Plot, setting, character, conflict, symbol and

point of view are the main elements that fiction writers use to develop a
story and theme. Because literature is an art and not a science, it is impossible to
quantify any of these elements or guarantee that each will be present in any given
story. The setting might be the most important element in one and almost
nonexistent in another. With that understanding, let us examine the elements of
fiction.

Plot. The plot consists of the events that unfold to make up the story. It is what
gets us interested in reading in the first place. It is the carrot on the string that pulls
us through a story as we want to see what would happen next.

Setting. Stories have two types of settings: physical and chronological. The physical
setting is where the story takes place. The "where" can be very general, such as a
small farming community. It can also be specific, such as a two-story white frame
mansion at Calle Seminario. Likewise, the chronological setting, the "when," can be
equally general or specific. The author's choices are important. Shirley Jackson
gives virtually no clues about where or when her story "The Lottery" is set.
Examination suggests that she wants the story to be universal, not limited by time
or place.

Character. What type of individuals are the main characters? Brave: cowardly,
bored, obnoxious? If you, tell me that the protagonist (the main character) is brave,
you should be able to explain how you got that perception based on the individual
says, what the individual does an evaluate characters in there and what others say
about him or her. e ways: what story. In literature, as in real life, we can evaluate
characters in three ways: what the individual says, what the individual does, and
what others say about him or her.

Conflict. Two types of conflict are possible: external and internal. External conflict
could be man against nature (people in a small lifeboat on a rough ocean) or man
against man. On the other hand, internal conflict is when man is against himself.
While internal conflict might not seem as exciting as external, remember that real
life has far more internal than external conflict.

Symbol. A symbol is something that means something else. Usually, it’s a tangible
physical thing that represents something intangible. A rose may symbolize love, a
dove and freedom, while the apple from the creation story depicts knowledge. The
main idea of a story or a poem rarely depends solely on understanding a symbol.
However important or interesting they might be, symbols are usually "frosting,"
things which add interest or depth.

Point of view. Point of view is the "narrative point of view," how the story is told,
or more specifically, who tells it. There are two distinctly different points of view,
and each of those two types has two variations. In the First Person point of view, the
story is narrated by a character who uses the first-person pronoun, I. If the narrator
is the main character, the point of view is the first-person protagonist. Mark Twain
lets Huck Finn narrate his own story, while Anna Sewell makes Black Beauty tell his
experience as a working horse in this point of view (POV).

If the narrator is a secondary character, the point of view is first-person observer.

Arthur Conan Doyle lets Sherlock Holmes' friend Dr. Watson son tell this the
Sherlock Holmes story. Doyle frequently gets credit for telling detective stories s
way, but Edgar Allan Poe perfected the technique half a century earlier.

In the Third Person point of view, the story is not told by a character but by an
"invisible author," using the third person pronoun (he, she, or it) to tell the story.
Instead of Huck Finn speaking directly to us, "My name's Huckleberry Finn", and
telling us, "I killed a pig and spread the blood around so people would think I'd been
killed," the third person narrator would say: "He killed a pig and spread the
blood...". If the third-person narrator tells us the characters' thoughts (He wondered
where he lost his baseball glove), he is a third-pers If the third-person narrator only
on omniscient (all-knowing) narrator. If the third-person narrator only describes
details as if they were recorded by a camera and microphone (no thoughts), he is a
third-person dramatic narrator.

Different points of view can emphasize different things. A first-person protagonist

narrator would give us access to the thoughts of the main character. If the author
does not want us to have that access, he could use the first-person observer, for
example, or the have dramatic.

Theme. The theme is not so much an element Of fiction as much as the entire
story's result. The theme is the main idea the writer of the poem or story wants the
reader to understand and remember. You may have used the word "moral" in
discussing the theme; but it is not a suitable synonym because e"mworal" implies
an ethical principle oridea and not all themes are such. One word—love, for exam
le- a topic, but it cannot be a theme. A theme is a general statement important
thing in the world." That's cliche about the topic. For example: "The theme of the
story is that love is the most not all stories or poems (or films) have an overriding
"universal" theme.