Module 4 | Reading and Writing Fiction (Introduction to Fiction Writing, & Elements,

Techniques and Literary Devices)

Time Frame: November 07-11, 2022

At the end of the session, you should be able to:

 identify the various elements, techniques, and literary devices in fiction;
 read, critique, and analyze the elements of fiction used in a short story;
 create a short story exploring the elements, techniques, and literary devices in writing
fiction;
 reflect on the given literary text.

Warm Up/Anticipatory Set

1. Recall a movie you saw lately and share to the class its story/plot.
2. Contemplate on the given quote.
"It is our choices, Harry, that show us who we truly are, far more than our abilities."
~ Albus Dumbledore (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K Rowling)

Asynchronous Activity 2.1

Enjoy reading the story Pork Empanada by Tony Perez and answer the guide questions in the file.
Submit the output in the LMS.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/13UsjTUfPZJVKHwy5z42jNgyxe-D2-9g6/view?usp=sharing

Overview

The term fiction comes from the Latin fictio, meaning “something invented”. Thus fiction is any
prose writing that tells and invented or imaginary story. Some fiction, the historical novel of
example, is based on fact, while other forms, such as the fantasy tale, are highly unrealistic.
Fictional works also vary in structure and length, from the newly recognized short story (a very
brief short story) to the book-length novel. Other forms include the traditional short story and the
novella, a fictional work of intermediate length.

Know more about introduction to fiction here.

Introduction to Fiction PDF
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1k1sRP1W-Eq4_tbuG0ygpCrgZwngGwlNT/view?usp=sharing

The Development of Fiction

The oldest fictions are the prose stories told in the oral tradition, which include myths, legends,
and fables as stipulated in the EMC Masterpiece Series (164), early written prose fictions include
Petronius’s Satyricon and Apuleius’s The Golden Ass, written by Romans in the first and second
centuries. The first novel, The Tale of Genji, was written by a Japanese woman, Lady Murasaki
Shikibu, in the eleventh century. Early fictions from Europe include Boccaccio’s Decameron, a
collection of short prose tales written in the mid-fourteenth century, and Cervantes’s Don
Quixote, a satire of medieval romance tales written in the early seventeenth century.
The Novel

The novel developed from various kinds of non-fictional writing, including autobiographies,
biographies, travel sketches journals, and letters. Arguably, the first full-fledged novel in English
was AphraBehn’s Oronooko, published in 1688.

The Short Story

The short story genre, or type, originated in the United States. Important American figures in the
development of the short story include Washington Irving (1783-1859), Nathaniel Hawthorne
(1804-1864), and Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849), the father of modern American short story. Poe
was instrumental in defining the genre, which he described as a short work that creates a single
dominant impression on the reader. According to Poe, every detail in a short story should
contribute to creating that overall impression or effect. It provides essential structure in the story
by arranging its action in a unified order from the beginning through the middle to end; can be
read in one setting and in one sitting

Elements of Fiction

A. SETTING/MILIEU – where and when is the story set? It represents both the physical location
and time (i.e. past, present, future) and the social and cultural condition in which the characters
exist.

The setting is the time, place, period, mood and atmosphere in which a story occurs, together
with all the details used to create a sense of a particular time and place. It also includes the
geographical location, the socio-economic characteristics of the location. The mood is the
emotion created in the reader by part or all of the literary work. A writer creates mood through
judicious use of concrete details. These details might include descriptions of the setting, of
characters, and of events.

Setting is most often revealed by means of descriptions of such elements as landscape, scenery,
buildings, furniture, clothing, weather, and the season. It can also be revealed by how characters
talk and behave.

Setting also includes the general social, political, moral, and psychological conditions in which
characters find themselves. Writing in which particular setting play an important role is called
regional fiction. The details used to create a particular regional setting are called local color. All
these help in the portrayal of characters, especially in the play production.

B. CHARACTER – Characters are the people, animals, or imaginary creatures that take part in the
action of a story. Usually, a short story centers on the life of one person or animal. That person or
creature is the main character in the story. Generally, there is also one or more mini characters in
the story. Minor characters sometimes provide part of the background for the story. More often,
however, minor characters interact with the main character and with one another. Their words
and actions help the plot to move along.

The following are some useful terms for describing characters:

a. Protagonist – main character; central figure in a story
 b. Antagonist – character who opposes a protagonist
c. Major character – one with a significant role in the action of a story
d. Minor character – one who plays a lesser role. Because of limitations of length and
focus, most short stories have, at most, one or two major characters.
e. One-dimensional character – or flat character, or caricature is one who exhibits a single
dominant quality, or character trait. It is stereotyped, shallow, often symbolic. They have
one or two personality traits.
f. Three-dimensional characters – or full, or rounded character is one who exhibits the
complexity of traits associated with actual human beings. Round character has
convincingly many character traits and is convincingly true to life.
g. Static character – one who does not change during the course of the story.
h. Dynamic character – one who does change during the course of the story.
i. Stock character – one found again and again in different literary works. Examples of
stock characters include the mad scientist and the absent-minded professor.
j. Motivation – force that moves a character to think, feel, or behave in a certain way. For
example, a character may be motivated by greed, love, or friendship. The particular
reasons or cause behind a character’s actions are his or her motives.
k. Characterization – the use of literary techniques to create a character.

