(PHD thesis Dr.GUERROUJ NOUREDDINE).

Defining fiction:
The term fiction is used to characterize any form of prose writing which presents something
invented or imagined; the author has made up the actions, persons, places, even if some of this
material has been modeled after events and people in real life. The essential aspect of fiction, then,
is that the author has used his material for the creation of a new invented and fictitious reality.
Fictional writing includes novels and short stories and presents plots, characters and setting
invented by the author’s use of imagination Nonfictional writing, however, entails biographies,
autobiographies, essays and literary articles and describes real people and real setting in an
imaginative way. They can also present the author’s opinions, feelings, and attitudes towards real
events (Manly, 1974).

Types of fiction:
The short story:
The short story is a prose narrative which is shorter and less complex than the novel. In fact, it is
considered to be one of the most popular forms of literature since it deals with people, places,
actions and events that seem to be familiar to the reader. Besides, it is short enough to be read in
one sitting. It is made up of elements such as plot, character, setting, point of view, and theme. In a
short story both characters and events are the product of the author’s imagination. The short story
concentrates on one incident in the lives of a small number of characters. This incident is a
decisive moment of crisis or conflict. The short story writer has to select only meaningful scenes
and events to form the plot since he has much less space to develop the action and to bring about
the key moment (crisis).

The elements of narration:

The narrator’s subject matter is to create a situation or event to communicate his impressions
and reactions. His way of telling, the choice of words and details present his subjective view of
the event. The four elements of narrator, audience (reader), subject matter (facts, details) and
the way of telling it (mode of narration) have to be kept in mind when it comes to interpreting
narrative prose. We will explain in a more extensive way the elements and devices of narration.
The narrator:
The narrator is the person who tells the story and has a decisive influence on the choice of
subject matter and on the language and its organization in the process of narrating. Sometimes
the narrator appears in the text as one of the persons and tells about his own experiences and
observations; as a consequence, the story is told in the first person singular (see Appendix six).
I read about it in the paper in the subway, on my way to work. I read it, and I
couldn’t believe it, and I read it again. Then perhaps I just stared at it, at the

1
 newsprint spelling out his name, spelling out the story. I stared at it in the swinging
lights of the subway car, and in the faces and bodies of the people, and in my own
face
trapped in the darkness which roared outside.
It was not to be believed and I kept telling myself that, as I walked from the subway
station
to the high school. And at the same time I couldn’t it. I was scared, scared for Sonny.
The narrator in sonny’s Blues speaks from his personal point of view and everything he tells is
seen through his eyes and reflects his subjective outlook and attitude. In such a case, we speak
of a limited perspective of narration or a limited point of view. It is very important not to
confuse this way of narrating in the first person singular with the author’s personal point of
view. If it should be the case, the narrator has become the author’s mouthpiece.
Most prose narratives, however, present their material without explicitly showing from which
perspective or point of view they are told. The narrator keeps himself out of the story he
narrates and remains hidden. Here the author can present a much wider scope of objects and
events as he is not limited to the narrow perspective of one character.

Characters in prose narratives:

No matter who tells the story, the reader’s attention will be primarily concerned with the way
the characters in a narrative are introduced and portrayed to the reader. The term character
here means ‘person’, being the ‘hero’ or the ‘heroine’. The term hero is also used in case of a
villain or negative personality. What the author is interested in is to explore the psyche or the
state of mind of his characters; he can do this as he has access to their inner life: they are his
fictitious inventions. Mostly, the characters have one or a number of experiences which lead to
an inner development.
There are two possibilities of presenting characters in fiction: the description from outside and
from within the person. The first concentrates on the outward appearance. Essential aspects of
the characterization of persons through their looks are: their constitution and physical
condition, their paralinguistic feature i .e facial expression and gestures. These physical
characteristics are usually accompanied by a detailed description of the clothes, their state and
shape, the quality of the material, the colours, etc. Clothes serve as highlighting traits of
character states of mind or personal tastes. Character traits are the qualities that make up a
character’s personality. He can be clever, courageous, and daring. These traits can be seen
through a character’s actions and words and also through the author’s manner of describing
the character. When it comes to describing a character’s inner world the narrator concentrates
on the emotional or intellectual aspects of personality. The emotional situation can be outlined
by looking at the feelings, and the mood. A character’s drives i .e the instinctive impulses, his
needs and motivations reveal essential elements of the emotional state. A character’s intellect is
shown by his power of understanding, his consciousness, reasoning, knowledge, and intuition.

