Breaking down a story to its elements

1. The Anatomy
Of A Story
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Breaking down a story to its elements

2. What is a story?
What is it made up of?
A story always has the same structure:
beginning, middle , end. But is that all?
There are certain elements that make up a story ; always and
without fail. Otherwise, there is no story at all, at least not a
good story worth telling, let alone reading.
INTRODUCTION
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3. The Elements of a Story Explained
01
Basic elements
of a story
02
The elements of
a plot
Advanced elements
of a story
03
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5. Details can describe:
• Time of day
• Time of year
• Time in History
• Scenery
• Weather
• Location
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6.  person
 thing
 animal
 anything personified
 one main character
 or many
 secondary characters
- not always
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7.  The events that happen in a story
In a plot you typically find
 introduction
 rising action
 climax,
 falling action
 resolution.
 Plot is often represented
as an arc.
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8. Every story must have
 a conflict  a challenge or problem
 No conflict -> no purpose or trajectory.
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9. Idea
belief
moral lesson
insight
the “why” of the
story
central argument the
author is trying to
make the reader
understand
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10. No
plot?
No
story
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exposition denouement
climax

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1. Exposition/Introduction
 the setting
 characters (main character,
protagonist)
 main problem
 conflict
 goal of the story

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 an inciting incident
 pushes the plot into motion
 events are building
 protagonist takes action
 storyline more complex
 a sense of tension
Rising
Action

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 turning point
 in the plot of a story
 a “climax”– the central struggle
 protagonist faces the main challenge
 lead to the outcome or goal of the story
 the most emotional part of the storyline
 involves the most action
Climax

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 During this stage
 the action winds down
 loose ends get tied up
 events are resolved
 results of the protagonists’
actions

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 Conclusion
 goal resolved
 conflict ends
 (could be positive, negative or
neutral)
 This is the end of the story
5. Denouement

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17. : “Who” is telling the story?
• 1st person (“I”)
• 3rd person (“he/she/it”)
• Limited (one character’s
perspective)
• multiple (many characters’
perspectives)
• omniscient (all knowing narrator)
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18. The overall emotional “tone”
feeling of the story.
happy, funny, sad, depressed?
Tone can be portrayed in multiple ways
 word and grammar choices
 choice of theme
 imagery and description
 symbolism
 the sounds of the words in combination
(i.e. rhyme, rhythm, musicality)
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19. This is how things are said
• Word choices,
• sentence structure
• dialogue
• metaphor
• simile
• hyperbole
Style contributes
significantly to tone
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20. Let’s recap!
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Katerina Katsara
@karinkat e-mail: aikakat20@gmal.com
Thank you !