The characters are a shepherd boy watching over a flock of sheep, and villagers from the nearby town. The setting is a hillside where the boy watches over the sheep. The conflict arises when the boy falsely cries "wolf" twice as a prank, causing the villagers to no longer believe him when a real wolf appears. The climax is when a real wolf attacks the flock but the villagers do not come to help because they think it is another false alarm. The theme is about the consequences of lying, as the boy learns that crying wolf when there is no wolf causes him not to be believed when he needs help with a real crisis. The plot involves the boy crying wolf twice falsely, followed by a real wolf attack where

1. Elements of a Story
Prof. C. Sarmiento
English class

2. Elements of a Story
• All good stories have the following elements:
• Characters
• Setting
• Plot
• Conflict
• Theme

3. Characters
• Characters refers to anyone who is featured in a story. Character
can be real or make belief and could be humans, animals, things,
etc.
• A good story includes:
• Descriptions about the character both physical and attitudinal.
• Character changes throughout the story

4. Setting
• The setting involves two things, where does a story take place and
when.
• “Once upon a time in a land far, far away there lived a beautiful princess in a
castle.”
• Setting: A long time ago, in a far away land.
• Sometimes, the setting must be inferred:
• “The German forces fought off the American during D-Day where the USA’s First
Division began it’s historic invasion.”
• Setting: The story takes place during World War II on June 6th, 1944 on
Omaha Beach.

5. Theme
• Theme refers to a lesson or message the story tells the reader.
Simple stories might contain one theme. More complex stories
might have multiple themes.
• Some themes must be inferred and may be based on personal
opinion.

6. Plot
• The plot is what happens in the story. The conflict usually heavily
influences the plot of a story. The plot are the events that happen
as the character solves or deals with the problem.
• To identify the plot:
1. Find the problem in the story.
2. Sequence the events that lead to the character solving
their problem.

7. Elements of Plot
• Gustav Freytag (1816 - 1895) was a German dramatist and novelist who
came up with the structure for the way stories are told in ancient Greek
and Shakespearean drama. This analysis is known as Freytag's analysis.
His analysis consisted of dividing a play into five parts:
• exposition
• rising action
• climax
• falling action
• resolution/denouement

8. Elements of Plot

9. Exposition
• This is the introduction of story. It provides the background
information that is needed to properly understand the story.
• This information can include the protagonist, antagonist, the
setting, etc.
• The inciting incident occurs here (the initial event which triggers
the rest of the story). In other words, what was it that put
everything in motion?
• Inciding incidents are not always obvious. You may not even catch
them when reading the story.

10. Rising Action
• Rising action is what occurs leading up to the climax.
• All of the events that happen to the main character which lead to
a final confrontation with an antagonist is considered to be the
rising action.
• The battle itself would be considered the climax

11. Climax
• The climax is considered the high point of the story (often
considered the most exciting part).
• This is where all of the events in the rising action and the conflicts
throughout reach their peak.
• For example, in Romeo and Juliet,
• the climax occurs when Juliet stabs herself.

12. Falling Action
• The falling action deals with events which occur right after the
climax.
• These events are usually the after-effects of the climax

13. Resolution
• Here is the end of the falling action and the conclusion to the
story.
• It reveals the final outcome and possibly the solutions to all the
mysteries in the plot.
• Some endings might not contain full resolutions and they might be
ambiguous. It’s up to the reader to interpret and infer the
meaning of such resolutions.

14. Practice Exercise
• Identify the elements of the story:
• Who are the characters?
• What is the setting?
• What is the conflict?
• What is the climax?
• What is the theme?
• What is the plot?

15. The Boy Who Cried Wolf
There once was a shepherd boy who was bored as he sat on
the hillside watching the village sheep. To amuse himself he took a
great breath and sang out, "Wolf! Wolf! The Wolf is chasing the
sheep!"
The villagers came running up the hill to help the boy drive
the wolf away. But when they arrived at the top of the hill, they
found no wolf. The boy laughed at the sight of their angry faces.
"Don't cry 'wolf', shepherd boy," said the villagers, "when
there's no wolf!" They went grumbling back down the hill.

16. The Boy Who Cried Wolf
Later, the boy sang out again, "Wolf! Wolf! The wolf is chasing
the sheep!" To his naughty delight, he watched the villagers run up
the hill to help him drive the wolf away.
When the villagers saw no wolf they sternly said, "Save your
frightened song for when there is really something wrong! Don't cry
'wolf' when there is NO wolf!" But the boy just grinned and watched
them go grumbling down the hill once more. Later, he saw a REAL
wolf prowling about his flock. Alarmed, he leaped to his feet and
sang out as loudly as he could, "Wolf! Wolf!" But the villagers
thought he was trying to fool them again, and so they didn't come.

17. The Boy Who Cried Wolf
At sunset, everyone wondered why the shepherd boy hadn't
returned to the village with their sheep. They went up the hill to
find the boy. They found him weeping.
"There really was a wolf here! The flock has scattered! I cried
out, "Wolf!" Why didn't you come?"
An old man tried to comfort the boy as they walked back to
the village.
"We'll help you look for the lost sheep in the morning," he
said, putting his arm around the youth, "Nobody believes a
liar...even when he is telling the truth!"