Elements of a Story

A. Setting is the time and place in which the events of a story occur. It consists of
the use of evocative portrayal of a region’s distinctive ways of thoughts and
behavior or the so-called “local color” exemplified by the superficial elements of
setting, dialect, and customs.
B. Characters are the representations of a human being in a story. They are the
complex combination of both inner and outer self
Characterization - is the method used by the writer to reveal the personality of
the character/s.
Ways of Revealing Literary Characters
The characters are revealed according to:
1. Actions of the characters
2. Thoughts the characters
3. Descriptions of the characters
4. Descriptions of other characters
5. Descriptions of the author
Kinds of Character
According to Principality:
1. Protagonist is the character with whom the reader empathizes.
2. Antagonist is the character that goes against the main character, usually the
protagonist.
According to Development:
1. Dynamic is the character that exhibits noticeable development.
2. Static is the character who exhibits no changes and development.
According to Personality:
1. Round is the character that displays different/multiple personalities throughout
the story.
2. Flat is the character that reveals conventional traits, who remains the same
throughout the story. Its characterization does not grow.
C. Plot is the sequence of events in the story, arranged and linked by causality.
Climax
Rising Action Falling Action
Exposition Denouement
Parts of Plot
1. Exposition is the part of the plot that sets the scene by introducing the
situation and settings and likewise lays out the characters by introducing their
environment, characters, pursuit, purposes, limitations, potentials, and basic
assumptions.
2. Rising Action is the part that establishes curiosity, uncertainty, and tension; it
requires a decision.
3. Climax is the peak of the story which leads to an affirmation, a decision, an
action, or even a realization. This is the point of greatest emotional intensity,
interest, as well as suspense.
4. Falling action is the finishing of things right after the climax, and shows the
resolution of the plot.
5. Denouement is the part that brings the story back to its equilibrium
Literary Devices
1. Flashback is the writer’s use of interruption of the chronological sequence of a
story to go back to related incidents which occurred prior to the beginning of the
story.
2. Foreshadowing is the writer’s use of hints or clues to indicate events that will
occur later in the story. The use of this technique both creates suspense and
prepares the reader for what is to come.
D. Conflict
Conflict is t he opposition of persons or forces in a story that give rise to the
dramatic action in a literary work. It is the basic tension, predicament, or
challenge that propels a story’s plot.
Types of Conflict
1. Person vs. Person is a type of conflict where one character in the story has a
problem with one or more of the other characters.
2. Person vs. Society is a type of conflict where a character has a conflict or
problem with some element of society – the school, the law, the accepted way of
doing things, and so on.
3. Person vs. Self is a type of conflict where a character has trouble deciding what
to do in a particular situation.
4. Person vs. Nature is a type of conflict where a character has a problem with
some natural happening: a snowstorm, an avalanche, the bitter cold, or any
elements common to nature.
5. Person vs. Fate is a type of conflict where a character has to battle what seems
to be an uncontrollable problem. Whenever the problem seems to be a strange or
unbelievable coincidence, fate can be considered the cause and effect.
E. Point of View determines the narrator of the story, the one who tells it from
different points of view
Types of Point of View
1. First-Person Point of View is a character-narrator who tells the story in the “I”
voice, expressing his own views. He is either a minor or main character that tells
the story in his own words.
3. Third-Person Omniscient Point of View is a narrator that tells the story from an
all – knowing point of view. He sees the mind of all the characters.
4. Third-Person Limited Point of View has a narrator that tells only what he can
see or hear “inside the world” of the story. This narrator is otherwise known as
“camera technique narrator” as he does not reveal what the characters are
thinking and feeling.
F. Theme is a significant truth about life and its nature which takes place in the
illustrations of the actions, preoccupations, and decisions of the characters.
Principles in Stating the Theme of the Story
It reports for all major details of the story.
It may be avowed in more than one way.
It is stated in complete statements.
It asserts a sweeping statement about life.
It avoids statements that condense the theme to some unfamiliar
adage, aphorism, dictum, maxim, saying, or value.