9 Elements of Fiction
The Formal Elements of Fiction
Active reading involves reading a text and analyzing its features to determine its potential meanings. A common approach to analyzing short fiction is to focus on five basic elements: plot , character , setting ,conflict , and theme .
The plot of a work of fiction is the series of events and character actions that relate to the central conflict. A character is a person, or perhaps an animal, who participates in the action of the story. The settingof a piece of fiction is the time and place in which the events happen, including the landscape, scenery, buildings, seasons, or weather. The conflict is a struggle between two people or things in a short story. The main character is usually on one side of the central conflict. The theme is the central idea or issue conveyed by the story. These five basic elements combine to form what might be called the overallnarrative of story. In the next section, we will discuss the narrative arc of fiction in more detail.
Below are the formal elements of fiction and questions that will help you to read texts actively.
Questions for Active Reading:
Plot
- How does the text present the passing of time?
- Does it present time in a chronological way?
- Or does it present the event in a non-chronological way?
- What verb tenses are used? (i.e. past, present, future)
Character
- How are the characters described?
- Do the characters talk in unique or peculiar ways?
- Are the names of the characters important or meaningful?
- What kind of conflicts emerge between the characters?
Setting
- When and where does the story seem to take place?
- Is there anything important or meaningful in regards to the time of day or time of year the story seems to take place?
- Is there any significance to the atmospheric, environmental, or weather events that take place?
Conflict
- What problem or issue serves as the story’s focus?
- Is the conflict an explicit one between the story’s characters?
- Or is there a larger question or concern that is implied through the story’s narration?
Theme
- What is the relationship between the title of the story and the text?
- What main issue or idea does the story address? (1)
Narrative Arc
The narrative arc — or dramatic structure — of a story may be divided into several phases of development. One traditional method of the analysis of fiction involves identifying five major stages of the development of the plot. The five major stages are known as the exposition (or introduction), the rising action (sometimes referred to as complicating action), the climax (or turning point), the falling action , and the denouement (or resolution).
The exposition of a story introduces characters’ backstory and key information about the setting. With this foundation laid, the dramatic tension then builds, thus creating the rising action of the story through a series of related events that complicate and exacerbate the major conflicts of the story. The turning point of t