The plot:

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Whether the author may choose one of the characters as a narrator or keeps out of the process
of narration, his most important task in writing is to arrange the subject matter so that the
course of action takes an intended direction and comes to premeditated end. This is done by
organizing the single scenes or events of the total action in a sequence. If the author succeeds
in linking these single parts together so that one action causes the following we may say that the
story has a plot. Any chain of actions which is held together by a cause and effect relationship
of the single events is a plot. The sequence of events focuses on a conflict, which is the struggle
between opposing forces, or on a problem that must be solved. The plot exposition, in which the
situation is revealed. The events built towards a climax, the highest point of interest. It is the
turning point in the story that occurs when characters try to resolve the complication. They
continue towards a resolution, in which the story comes to its end.
Analyzing the plot of a story means to look for the main reason which started the action, to
write a plot-summary asks for the written outline of the chain of events as they caused by one
another. As a narrative device, the plot is the main structural means to lead the action up to the
climax which is the main and decisive event for the characters. The narrator has to concentrate
on the time relation and the duration of the actions. He may choose to present the events either
in their chronological order by following their appearance in time or he may use flashback i .e
to present actions within the narration which refer the reader back to a time which is set in the
past.

The setting:
The setting of a story is both the time and place of the action. It is used to describe the scenery
of surroundings in which the action of a story on novel goes on. In a short story, it is usually
presented through detailed description. As in Baldwin’s story ‘Sonny’s Blues’, which was
published in the collection Going to Meet the Man, is set in the early 1950s in New York City.
The characters of a story which deals with today’s world are set in a present-day environment
whereas the persons in a story about times gone by are presented in a historical setting.
The setting may by described in its full details to convey information and make the reader
visualize the scene of action. This type of prose is called descriptive. When this is the case, one
can find a correspondence between the characters, their state of mind or mood and their
surroundings. Very often the setting serves to show a character’s background or social status,
as for example Sonny, an unemployed jazz pianist and occasional heroin user lives in Harlem.
All this shows that the interpretation of a piece of fiction requires a careful study of the setting
is serves to explain much of a character’s thinking and motivations as well as his position in
society.

‘Introduction to literature’ by RAGHDA AL-SHARABATI, by dar al muotaz, 2008,

jORDAN

How can you read Literature? What is the purpose of literary analysis? It is always said that the
purpose of literary analysis is to increase understanding, not destroy it. However, in
understanding, a certain amount of deconstruction must take place. In order to avoid that kind of
deconstruction, read the following suggestions of reading literary works: Look for the facts in the

3
page. Read for general information such as who,what,where,when,and how. Save the why for later
if it isn't readily apparent. Try to answer as many questions as you can.In other words, what's
happening in the story or poem or play?Who are the participants and what are they doing? Try to
understand what seems to be clear and understandable. Try to understand the relationship in the
story. Look for what is important and significant.Read the same text more than once so you can be
aware of connections that are made in the text.Remember that every word in the literary work
counts especially when we talk about poetry.

Quotations of famous writers

"All good books are alike in that they are truer than if they had really happened and after you
finished reading one you will feel that all that happened to you and afterwards it all belongs to
you. The good and the bad, the ecstasy, the remorse and sorrow, the people and the places and
how the weather was’ Ernest Hctningway

"The aim of every artist is to arrest motion, which is life by artificial means and hold it fixed so
that a hundred year s later. when a stranger looks at it, it moves again since it is life. Since man is
mortal, the only immortality possible for him is to leave something behind that is immortal since it
will always move. William Faulkner

"The responsibility of a writer is to excavate the experience of the people who produced him.
"__James Baldwin "I can't bear art that you can walk around and admire. A book should be either
a bandit or a rebel or a man in the crow d. "__D. H. Lawrence "SOme books are undeservedly
forgotten none are undeservedly remembered. "__W. H. Auden

are ready and which have gone a little further down our particular path than we have yet
ourselves." --E.M.Forster “Great books are weighed and measured by their style and manner and
not by the trimmings and shadings of their gramm ar."--Mark Twain Thus we can say: Literature
is the imaginative representation of life that readers should enjoy and take experience and wisdom
from.It is a way to express human emotions,feelings,passions and sufferings as well.It is the
reflection of culture and the mirror of economical,political,religious way of life in a certain place
and time.

