English: Elements Of Fiction

Front 1

Exposition

Back 1

Background information that is important to understanding the characters, making the connections between characters, the setting/s, the motives, etc
“Contents of a Dead Man’s Pocket”
- We find out that Tom Beneke is very ambitious; he is determined to move up in his career.
-Knowing this about Tom’s character makes it clear why Tom decides to risk his life.

Front 2

Rising Action

Back 2

Complications occur in this part of the story. For example, in Jack London’s story “To Build a Fire,” the man begins his trek to a camp in weather that is not suitable for solo traveling. He begins to realize the wisdom of the Old Man from Sulfur Creek when he fall through the false snow cover and wets his boots and feet. He knows he is in great peril of losing his toes if he does not stop to build a fire. From that point on, the man fails to overcome one obstacle after another until the story reaches the one moment, the one event, that will determine how the man’s experiences will all turn out.

Front 3

Climax

Back 3

The single event that decides how the story will end. In “By the Waters of Babylon,” by Stephen Vincent Benet, as John journeys to the Dead Place, he makes a dramatic discovery. When he sees the man sitting in a chair looking out at the destruction that “advanced” weapon technology has brought about, John realizes that this scene shows that there were no Gods, that those who lived in these Dead Places were men. John also comes to understand that those inhabitants had lost their ability to learn how to use technology for good. It is this one moment in the story that determines the ending. John returns to his people with a far greater understanding of what can happen when man “[eats] knowledge too fast.”

Front 4

Falling action

Back 4

Events that occur as a direct result of the literary climax. In “The Masque of the Red Death,” Prince Prospero pursues the “spectral image,” dagger drawn and ready to annihilate this intruder. Yet, it is the intruder who kills this rich and prosperous Prince, just as it has killed all the other victims, rich and poor, of that devastated countryside. Upon his death, the revelers too “one by one” fall dead “in the blood-bedewed halls,” each one lying dead “in the despairing posture of his fall.”

Front 5

Resolution

Back 5

The finale, the end to which all the action—beginning to end—comes to be. In Poe’s story, with the deaths of the Prince and his revelers, the ebony clock ceases and the flames of the tripods go out. And the disease continues along its inevitable course: “Death and Decay and the Red Death [hold] illimitable dominion over all.”

Front 6

Character

Back 6

A character is a person, an animal, or thing that takes part in the action of a literary work.
A round character possesses many traits, including faults as well as virtures.
Dynamic characters develop and grow as the story develops.
Round characters are usually dynamic characters.
A flat character demonstrates a single trait.
A static character does not change throughout the course of the story.
A flat character is usually a static character.

Front 7

Point of view

Back 7

The perspective from which a story is told
-first-person: when a character from the story narrates, we know only what the character sees and knows
-third-person: When someone outside the story narrates there are two different views
-omniscient third-person : the narrator is all knowing and all seeing, the narrator knows more about the characters and events than any one character can know
-limited third-person: When the narrator only knows the feelings and doings of one character

Front 8

Setting

Back 8

“The setting of a literary work is the time and place of the action. Time can include not only the historical period—past, present, or future—but also a specific year, season or time of day. Place may involve not only the geographical place—a country, state, or town—but also the social or cultural environment” In Ray Bradbury’s story “There Will Come Soft Rains,” the setting is key to the story: 2026. The year dictates the possibility that the event that has caused the massive destruction is a nuclear attack, a direct result of the development of atomic weapons to facilitate the end of WWII.

Front 9

Symbol

Back 9

Anything/Anyone that stands for, or represents, something/someone else. For example, in Poe’s story “The Masque of the Red Death,” the seven chambers represent the passage of time/life. If one thinks of life’s divisions as a “day” then the chambers and their colors symbolize how the day dawns and the sun moves from the east to the west, the sky alight with the varying colors associated with daytime and nighttime. In terms of life, life too travels a pathway that travels from “east” to “west”—birth to death.

Another symbol in this story is the ebony clock, which Poe uses to symbolize the passage of time/death. Thus, each time the clock sounds the hour, the revelers are reminded that like time, life too is running its course for them.

Front 10

Theme

Back 10

A central message or insight revealed through a literary work. It is a generalization about people or about life that is communicated through the literary work.

-may be stated directly or implied, often implied so one must think about the ideas behind the story

Some literary works only have a single theme other works might have several themes

Some literary works may lack a specific theme

“To Build a Fire,” the nameless man’s ordeal seems to imply that man, though capable in many ways, cannot out-master nature. the situation reminds the readers that nature is a powerful force and man must learn to live within the limits it exerts.

“Civil Peace” the main character overcomes the casualties that the civil war in Nigeria has caused. He realizes that what people often value are things that have little worth when compared with that of human lives. The character realizes that one cannot lose hope because of bad things that happen. In a more general sense, life will continue to present challenges, whether in the form of a national disaster.

Front 11

Plot

Back 11

Includes the expedition, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution. The outline that sets the boundaries for a story.