Lesson 8: Reviewing Story Elements

I. Good morning! How are you doing today? I hope that you are better today than yesterday. If
you are in my class now, hit the heart react for your attendance.

II. Let us now start our learning engagement. Storytelling is one of the earliest and most
popular activities on mankind. Even in earliest times, the storyteller was a much esteemed and
highly respected person to whom people listened, enthralled. An early form of narration was the
epic. This was cultivated in Europe in ancient times. The epic is a lengthy narrative poem and it
took days and perhaps even weeks to recite or to read. Because of this, in due time it began to
be replaced by the novel, a literary form easier to understand because it is in prose. But in our
times, the SHORT STORY has become the most popular type of narrative. We find it in monthly
magazines and in Sunday supplements to the daily papers.

Question: What is it that attracts people’s interest in stories? First of all, stories concern
people, and all of us are curious about other people as well as ourselves. The skillful storyteller
is able to capture and retain our attention so completely that we soon forget to draw the line
between what is real and what is fictitious. The second attraction of stories is the suspense
they create. Practically, all of us, young and old, lead rather monotonous lives. A good story
makes us feel more truly alive. When the hero of an adventure story kills a lion, we kill the lion
with him but we are free from the dangers he encounters.

III. Before we can analyze a short story, we should understand its purpose and find out its
basic methods and materials. The purpose of fiction is to embody certain truths of human life in
a series of imagined incidents. This means that the writer seeks not merely to entertain or
amuse but to present significant aspects of life by presenting to the reader characters and
actions which are true to life. A story, although it deals with the lives of imaginary people, is no
less true than the best history or biography which records the actual facts of human life.

STORY ELEMENTS

SETTING: In early stories, there was no definite localization or setting. These are the stories
that begin with “Once upon a time.” The author tells you what happens rather than makes you
see what happens. Modern fiction, on the other hand, brings the setting into living relation with
the action and character. In the artistic sense, setting has many uses:

1. Setting in harmony with action and character. The setting gives greater vividness by visual
appeal. For example, in a funeral, the description of the cemetery deepens the emotion of the
mourners.

2. Setting in effective contrast to character and action. The setting may give different shades
of meanings.

3. Setting determining action. Setting is more than simply a geographical location or time period
that serves as a backdrop to characters’ actions. Places can evolve and change as your story
progresses. You can use their evolution to show the changing circumstances affecting your
characters’ views and options. The time setting of your novel impacts what types of lives your
characters can lead and what choices they can make. This could be the description of a
coastline full of sharp, jagged rocks and swirling waters.
CHARACTER AND CHARACTERIZATION

Characters should at all times be more clearly significant of certain interesting elements of
human nature, more thoroughly representative of certain aspects of human life which it is well
for us to know. The character must be representative of a large type of humanity.

PROTAGONIST VS ANTAGONIST

ROUND VS FLAT

Flat Character - a character who reveals only one, maybe two, personality traits in a story or
novel, and the trait(s) do not change. Round Character - a well developed character who
demonstrates varied and sometimes contradictory traits. Round characters are usually dynamic
(change in some way over the course of a story).

DYNAMIC VS STATIC

A dynamic character is one who learns a lesson or changes as a person (either for better or for
worse). Most main characters and major characters in stories are dynamic. A static character is
a type of character who remains largely the same throughout the course of the storyline. Their
environment may change, but they retain the same personality and outlook as they had at the
beginning of the story. It’s common for secondary characters in stories to be static.

CONFLICT

2 Reasons to Create Conflict in Your Story

Conflict is a literary device that builds tension by challenging the main character and forcing
them to test their values.

1. Provides purpose. By establishing the conflict in the beginning and resolving the conflict by
the end of the story, you give your story direction, motion, and purpose. Without it, a story
would drift along with no beginning, middle, or end.

2. Helps character development. When a character goes up against an opposing force, their
actions and emotions reveal their character traits. This creates compelling characters that are
multi-dimensional and more relatable to the reader.

