LITERARYRY GENRES AND THEIR ELEMENTS

FICTION and ITS ELEMENTS

Prose fiction refers to prose stories based on the author’s imagination. The
essence of fiction is narration – whereby events or action are recounted. Works of
fiction focus on one or few major characters who change in attitude as they interact
with other characters and deal with problems. The main purpose of prose fiction is
to interest, stimulate, instruct and divert. It includes myths, parables, romances,
tales, legends, anecdotes, novels and short stories.

Short story is a relatively recent phenomenon. It arose in the mid 19th century
in the work of authors like Edgar Allan Poe, Honor̓e de Balzac, Washington Irving,
Nathaniel Hawthorn, and others. It is a fictional narrative prose that can be read in
one sitting. It has few characters, simple plot, and single theme. It has close affinity
to myths, fables, parables and legends.
A Fable is a fictitious story relating to supernatural or extraordinary persons or
incidents, and is a product of popular belief, myth or legend. Usually fables have an
obvious moral to them.

Myth is also a fictitious narrative usually involving supernatural persons,

actions, or events, and embodying some popular idea concerning natural or historical
phenomena.

Parable is a short allegorical story designed to illustrate or teach some truth,

religious principle or lesson.

Legend is non-historical or unverifiable story handed down by tradition from

earlier times and popularly accepted as historical.

Anecdote is a short account of a particular incident or event, especially of an

interesting or amusing nature.

Tale is a story (true or fictitious) drawn up so as to interest or amuse, or to

preserve the history of a fact or incident.

Elements of Fiction

One can distinguish fiction from other genres of literature through its
elements—plot, setting, characters, point of view and theme.

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 A. Plot. It is the sequence of the actions and events in a story to convey a
theme. It is the skeleton or the blueprint of a story.

Traditional Plot Structure

Exposition (Introduction). This comes at the beginning of a story. You meet

the characters, learn about the setting, and see the beginning of the conflict or
struggle. This part informs the reader of facts necessary to understand the plot like
facts of time, persona, the conditions of affairs.

Rising action (Complication). The struggle grows stronger. It is the stage by

which conflict moves toward climax. It implies uncertainty, mounting intensity.

Climax. This is the most exciting point in the story. It is the turning point.

Falling action. Events move towards the end of the story.

Resolution (Denouement). The story is brought to an end.

Plot Devices

Chronological/Linear Plot. Actions are arranged sequentially or starts from

the beginning of the events.

Medias res. The story commences in the middle part of the action.

Flashback. Past events are shown to justify the conflict at present.

Foreshadowing. Insignificant events or details are presented as indicators of

future events.

Stream of consciousness. It directly introduces the reader into the interior life
of the character without any intervention in the way of explanation or commentary
on the part of the author. It is the expression of the most intimate thoughts.

Conflict as a component of plot is the opposition of persons or forces in a story

that give rise to the dramatic action in a literary work. It is the basic tension,
predicament, or challenge that propels a story’s plot.

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Types of Conflict

1. Man vs. man

2. Man vs. society
3. Man vs. self
4. Man vs. nature
5. Man vs. fate

In most good fiction, the outcome of this conflict is usually some sort of
change in a character in the story. The change need not be great—it may be just a
new realization, or the confirmation of a belief or attitude already held, but
something about the character has been altered. The most important aspect of this
change is its reasonable motivation; even if the change that takes place is sudden and
dramatic, a good writer will have prepare for it by leaving clues earlier in the story
that help explain the change. Surprise endings that do not have their origin in
believable human actions and situations are merely an easy way for the author to
finish his story.

B. Setting is the time and place in which the events of a story occur. It
consists of the use of evocative portrayal of a region’s distinctive ways of thoughts
and behavior or the so-called “local color” exemplified by the superficial elements of
setting, dialect and customs.
Understanding the setting of the story is an important step in understanding
the story. Throughout the story the writer provides the details about setting for the
reader to shape into a complete picture.

C. Characters are any make-believe persons that are encountered in fiction.

Characterization is the method used by the writer to reveal the personality of the
character/s.

Ways of Revealing Literary Characters

Characters in fiction may be portrayed directly (expository) or indirectly

(dramatic) according to:

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 1. Actions of the characters
2. Thoughts of the characters
3. Dialogue/words of the characters
4. Dialogue/words of other characters
5. Descriptions by other characters
6. Descriptions by the author

Kinds of Characters

1. Protagonist – the major character, or the admirable character who embodies

certain human ideals.
2. Antagonist – the character who provides some sort of contest or opposition
for the protagonist, morally less appealing.
3. Flat – the character whose personality traits are lightly sketched.
4. Static – the character who does not change in the course of the action. He
does not undergo changes.
5. Dynamic – they are life-like characters who exhibit noticeable development.
6. Round – many-sided and complex personalities
7. Foil – a character who exists principally to bring out some traits of the major
character through contrast.

D. Narrative Point of View is the angle from which the story is told. A given
story could be told from several point of view, and each one would probably give a
different slant to the story.

1. First person point of view. The writer narrates the story by using the personal
pronoun “I”.
2. Third person central point of view. The narrator refers to his characters in the
third person but limits himself to narrating only what the central character
thinks, feels, does and what and whom the central character can observe.
3. Third person omniscient point of view. The narrator acts as if he knows
everything that happens including the thoughts of the characters.

E. Tone is the emotional aura which the author associates with the subject

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 and which he hopes to communicate the reader. The tone, or general feeling which
surrounds the work arises ultimately out of the writer’s attitude toward his subject;
that attitude in turn is determined by the significance of the subject to the writer.
The tone employed in a particular piece of literature may express a wide variety of
human feelings; it may be tender or tough, gay or melancholy, sarcastic, ironic,
dramatic, or humble. Consider the event or scene of a given passage and then look at
the language used to determine the tone.

F. Theme is what literature is all about; the purpose of analyzing a piece of

fiction. It is the author’s meaning, his intent, his purpose for writing that story. It is
often his attitude, belief, feeling, or observation about something he feels is
important in human life.
The theme is the writer’s message which may be specifically stated in a story
or may be derived from the total effect of all the element of a story. It is the
generalization about life or human character that a story explicitly or implicitly
embodies. It may be an indicative of a certain philosophy of life, of a particular
worldview, but not necessarily the writer’s personal view.

References:

ANVIL II A Trainor’s Manual in English Literature. 1988

Approaches in the Teaching of Literature

Nem Singh, R. & Pengson, M. 1990. GEMS in World Literature. Manila: National Book
Store, Inc.