further down our --E. M. F orster "Gr eat books are weighed and meas'ured by their styleand
manner and ilot by the trimmings and shadings of theiror amlllar. Rl_= Mar k T\Lra I n Thus we
can say Liter ature is the iLTraginative representation of life thatreaders should enj oy and take
experience and wisdom »om. Itis a way to express human emotions, feelings, passions
andsufferings as well. It is the of economical, political, religious way of life in a certain placeand
time. are ready and which have gone a little narticular path than we have yet ourselves. 11
reflection of culture and the mirror

4
Fiction

What is fiction? . Fiction is the type of prose writing you read when you only want to read for
pleasure or fun.It includes short stories and novels as well as any other prose writing. After
reading a work of fiction,you may or may not have learned anything or any facts but you have
been entertained. Fiction also helps us understand.It enables the reader to see the meaning and
harmony of life.When you read fiction,you know the meaning of your own life;on the other hand,
you can live in another person's life. Interestingly,when you read fiction,you feel that the writer is
talking about YOU;this is why you like fiction. .To most of us,fiction is like a day dream in which
we don't remain ourselves,but we can be several other characters.Every part of fiction,whether the
writer means this or not,stands for a sense of human's life and experience as well.So fiction is the
imaginative enactment. It reflects the awareness of life. For the writer,it reflects his/her own vision
of life. To quote Rebecca Luken's,"Literature for any age is words chosen with skill and artistry to
give readers pleasure and to help them understand them selves and others."

Short stories and Novels

A short story is a short work of fiction. Fiction, as you know,is prose writing about imagined
events and characters.It is the type of fiction writing that describes the plot intensively. People like
to read short stories more than novels because short stories are much shorter than novels.Most
short stories have a simple structure.They focus on the life of a single character,or perhaps a
couple of characters.They are centered on a single incident,usually a very significant one. A short
story could have more characters or more events or other complications,but they tend to be
short.Prose writing differs from poetry in that it does not depend on verses,meters or rhymes for
its organization and presentation. A novel is a long piece of fiction.The actual length can vary
greatly. Novels tend to be much more complex in structure than short stories.

A novel may be only slightly more complicated than a short story (in fact, it is possible for a novel
to have a structure identical to the short story or it m ay be far more complicated than it. The
falling action/denouement tends to be a little longer than in a short story as well; with all those
complications it can take longer for the writer to get the characters back to normal and show the
results of the climax. Some short stories, however, can be quite long If a short story is a long one,
say fifty to one hundred pages, we call it a novella. What makes these authors such remarkable
short story writers? They are true masters at combining the five key elements that go into every
great short story: character, setting,conflict,plot and theme.

The nature and the structure of fiction

1.Action: it is the material that makes up the story.Or it is the story of the plot which can be
organized,ordered and selected to shape the plot.The writer always has a story,a lot of

5
events;he/she makes the plot by using two aspects:ordering and selection. So once the events are
ordered after being selected,it is called the plot

2.Plot-

the sequence of events or incidents of which the story is composed.Or it is the final shaping of the
action in the story. Plot is the structure of events within a story and the causal relationship between
them.There is no plot without causality.In DARK THEY WERE WITH GOLDEN EYES, the
Bittering family went to Mars,this event is not a plot,but when we say that the Bittering family
went to Mars to escape the atomic bomb,it is then a plot. Plot line Plot lines are the graphs of the
stories.Plot line show how story builds up. There are 5 parts of a plot line: 1.Exposition 2.Rising
action 3.Climax 4.Falling action 5.Resolution

How is plot developed?

1. Create a character. 2.Give this character a problem to deal with. 3. Imagine at least three
different ways this particular character might possibly deal with this particular problem. 4. Pick
one (or more)of these options,and imagine at least three different ways it a) wouldn't work,and b)
would make the character's situation worse. 5. By doing this,you have evolved from a character
dealing with a problem,to a character dealing with a worse problem that's directly and causally
linked to the first. This is all plotting is;the evolution of the character's difficulties,through the
story,until a resolution is reached. Conflict Conflict is the struggle between two opposing
forces.The struggle could be that of actions,ideas,desires or wills. The four known kinds of
conflicts are: 1.Person against person. 2.Person against environment exemplified by nature.