PLOT

The best stories are planned before they are written; the writers must see the end of their
stories from the beginning, and they must give the reader always a sense of rigorous movement
toward the end. The chronological order makes the action go forward in time while the inverted
order makes the action go backward. Whatever the plot structure used, we feel that et every
point we are getting somewhere – that the author is leading us step by step toward a definite
end and a high point of interest, a definite conclusion. Although, as is usually the case, we
cannot foresee what the end is to be even midway through the story, we feel a certain
reassurance in the knowledge that the author has foreseen it from beginning. This feeling is the
main source of interest in a story. In looking at life, we are confused by the muddle of events
and feel that only the mind of God can foresee the veiled and hidden conclusion. The author
makes life more interesting by making it more intelligible.
The plot can be made up of several seemingly unconnected threads, but as long as they are
presented in a way that communicates to the viewer that these actions and events are
connected in some way, you may safely refer to that chain of events as the “plot.”

What makes a good plot?

1. Explains the chain of events in a story

2. Shows a causal relationship between each event
3. Connects the actions and events in a logical manner

Freytag’s Pyramid is one of the oldest dramatic structures. Developed by Gustav Freytag in the
mid-19th century, this structure has become so ubiquitous, many of the best writers have used
it to write their own stories, even if they didn’t know it was called Freytag’s Pyramid.

Exposition – introduces the characters, the setting, and the basic situation. It is the writer's
opportunity to give background information to the reader or listener about the setting,
establish the theme, and introduce the characters.

Inciting incident – introduces the central conflict. An inciting incident is a pivotal moment that
sets everything else in motion. An inciting incident is an episode or point to start the plot into
motion.

Rising action - includes the series of events (usually the conflicts or struggles of the
protagonist) that increase tension, propel the plot forward, and lead to the climax of the story.
The basic definition of rising action is “what happens in a story leading up to the most exciting
part of a story.”

Climax – is the high point of interest or suspense. In dramatic and nondramatic fiction, the
point at which the highest level of interest and emotional response is achieved. It is the
decisive moment, or turning point.

Falling action - refers to the events that follow the climax of a story. While rising action builds
tension throughout the story, falling action decreases that tension. It leads to the character’s
ultimate resolution. Events that follow the climax but don’t yet bring resolution to the main
character.

Resolution - Brings resolution to the conflict and either relief or tragedy to the main character.

POINT OF VIEW

The internal point of view is good for stories where action is predominant because when
something strange or striking or exciting happens, we prefer to be told about it by the one who
did it or saw it. This POV is also good for stories of intense emotion – no one can tell what one
felt better than oneself. The external point of view is the more popular POV. The narrator is a
sort of all-knowing personality because he/she can follow the characters in all places and knows
what they fell and what they are thinking. The narrator can relate events that happened
simultaneously at different places and to different persons. Darkness cannot dim his eyes;
doors cannot lock him out.

TONE AND MOOD

Tone in writing is not really any different than the tone of your voice. You know that sometimes
it is not what you say, but how you say it. It is the same with writing. Every adjective and
adverb you use, your sentence structure, and the imagery you use will show your tone. The
definition of "tone" in literature is the way the author expresses his attitude through his
writing.

The tone can change very quickly or may remain the same throughout the story. Tone is
expressed by your use of syntax, your point of view, your diction, and the level of formality in
your writing.

In literature, mood is the feeling created in the reader. This feeling is the result of both the
tone and atmosphere of the story. The author's attitude or approach to a character or
situation is the tone of a story and the tone sets the mood of the story. Atmosphere is the
feeling created by mood and tone. The atmosphere takes the reader to where the story is
happening and lets them experience it much like the characters.

THEME

A writer is observant and sensitive. Out of observations of the world, of life, and of humankind,
the writer forms generalizations which are projected to the reader by creating imaginary
characters whose actions and thoughts determine the plot in a story. Or the writer creates a
plot which determines the thoughts and actions of the characters.

Story elements are not just individual parts of a story that function on their own. In this
lesson, we explore the basic elements of a story and how they interact and shape one another to
affect the story. Now that you understand the basics of story elements, think about how they
interact with one another to help drive the events and outcomes of the story. While each can
be studied individually, it is when they work together that their real power emerges.

Elements of a story have a basic cause and effect relationship. Each one affects the other, and
the change, addition, or removal of even one element can dramatically impact the story. As a
reader, you can examine the interactions of these elements in an if/then situation as well. If
the character is an astronaut, then they should be placed in a spaceship. You would not expect
to see that same astronaut in the middle of the ocean, so the setting and character go
together.

An author will choose a specific setting because the where and when of a story has a direct
impact on how the characters will think, act, perceive their situation, and even interact with one
another. Furthermore, the presence or absence of one character could dramatically change the
conflict or plot of the story. If the conflict is changed, then the theme becomes something
altogether different.