This document provides an overview of key elements of stories, including setting, characters, plot, conflict, point of view, theme, and more. It defines these elements and provides examples. Setting establishes the time and place of the story. Characters can be protagonists, antagonists, flat or round. Plot follows an exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution structure. Conflict can be external or internal. Point of view is first or third person. Theme conveys the overall message or lesson of the story.

1. A NARRATIVE
WHICH TURNS
INTOAMOVIE
CATEGORY

2. T H E H U N G E R
A S

3. T H
O
N
E
B O
O

4. L E S

11. Elements of a Story

12. StoryElements
Setting
Characters
Plot
Conflict
Point of View
Theme

13. Setting
• Setting is the “where and
when” of a story. It is the
time and place during
which the story takes place.

14. Setting
T
imeandplacearewheretheactionoccurs
Details that describe:
Furniture
Scenery
Customs
Transportation
Clothing
Dialects
Weather
Time of day
Time of year

15. UsingtheFiveSenses
•
•…
SIGHT
•SMELL
•TASTE
•FEEL
•SOUND
Walsh Publishing Co. 2009

16. TakeaLook…Whichisbetter?
The castle
was beside
the water.
OR…
The waves crashed loudly against the shoreline.
The fog lifted lightly and the medieval castle
came into view. It was a beautiful site! The fog
brushed my face and I could smell the smoke
from the fire in the distance and taste the sea salt Walsh Publishing Co. 2009
on my lips.

18. 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.
• To figure out mood, examine how you feel
while reading the story.

19. Characters
• The person, animals, and things
participating in a story.

20. 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”.

22. Characters
• 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

24. TYPES OF
CHARACTER

25. FLAT
ROUND
STATIC
DYNAMIC

26. Characters
• Flat- A flat character is the opposite of
a round character. This literary
personality is notable for one kind of
personality trait or characteristic.
• Round- rounded character is anyone
who has a complex personality; he or
she is often portrayed as a conflicted
and contradictory person.

27. • Static- the character who
undergo very little changes or
none at all.
• Dynamic- the character who
undergo changes

28. Plot
• Plot is the literary element
that describes the
structure of a story. It
shows arrangement of
events and actions within
a story.

29. PartsofaPlot
Exposition
RisingAction
Climax
FallingAction
Resolution

30. Plot Diagram
2
1
3
4
5

31. 1.Exposition
• This usually occurs at the beginning of a
short story.

32. 2. Rising Action
• This part of the story begins to develop
the conflict(s). Complications arise

33. 3. Climax
• This is the turning point of the story.
Usually the main character comes face to
face with a conflict. This is the most intense
moment.

34. 4. Falling Action
• Action that
follows the
climax and
ultimately leads
to the
resolution

35. 5. Resolution
• The conclusion; all
loose ends are tied up.
• Either the character
defeats the problem,
learns to live with the
problem, or the
problem defeats the
character.

36. Putting It All Together
1. Exposition
2. Rising Action
3. Climax
4. Falling Action
5. Resolution
Beginning of
Story
Middle of Story
End of Story

37. (Freytag’spyramid)
Introduction
/ Exposition
Climax
Resolution

38. SpecialTechniquesusedinaStory
Suspense- excitement, tension, curiosity.
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.
Surprise Ending - conclusion that reader
does not expect.

39. CONFLICT
Conflict is the dramatic struggle between two
forces in a story. Without conflict, there is no
plot.

40. Conflict
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

41. TypesofExternalConflict
1.Character vs. Character
(problem with another character)
2.Character vs. Nature
(problem with force of nature)
3.Character vs. Society
(problem with the laws or beliefs of a group)
(character vs. community, society or culture)

42. Internal Conflict
Character vs. Self
(problem with deciding what to
do or think; “inner conflict”)

43. Yourturn…
What’s a well-
known movie that
has…
Character vs. Character Conflict
Character vs. Nature Conflict
Character vs. Society

44. Point of View
-is how an author tells his or her reader the
story.

45. Point of View
• First Person Point of View- a
character from the story is telling the
story; uses the pronouns “I”, we, and
“me”
• Third Person Point of View- an
outside narrator is telling the story;
uses the pronouns “he”, “she”, “they”

46. “I have of late,—but wherefore
I know not,—lost all my mirth,
forgone all custom of
exercises; and indeed, it goes
so heavily with my disposition
that this goodly frame, the
earth, seems to me a sterile
promontory.”
‘Hamlet’by Shakespeare

47. Harry had taken up his place at wizard
school, where he and his scar were
famous ...but now the school year was
over, and he was back with the
Dursleys for the summer, back to
being treated like a dog that had rolled
in something smelly.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of
Secrets by J.K. Rowling

48. Types of Third-Person
Point of View
• Third-Person
Limited
• The narrator
knows the
thoughts and
feelings of only
ONE character in
a story.
• Third-Person
Omniscient
• The narrator knows
the thoughts and
feeling of ALL the
characters in a story.

49. 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?

50. Examples of Themes and Morals
Dreams can
come true Hard work
pays off
Be true
to
True love
conquers
all
Good
defeats
evil

51. Love and
friendship
War
Revenge

52. 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: The lesson or teaching of the story is
be careful when you’re offered something for
nothing.

53. Any questions?

54. ASSIGNMENT
• If you will be given a chance
to live in one place, what
kind of place would it be?
Draw the setting of that place
on a bond paper.