This document discusses the key tools and features of fiction, including novels and short stories. It identifies seven main features: 1) the story and plot, 2) the setting of time and place, 3) characters and their presentation, 4) the narrator and point of view, 5) the language and style used, and 6) the overarching theme conveyed through characters and events. Each feature is then further explained, with examples of how they are employed in fictional works.

1. Features of the NOVEL
Tools of Fiction
Raffaele Nardella
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2. Fiction
Latin word = fingere (to imagine)
Literary genres:
Novel
Short Story
different lenght
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3. Features
1. Story and Plot
2. Setting
3. Character
4. Narrator
5. Point of View
6. Language and Style
7. Theme
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4. 1. Story and Plot
 Story = description of a series of events involving
characters and settings
 Plot = way in which events of a story are
organized in a narrative
One or more plots in a story
Chronological or Mixed Order (Flashback)
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5. 2. Setting
 Time = When?
 chronological (story)
 fictional (plot)
 Place = Where?
Outdoor scenery
 Interiors
 Social = Who?
 Behaviour, Clothes of Characters
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6. 3. Character
 Presentation
 Direct (description)
 Indirect(actions, behaviour)
 Type
 Stereotyped = fixed model
 Realistic = like real people
 Flat = psycologically static
 Round = psycologically dymamic
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7. 4. Narrator
 First person = authenticity, involvement
 internal
 external
 Third Person = external observer
Obtrusive= comments
Unobtrusive = no comments
Omniscent = knows everything
Non-Omniscent = from the outside
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8. 5. Point of View
Fixed = single perspective
Shifting = multiple perspectives
Wide = omniscent narrator
Narrow = non-omniscent narrator
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9. 6. Language and Style
 Style = way to tell the story
 Dialogues
 Descriptions
 Narration
 Interior Monologue
 Association of Ideas
 Language
 Syntax = simple or complex
 Sentences = short or long
 Vocabulary = realistic or symbolical
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10. 7. Theme
Main TOPIC of the story through:
Characters
Events
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