Three Major Techniques in Characterization

1. Direct Description – the writer, through a speaker, a narrator, or another character,
simply comments or reacts to other character, telling the reader about such matters as
the character’s physical appearance, habits, dress, background, personality, motivations,
and so on.
2. Portrayal of Character’s Behavior – the writer presents the actions and speech of the
character, allowing the reader to draw his or her own conclusions from what the
character says or does.
3. Representations of Character’s Internal States – the writer reveals directly the
character’s private thoughts and emotions often by means of what is known as the
internal monologue.

C. PLOT – The events that happen in a story.

a. Exposition/Introduction – beginning of the story where the characters and the setting
is revealed. Sets the tone and mood and provides necessary background information.
Simply, it is the start of the story, which tells the wat things are before the action starts.
b. Inciting Action/Incident – events that introduce the central conflict, or when the
character initially is into conflict. Also known as involution.
c. Rising Action or Complication – events in the story become complicated and the conflict
in the story is revealed. It develops the conflict to a high point of intensity.
d. Climax – highest point of interest and the turning point of the story. Readers wonder
what will happen next; will the conflict be resolved or not? Simply, the most intense
moment (either mentally or in action). It is the point in the plot where something decisive
happens to determine the future course of events and the eventual working out of the
conflict.
e. Falling action – events and complications begin to resolve themselves. Readers know
what has happened and if the conflict has resolved or not? It consists all the events that
follow the climax
f. Resolution – the point at which the central conflict is ended, or resolved.
 g. Denouement – final outcome or entangling of events in the story. May add surprising
twist to the plot; does not add any significant new action or conflict. It also refers to any
material that follows the resolution and that ties up loose ends.

Plots are the series of events and actions that takes place in a story. These are often
illustrated using the diagram known as a plot pyramid.

However, many plots do not include all of these elements, and in short stories, the climax
often occurs very late in the plot.

Freytag’s Pyramid

Gustav Freytag says that the plot

of the story must consist of five
parts: exposition, rising action,
climax, falling action, and
resolution/revelation (also
known as denouement or
catastrophe). Freytag’s Pyramid
is also called as the dramatic arc, because it if often applied to stories and novels as well.

BME Aristotelian Principle

The beginning embodies the exposition – initial incident; the middle included the rising
action to climax; and the end embraces the falling action to denouement, or technically,
the protasis, epitasis, and catastrophe. Aristoteles simply meant that a traditional plot
structure must have a situation, conflict, and resolution.

Narrative Techniques in adding richness to the plot

a. Foreshadowing – writers provide hint or clues in the story of events that will occur later.
b. Flashback – writers interrupt the forward flow of the story to introduce a scene or
episode from the past that explains or comments on the present situation.
c. Allusion – a reference to a person, place or literary, historical, artistic, mythological
source or event.
d. Dialogue – this means the reproduction of a conversation between two of the
characters.
e. Irony – this is a difference between what is expected and reality.
f. Structure – this means the way time moves through a novel.
g. Chronological – this starts at the beginning and moves through time.
h. Circular or Anticipatory – this starts in the present, flashes back to the past and returns
to the present at the conclusion.
i. Panel – this refers to the same story told from different viewpoints (Lou Ann and Taylor
chapters in The Bean Trees.)

D. CONFLICT – the opposition of forces which ties one incident to another and makes the plot
move; any form of opposition that faces the main character.

Categories of Conflict
 1. External Conflict – struggle with a force outside one’s self.
2. Internal Conflict – struggle within one’s self, a person must make some decision,
overcome pain, quiet their temper, resist an urge, etc.

Four Types of Conflict

1. Man vs Man (physical) – The leading character struggle with his physical strength
against other men, forces of nature, or animals.
2. Man vs Society (social) – The leading character struggles against ideas, practices, or
customs of other people.
3. Man vs Circumstances (classical) – The leading character struggles against fate or
circumstances of life facing him/her.
4. Man vs Himself (psychological) – The leading character struggles with himself with his
own soul, ideas of right or wrong, physical limitations, choices, etc.

E. THEME – idea, belief, moral, lesson or insight. It’s the central argument that the author is trying
to make the reader understand. The theme is the “why” of the story.

F. POINT OF VIEW – narrator’s position in the description of event.

1. First Person – I am telling the story. The character is IN the story.
2. Second Person – The story is told to YOU.
3. Third Person Limited – The story is about he/she. The most common point of view in
commercial fiction. The narrator is outside of the story and relating the experiences of a
character.
4. Third Person Omniscient – The story is still about he/she but the narrator has full access
to the thoughts and experiences of ALL characters in the story.

G. TONE – The overall emotion “tone” or meaning of the story. It can be portrayed through word
and grammar choices (diction), choice of theme, imagery and description, symbolism and the
sounds of the words in combination.

