plot – the story’s sequence of actions –
and from subject – what the story is generally about.
Tone is the author’s implicit attitude toward the reader, subject, and/or the people, places, and
events in a work as revealed by the elements of the author’s style. Tone may be characterized as
serious or ironic, sad or happy, private of public, angry or affectionate, bitter or nostalgic, or any
other attitudes and feelings that human beings experience.
Please include this Examples in that Essay because the teacher wants to see them include in each Essay Stories:
By looking at the car as a symbol, we can see a representation if a brotherhood. ( After that some people like to add another sentence like what happened to the car, was it become terrilbe..) This is important because it illustrates the theme of the elusiveness of dreams and the disilusionment that often follows.
Introduction Paragraph:
1.
Introduce
the story/poem/play you’re writing about.
Ex. “Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston tells the
story of a Black washerwoman named Delia in 1920’s Florida who must contend
with an abusive husband.
2.
Introduce
your topic. For example, if you want to talk about the snake as a symbol, talk a little about how the snake appears in
the story.
Ex. One of the ways in which
Delia’s husband humiliates and frightens her is by bringing a snake into their
home. Delia, a meek, churchgoing woman is deathly afraid of snakes, as they
stand for everything which she and her religion oppose.
3.
Conclude
your introduction with the Magic Thesis Statement (MTS)
Ex. By looking at the snake as a symbol, we can see a representation of an
evil that ultimately devours itself, which most readers don’t see. Although
the snake begins as a means for Sykes to intimidate Delia, it soon gets free
from it’s holding box, enters her laundry basket and, in the climax of the
story, bites and kills Sykes rather than Delia. It is important to look at this aspect of the text because it
illustrates the theme that karma will ultimately destroy evildoers.
NOTE: Theme should not include mention of the characters in
the story. This is because the theme is where the story opens up to apply to
everyday life, not just the text. Therefore, your theme should be what an
author has to say about a big idea (karma, in this case) generally, NOT AS IT
APPLIES ONLY TO THE STORY.
NOTE: Be as specific as possible. You don’t want the title
or an element of fiction (alone) or the character’s name to go in the first
slot ever (By looking at “Sweat”…. By looking as Delia…. By looking at symbolism….). Tell us what
symbol specifically you’ll be looking at. It should be one symbol (the frying
pan as a symbol) or one group of symbols (domestic items symbolically). It
should not be multiple, unrelated symbols (By looking at the snake, the house
and the frying pan symbolically…)
Body Paragraphs (at least 3):
1.
Situate
us in the story and introduce your topic
Ex. In the beginning of the
story, Sykes brings a snake into Delia’s home while she is separating laundry
by light colors and dark colors. This is the first time Hurston introduces the
snake and through her descriptive language we can see how the snake is symbolic
of Sykes’ evil.
2.
Bring
in a quote as evidence to back up you point (in this case that the snake is
symbolic of Sykes’ evil)
3.
Analyze
the quote. Explain how it does indeed go to show that the snake is
representative of Sykes’ evil. Do not end a paragraph on a quote. You need to
explain/analyze your quotes each time.
Conclusion Paragraph:
1. Restate your
thesis (in different words)
2. Summarize your
main points (in different words)
3. End with a
personal comment/suggestion for further inquiry
To further our understanding of Hurston’s use of the snake
as a symbol, we may want to do a comparative analysis between the snake in the
Book of Genesis and the snake in “Sweat”.
NOTE: Do not
write “In conclusion….” Or “In summary….” Or anything like that.
NOTE: Short
stories are always in quotations: “Sweat” and “A Good Man is Hard to Find”
NOTE: If a
quotation is long and you only need certain sections you can do this to shorten
it and get to the point:
“glkrsajgeijgigrqiljglirgiqng … gasijrgnqeignijgrnq … ljgnqilgnqlin” (23).
NOTE: The above
citation structure. Quote, end quote, parenthesis with page number, period.
