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Story Elements

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
84 views19 pages

Story Elements

Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Elements of a Story

The VERY BASICS you should know


(a review)
Story Elements
➢Setting
➢Characters
➢Plot
➢Basic Literary
Devices
➢Conflict
➢Theme
Setting

• Setting is the “where and when” of


a story. It is the time and place
during which the story takes place.
Setting
Time and place are where the action
occurs
Details that describe:
✓ Furniture
✓ Scenery
✓ Customs
✓ Transportation
✓ Clothing
✓ Dialects
✓ Weather
✓ Time of day
✓ Time of year
The Functions of a Setting
➢ To create a mood or
atmosphere
➢ To show a reader a
different way of life
➢ To make action seem
more real
➢ To be the source of
conflict or struggle
➢ To symbolize an idea
Mood
• Mood is the feeling that the author tries to convey
throughout the story. The atmosphere or emotional
condition created by the piece, within the setting.
Does the author want the reader to be frightened
or sad, or does the story make the reader laugh
and think happy thoughts?
• To figure out mood, examine how you feel while
reading the story. Often mood is conveyed by the
story’s setting.
Characters
• The person,
animals, and
things
participating
in a story
Characters
• Protagonist and antagonist are used to
describe characters.
• The protagonist is the main character of the
story, the one with whom the reader identifies.
This person is not necessary “good”.
• The antagonist is the force in opposition of the
protagonist; this person may not be “bad” or
“evil”, but he/she opposes the protagonist in a
significant way
Plot (definition)
• Plot is the organized
pattern or sequence of
events that make up a story.

• Plot is the literary element


that describes the structure
of a story. It shows
arrangement of events and
actions within a story.
Parts of a Plot
➢ Exposition - introduction; characters, setting and
conflict (problem) are introduced
➢ Rising Action- events that occur as result of
central conflict
➢ Climax- highest point of interest or suspense of a
story
➢ Falling Action - tension eases; events show the
results of how the main character begins to resolve
the conflict
➢ Resolution- loose ends are tied up; the conflict is
solved
Basic Literary Devices

➢ Foreshadowing- hint or clue about what will happen in


story
➢ Flashback- interrupts the normal sequence of events to tell
about something that happened in the past
➢ Symbolism – use of specific objects or images to represent
ideas
➢ Personification – when you make a thing,
idea or animal do something only humans do
Conflict
Conflict is the dramatic struggle
between two forces in a story. Without
conflict, there is no plot.
Conflict
➢Conflict is a problem that must be solved; an
issue between the protagonist and antagonist
forces. It forms the basis of the plot.
➢Conflicts can be external or internal
✓External conflict- outside force may be
person, group, animal, nature, or a
nonhuman obstacle
✓Internal conflict- takes place in a character’s
mind
Types of External Conflict

Character vs Character

Character vs Nature

Character vs Society

Character vs Fate
Type of Internal Conflict
Character vs. Self
Theme
➢The theme is the central, general
message, the main idea, the controlling
topic about life or people the author wants
to get across through a literary work
➢To discover the theme of a story, think big.
What big message is the author trying to
say about the world in which we live?
➢What is this story telling me about how
life works, or how people behave?
The Theme is also
• the practical lesson ( moral) that we learn
from a story after we read it. The lesson that
teaches us what to do or how to behave
after you have learned something from a
story or something that has happened to
you.
Example: In “Little Red Riding Hood,” the
theme is that you should be cautious of
strangers.
Theme is NOT...
• THEME IS NOT JUST ONE
WORD!

• When defining the theme of a story, it


should be a complete thought!
Any questions?

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