H. MOOD – evokes certain feelings or vibes in readers through words and descriptions. Referred
to as the atmosphere of a literary piece. It is developed through various methods including setting,
theme, tone and diction. It evokes various emotional responses in readers, and thus ensures their
emotional attachment to the literary piece they read.

I. STYLE – This is “how” things are said. Word choices, sentence structure, dialogue, metaphor,
simile, hyperbole.

J. IMAGERY – words and phrases used to help the reader develop a mental image of the story. It
deals with five senses which helps create mental images of what we are reading.
1. Visual – appeals to the sense of sight and plays the largest role in imagery in literature.
It describes what a scene or character looks like.
Example: “The deep blue hues of twilight were reflected in the still water; the slight glint
of moonlight peeked through the clouds just enough to make out the silhouette of a
passing ship.”

2. Auditory – describes specific sounds that are happening within a story.

 Example: “The rooster crowed at early dawn, a sign that it was time to start the day. John
woke up, listening to the quiet murmurs of his children in the kitchen below; the clang of
pots and pans signaled that breakfast was almost ready.”

3. Olfactory – describes a particular scent.

Example: Let’s say you’re about to bite into a warm, steaming plate of maple smoked
bacon.
“The sweet scent of maple wafted through the room, causing Stephanie to stop what she
was doing and sniff the air. A second waft of scent carried underlying smoky scent of
bacon; a scent only bacon straight off the grill could have.”

4. Gustatory – pertains to the sense of taste.

Example: “Jason took one look at the cupcake in front of him and couldn’t wait another
second – he stuffed it right into his mouth. The rich, sweet, sugary taste of chocolate ran
over his taste buds as he chewed and swallowed the whole dessert in less than ten
seconds.”

5. Tactile – appeals to the sense of touch.

Example: Sarah placed her bare hand on the cold snow. It was wet at first, then the frigid
cold set in like a thousand needles, all pricking her palm at once.”

6. Kinesthetic – deals with the movement of action of objects or people.

Example: “The birds flapped their wings in excitement, the promise of food so close. They
sprung out of the tree, one by one, soaring through the branches and swooping down low
to the pile of berries beneath the tree.”

7. Organic – most difficult form of imagery to write, because it deals with creating a
specific feeling or emotion within the reader.
Example: “You might think you made a new world or a new self, but your old self is always
gonna be there, just below the surface, and if something happens, it’ll stick its head out
and say ‘Hi’”
- Haruki Murakami, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

Let’s Check Your Understanding

Access this link to answer the Quiz 2.1 (Elements of Fiction).

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScddf6INTeDsTyPfSO8appR-
v_BAuGa6sZwLNTs1ytmukeRJg/viewform

Let’s Practice

Using your knowledge in writing fiction, create a letter based on the situation below.
What will you do if you have exactly only one more day to live? How will you spend your last 24
hours? As a writer, what will you write in those last 24 hours? Who will be your intended
readers? Write a letter to the person of your choice and write it as if it were your last 24 hours.
Performance Task 2.1

Access this link for your Performance Task 2.1 (Fiction Writing)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XWZjWLFcx1uHMEJCzzDe-5mcNTYzRv52/view?usp=share_link

You may also check the following links to know some approaches on how to write your story.

A PSN Approach to Story Writing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ylQlnmILn55K9uEcZ26Czd3x3bxZ-5cP/view?usp=sharing

3 Creative Writing Approaches

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ylQlnmILn55K9uEcZ26Czd3x3bxZ-5cP/view?usp=sharing

E-Link

To learn more about writing fiction, access the following links:

Elements of Fiction
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWxYDihKiE4

How to Write Descriptively by Nalo Hopkinson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSoRzTtwgP4

How To Build A Fictional World

https://youtu.be/ZQTQSbjecLg

8-point Story Arc

https://youtu.be/W0HEqI3pJIM

Freytag’s Pyramid
https://thewritepractice.com/freytags-pyramid/

Let’s Reflect

To the writer who can't finish anything...

By Prof. Therese Marie Villarante

You're trying to explain how much it really hurts. You think that if you can empty your body with
words, you will stop feeling. But words are empty suitcases and you are an entire closet of truth,
piles and piles of truth with never enough luggage.

So let the pain be unexplainable. Admit that your eloquence is a window view of an airplane. And
everything you want to say is the sky. Goodbye will be the tiny black dot at the end of your last
sentence. Even if you mean it to be the unfamiliar country you go to.
Write anyway and finish it.

It will not heal you.

 But as your heart drifts like continents across a world, language will be that one small boat you
row to find yourself waving on all separate shore when everything else is changing.

References

Aguila, Augusto Antonio, et al. Wording the World: The Art of Creative Writing. C & E Publishing,
Inc., Quezon, 2017
Nery, Peter S. Creative Writing. Diwa Learning Systems Inc., Makati, 2017
Pilapil, Edwin A., et al. World Literatures: New Text, New Voices, New Perspectives. Mutya
Publishing House. Malabon, 2015

Online Sources

www.dreamerswriting.com/academic/elements-of-a-story
blog.udemy.com/imagery-in-literature
https://literarydevices.net

Prepared by:

Ms. Erna Sagnoy

Humanities 2 Instructor