ELEMENTS OF

FICTION AND
DRAMA
Contemporary, Popular, and Emergent
Literature
ELEMENTS OF FICTION AND DRAMA
• Plot
• Characters
• Theme
• Symbolism
• Setting
• Tone
• Point Of View
PLOT

Plot is the unfolding of a dramatic situation; it is

what happens in the narrative. Be aware that writers of
fiction arrange fictional events into patterns. They select
these events carefully, they establish causal relationships
among events, and they enliven these events with
conflict. Therefore, more accurately defined, plot is a
pattern of carefully selected, casually related events that
contain conflict.
There are two general categories of
conflict:
• Internal Conflict
1. Person vs Self
• External Conflict
1. Person vs. Fate/God
2. Person vs. Person
3. Person vs Society
4. Person vs. Nature
5. Person vs. Supernatural
6. Person vs. Technology
Act 1: The Exposition

The audience learns the setting (Time/Place),

characters are developed, and conflict is introduced.
• Setting: Verona Italy, 16th or 17th century
• Characters: Capulets and Montagues, specifically,
Romeo and Juliet
• Conflict: The Montagues and Capulets are feuding
Act 2: Rising Action

The action of this act leads the audience to the

climax. It is common for complications to arise, or for the
protagonist to encounter obstacles.
• Romeo and Juliet fall in love but cannot be together
because their families do not like each other. They
decide to get married in secret.
Act 3: The Climax

This is the turning point of the play. The climax is

characterized by the highest amount of suspense.
• After crashing the Capulet party, Tybalt goes after the Montague
crew and kills Mercutio.
• To avenge his friend, Romeo duels with and kills Tybalt - Juliet's
cousin.
• Romeo is banished, but before he goes he gives Juliet a proper
wedding night!
Act 4: Falling Action
The opposite of Rising Action, in the Falling Action the story
is coming to an end, and any unknown details or plot twists are
revealed and wrapped up.
• Juliet’s parents arrange a marriage for her to Paris.
• She and the Friar have an elaborate plan to get her out of a
second marriage by faking her death. Part of this plan is that
Romeo will receive a letter saying she’s not dead.
• Romeo - never having received the letter - thinks Juliet has died
• Romeo buys poison and goes to her tomb to commit suicide
Act 5: Denouement / Resolution
This is the final outcome of the drama. Here the authors tone
about his or her subject matter is revealed, and sometimes a moral or
lesson is learned.
• Romeo confronts Paris at Juliet’s tomb, and slays him before taking
his own life.
• Juliet awakens from her sleeping potion to see Romeo has
committed suicide.
• She takes his dagger and kills herself.
• The Friar and Nurse explain to the Capulet and Montague families
that the two lovers were married in secret.
• Both families are saddened by the situation, and vow to end their
long-standing feud.
QUESTIONS ABOUT PLOT:
 What is the main conflict?  What qualities or values
 What are the minor does the author associate
conflicts? with each side of the
 How are all the conflicts conflict?
related?  Where does the turning
 What causes the point or climax occur?
conflicts? Why?
 Which conflicts are  How is the main conflict
external, which are resolved?
internal?  Which conflicts go
unresolved? Why?
CHARACTERS
• Simple (or “flat”)
Characters have only one or two personality traits
and are easily recognizable as stereotypes — the
shrewish wife, the lazy husband, the egomaniac, etc.
• Complex (or “rounded”)
Characters have multiple personality traits and
therefore resemble real people.
 QUESTIONS ABOUT CHARACTERS:
 Are they simple, complex,  What problems do they have?
dynamic or static?  How do they attempt to solve
 If they are complex, what makes them?
them complex?  Do they experience epiphanies
 What are the traits of the main (life changing moments of insight,
characters in the story? discovery or revelation)?
 Do they change? How and why?  What emotional reactions do the
 What events or moments of self- main characters have and in
realization produce these reaction to what?
changes?  Do they have traits that contradict
 What do they learn? one another or cause internal
 Does what they learn help or conflicts?
hinder them?  How do they interact with one
another?
 How do they relate to one another?
THEME

The theme is an idea or point that is central

to a story, which can often be summed up in a
word or a few words (e.g. loneliness, fate,
oppression, rebirth, coming of age; humans in
conflict with technology; nostalgia; the dangers of
unchecked power).
 QUESTIONS ABOUT THEME:
 Is the title or are the character
names related to the theme?
 Does the main character change in
any way? Realize anything
important?
 Does the author or do the characters
make any important observations
about life, human nature or human
behavior?
 Are themes revealed through
actions, dramatic statements or
personalities of characters?
 If characters convey conflicting
values, which values does the work
seem to be defending?
 Are there repeating patterns or
symbols?
 What image of humankind emerges
from the work? How is society
portrayed?
 Are characters in conflict with their
society?
 If the society is flawed, how is it
flawed?
 What control over their lives do the
characters have?
 What are the moral issues or conflicts
in the work?
 What did you feel after you read the
story?
 What part of your life connected with
the story and where did that
connection happen?
 What ideas are implied by the total
SYMBOLISM

In the broadest sense, a symbol is

something that represents something else. Words,
for example, are symbols. But in literature, a
symbol is an object that has meaning beyond
itself. The object is concrete and the meanings
are abstract.
QUESTIONS ABOUT SYMBOLS:

 What symbols does the  Is there evidence in the

work seem to have? text that can be used to
 Are you sure you are not understand and develop
finding a “symbol” where this symbol?
none was intended?  What does the symbol
 How do you know it is a mean?
symbol?  What larger meaning can
 What does the author do be understood though this
that gives symbolic symbol?
meaning to this element?
SETTING

The social mores, values, and customs of

the world in which the characters live; the
physical world; and the time of the action,
including historical circumstances.
TONE

The narrator’s predominant attitude

toward the subject, whether that subject is a
particular setting, an event, a character, or
an idea.
POINT OF VIEW
• Omniscient point of view—the author tells the story and
assumes complete knowledge of the characters’ actions
and thoughts.
• Limited omniscient point of view—the author still narrates
the story but restricts his or her revelation—and therefore our
knowledge—to the thoughts of just one character.
• First person point of view—one of the characters tells the
story, eliminating the author as narrator. The narration is
restricted to what one character says he or she observes.
• Objective point of view—the author is the narrator but does
not enter the minds of any of the characters. The writer sees
them (and lets us see them) as we would in real life.