This document defines and describes the key elements of fiction, including setting, characters, plot, theme, and point of view. It explains that the setting establishes the time, place, and social environment of a story. It also describes the main types of characters - protagonists, antagonists, static, dynamic, flat, and round characters. Additionally, it outlines different types of plots, themes, and points of view that authors can use when writing fiction.

1. ELEMENTS OF FICTION

2. SETTING
• The 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.
• Setting can be used to evoke a mood or
atmosphere that will prepare the reader for
what is to come.

3. CHARACTER
• A person presented in a dramatic or
narrative work.

4. • A hero or heroine, often called the
PROTAGONIST, is the central character
who engages the reader’s interest and
empathy.
• The ANTAGONIST is the character, force,
or collection of forces that stand directly
opposed to the protagonist and gives rise
to the conflict of the story.

5. • A static character does not change
throughout the work, and the reader’s
knowledge of that character does not grow
• A dynamic character undergoes some
kind of change because of the action in
the plot.

6. • A flat character embodies one or two
qualities, ideas, or traits that can be
readily described in a brief summary.
• Some flat characters are recognized as
stock characters; they embody
stereotypes such as the “dumb blonde” or
the “mean stepfather.” They become
types rather than individuals.

7. • Round characters are more complex
than flat or stock characters, and often
display the inconsistencies and internal
conflicts found in most real people. They
are more fully developed, and therefore
are harder to summarize.

8. PLOT
• An author’s selection and arrangement of
incidents in a story to shape the action
and give the story a particular focus.
• Discussions of plot include not just what
happens, but also how and why things
happen the way they do.

9. TYPES of PLOT
• EPISODIC
• ORGANIC

10. THEME
• The central meaning or dominant idea in a
literary work. A theme provides a unifying
point around which the plot, characters,
setting, point of view, symbols, and other
elements of a work are organized. It is
important not to mistake the theme for the
actual subject of the work; the theme
refers to the abstract concept that is made
concrete through the images,
characterization, and action of the text.

11. Types of Theme
• Stated
• Implied

12. POINT OF VIEW
• Refers to who tells us a story and how it is
told. What we know and how we feel
about the events in a work are shaped by
the author’s choice of point of view. The
teller of the story, the narrator, inevitably
affects our understanding of the
characters’ actions by filtering what is told
through his or her own perspective.

13. Types of POV
Point of View is simply who is telling the story.
*To determine POV ask, “who is telling the story”, and “how much
do they know?”
•Omniscient POV- The story is told in third person by a
narrator who has unlimited knowledge of events and
characters.
•Third Person Limited POV- The story is told in third person
but from the view point of a character in the story. POV is
limited to the character’s perceptions and shows no direct
knowledge of what other characters are thinking, feeling, or
doing.
*Stream of Consciousness- presents the random thoughts
going through a character’s head within a certain period of time.

14. • First Person POV- The author disappears
into one of the characters. Shares the
limitations of third person limited. Uses
the pronouns “I” and “we”.
• Objective POV- Records only what is seen
and heard. In its purest form, objective
POV would consist of only dialogue.
Forces the author to refrain from
interpretation.
• Second Person POV- Uses the pronoun
“you”. Infrequently used.