3.Person against society 4. Person against herself/himself-conflict with some element in her/his
own nature;maybe physical, mental, emotional,or m oral.

3.Character

Characters are people participating in the story, some times characters are animals too,such as in
ANIMAL FARM. But it is known that a character is a person who is responsible for the thoughts
and actions within a story, poem, or other literature.Characters are extremely important because
they are the medium through which a reader interacts with a piece of literature. Every character
has his or her own personality, which a creative author uses to assist in forming the plot of a story
or creating a mood.The different attitudes,mannerisms, and even appearances of characters can
greatly influence the other major elements in a literary work,such as theme,setting, and tone. With
this understanding of the character,a reader can become more aware of other aspects of
literature,such as symbolism,giving the reader a more complete understanding of the work. The

6
character is one of the most important tools available to the author.The writer may describe
Characters' appearance, personality,speech,behaviour,thoughts andfeelings

Characters could be introduced by several ways:

Protagonist and Antagonist-the protagonist is the central or the leading character in the literary
work.the character or The forces working against her/him,whether persons,things, conventions of
society,or traits of their own character,are the antagonists.

4.Scene and atmosphere:

Jack Hodgins defines a scene as"a unit of continuous prose narrative,taking place in one
location,in which we see and hear characters close-up,in order to move the story ahead by showing
what is accomplished when one or more characters (or one character and a significant object)come
together in a way that someone (perhaps everyone)pursues a goal and either succeeds,fails,or
partially succeeds or fails,or lays the groundwork for succeeding here are some the essential
elements concerning scene".Scenes show what happen in the story accompanied by
dialogue,Scene could be defined as a piece of fiction that moves the plot along and closer to the
resolution of the problem.The scenes of the story are the story itself. The scene is the place and the
action that takes place

within it,whereas the atmosphere is the feelings and impressions that are connected with such
scene.it is the moodof the literary work which the writer creates through the complete
scene.Briefly,atmosphere is the general feeling that accom panies the scene.

5.Points Of View

It is the relationship between the teller of the story (narrator)and the characters in it It could be
defined as a way the events of a story are conveyed to the reader,points of view could be: A.First
Person point of view: when the teller(the narrator)is a character in the;the story is told using the
first person"I". B.Third-person point of view:when the narrator is not participating in the story.A
writer who describes the thoughts,feelings,actions of any or all the characters, is said to be om
niscient.But if the writer follows up with only one single character and tends to view events from
that character's point of view is said to be limited omniscient. Dramatic point of view is used by
the writer who describes only events the way they seem.

6.Style: It is the distinctive way of every writer in writing so whenever you read any of his/her
text; you know that it is his/hers.It involves the choice of diction (the way a writer chooses
words),syntax(the way a writer arranges words in sentences) and exploits their significance.Style
is the key to know who are the writers of certain literary works that reflects their
individuality,conveys their unique ways of seeing the world.

7.Theme: it is the main idea of the literary work,a common thread that is incorporated throughout
a literary work.A theme is a thought or idea the author presents to the reader that may be

7
deep,difficult to understand,or even moralistic.A theme may be directly stated,or it may be
implied.Generally,a theme has to be extracted as the reader explores the passages of a work.

8.Setting: It is the time,place,physical details,and circumstances in which a situation occurs.

Settings include the background, atmosphere or environment in which characters live and move,
and usually include physical characteristics of the surroundings. setting may be suggested through
the scene or may be described by the narrator or one of the characters.It helps in shaping the
atmosphere of the story. A Setting enables the reader to better envision how a story unfolds by
relating necessary physical details of a piece of literature.Settings have a way of drawing the
reader into a piece of literature while facilitating understanding of the characters and their actions.
Understanding the setting is useful because it enables us to see how an author captures the
attention of the reader by painting a mental picture using words.

9.Tone: is the author's implicit attitude toward the reader,subject, and/or the people,places,and
events in a work as revealed by the elements of the author's style. Tone may be characterized as
serious or ironic,sad or happy,private of public,angry or affectionate,bitter or nostalgic,or any
other attitudes and feelings that human beings experience.