Elements of Fiction

Question 1

What are the elements of fiction

Answer 1

Setting, Characters, Narrative, Point of View, Theme, Message, Conflict, Climax, Resolution, Characterization, Irony, Parody, and Tone

Question 2

Setting

Answer 2

Time and place of a story’s action

Question 3

Characters

Answer 3

actors in a story’s plot

Question 4

Protagonist

Answer 4

the main character

Question 5

Antagonist

Answer 5

the character in conflict with the main character

Question 6

Narrative

Answer 6

the relationship of the narrator to the story

Question 7

First-Person point of view

Answer 7

narrator is a character in the story *referred to as “I”

Question 8

First-person unreliable narrator

Answer 8

narrator is a character in the story, but audience cannot trust his/her version

Question 9

Third-person limited point of view

Answer 9

narrator is not a character in the story
• reveals only thoughts/feelings of one character
○ point of view limited to that character

Question 10

Third-person omniscient point of view

Answer 10

narrator is not a character in the story
• reveals thoughts/feelings of many characters
○ narrator knows all

Question 11

Theme

Answer 11

a main topic of the story; phrase

Question 12

Message

Answer 12

a statement about the theme

often a perception or comment on life/human nature or behavior; statement

Question 13

Plot

Answer 13

sequence of events in a story

important parts are:
→ conflict
→ climax
→ resolution

Question 14

Conflict

Answer 14

a struggle between two opposing forces
the foundation of story’s plot

2 main types: external and internal

Question 15

External Conflict

Answer 15

Struggle between a character and an outside force

Question 16

Internal Conflict

Answer 16

Struggle within the mind and/or emotions of a character

Question 17

Climax

Answer 17

the emotional height point in a story

often the last turning point in a story

Question 18

Resolution

Answer 18

when the conflict is fully resolved

the answer to the question raised by the conflict

Question 19

Characterization

Answer 19

the development of characters

accomplished in several ways:

→ physical description of character
→ character's actions
→ character's thoughts
→ character's speech
→ other characters' actions, thoughts, and speeches

Question 20

Irony

Answer 20

when the opposite of what one expects to happen, happens = situational irony

the use of words to express something different from, and often opposite from, their literal meaning = verbal irony

when the audience knows something a character does not; this information is contradictory to what the character(s) think(s) is true = dramatic irony

Question 21

Parody

Answer 21

any humorous and/or satirical imitation of a serous text (story, poem, song, movie, etc.)

Question 22

Tone

Answer 22

→ attitude toward subject or readers
→ expressed in literature more commonly
→ through words not actions

Question 23

Foreshadowing

Answer 23

*clues or hints at later events in a story
>often piece together
*builds readers’ expectations and creates suspense
*often unnoticeable on a first read
>sometimes has to be read again to know what’s being foreshadowed
Ex: “Priscilla and the Wimps”
“…old Monk’s Garden of Eden… there was a serpent in it.”
Jaws Music