Narrative Elements

The purpose of this resource is to assist in the critical reading of narratives, and to help students explore how
the effect is created and meaning is made. Fiction is best understood by breaking down and discussing terms
common to most stories, be they novels, short fiction, movies, TV shows, etc. These terms include: plot,
characters, point of view, setting, theme, conflict, and style. Understanding how these elements
work helps us better analyze narratives and to determine meanings. Seven main elements of fiction are
definedbelow followed by a sample of questions to help readers uncover meaning of a given narrative.

Theme
Definition: Theme is perhaps the most important literary concept because it is the overarching idea
thatthe writer of the story wants to reader to understand. All other literary concepts are used to create
theme.
The theme is the author’s commentary on a subject. For example, in Shakespeare’s Othello, one of the
major themes is how easily human perception can be manipulated when powerful emotions are at play.
Todetermine the theme, examine other literary elements of the story.
Questions to Consider: First identify the subject (s) of the story and then ask: what is the writer
trying to say about this subject? What literary tools does the writer use to create this theme?
Plot
Definition: Plot is the structure of the narrative as it moves
through time. Most narratives (but not all) follow this traditional
plot structure. It consists of the exposition (introduction of
setting and characters), rising action (events that build
conflictfor the protagonist), climax (tension of conflict reaches
highest, most intense point), falling action (the events
following the
climax), and denouement (the resolution of conflict).
Questions to Consider: What is the relationship
betweenthe events of the story? How do the actions inform the
theme ofthe story?
Characters
Definition: Characters are the people involved in the narrative. The process by which a writer creates a
character is called characterization. The main or central character, often considered the hero, is called
the protagonist. The main character who opposes the protagonist is the antagonist, sometimes
considered thevillain. Literary analysis of characters often focuses on whether or not and to what extent
a character
changes throughout the story.
Questions to Consider: What is the motivation of each character? How docharactersgrow or
transformthroughout the story? Or do they fail to grow or change at all? What does their growth or lack
of growth say about the theme of the story?
Characterization
• Definition: Characterization or characterisation is the representation of characters (persons, creatures,
or other beings) in narrative and dramatic works.
There are two types of characterization:
- Direct Characterization tells the audience what the personality of the character is. Example: “The patient boy
and quiet girl were both well-mannered and did not disobey their mother.” Explanation: The author is
directly telling the audience the personality of these two children.

Conflict
Definition: Conflict refers to the issue or problem characters in a story are confronted by. The
narrative is structured around how the characters face the conflict. The four general types of conflicts are:
1) person vs. person (a couple going through a divorce); 2) person vs. self (protagonist wrestling with
depression); 3) person vs. nature (protagonist trying to survive a natural disaster); and 4) person vs.
society (protagonist fighting for civil rights). The interaction of character and conflict creates the
centraleffect of the story and is the main indicator of meaning.
Questions to Consider: How does the conflict affect the main characters in the story? How is the
conflict resolve d and what does the resolution say about theme? How does the conflict change the
main characters?

Setting
Definition: This element can refer to a time and place the story is set in. The
location can either work symbolically or it can simply be a backdrop for the story to
take place in.
Questions to Consider: How does the location, time, and/or date of thestory
affect the theme? How does the setting affect how the characters respond to
conflict?
PointofView
Definition: Refers to the perspective the story is told from. This element includes first-person, third-
person, and third-person omniscient narrators.
* First-person narrator: Tells the story from the perspective of one or several characters with theword “I” or
“we.” The readers, as if from their own eyes, can envision the characters actions.
* Third-person limited narrator: Tells the story from an outside perspective from the perspective of one of
the characters (usually the protagonist). The third-person limited narrator can relate events, thoughts,
actions, but is limited to that single character. For example, if the narration is from the point of view of the
protagonist, the narrator cannot relate events that are happening across town from where the protagonist
is, nor can they relate the interior thoughts of any other character. Third person limited narration uses the
pronouns “he,” “she,” or “they.”
* Third-person omniscient narrator: Also tells the story from an outside perspective but this narrator
is not limited to actions and thoughts of one character. This narrator knows all of the in formation of the
story and can relate the events of the story, the actions and speech of each as well asthe interior thoughts of
any character. There are no limits for this narrator.
Questions to Consider: Does the narrator reflect an inner or an outer perspective on the story? Why
did the author select this point of view? What would change if the story were told from a differentpoint of
view?
Additional Information…

Type of Plots

The plot used in fictions can be differentiated into four types: linear, episodic, parallel, and
flashback. The most common plot employed in short stories is the linear plot. Some short stories,
though quite rarely, also use flashback plot. The episodic and parallel plots, however, are found
only in long fiction, i.e. novels. Short storied do not use episodic and parallel plots because short
stories normally concentrate on a single event with a very limited number of characters, while
episodic and parallel plots include a series of events or more than one plot. The following section
describes each plot briefly.

The Linear Plot

The linear plot (sometimes is also called dramatic or progressive plot) presents action or
occurrences chronologically. It typically starts with an exposition (or introduction to the setting
and characters) and the conflict. After that, the rising action follows which leads to a climax. Soon
after the climax, falling action emerges which brings the reader to the resolution (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Dramatic Plot

Boccaro’s A Long walk Home is told using a linear or dramatic or progressive plot. It begins with
the establishment of the setting and characters (Jackson and his father) and the conflict, i.e. a
contest the Jackson and his father emerged from Jackson’s failure to pick up his father on time
because he is so immersed in watching movies. After that some rising events (that make the
conflict more complicated), like when Jackson makes up an excuse to avoid his father from being
angry, when his father expresses his disappointment with his lie, and when he says that he calls
the garage when Jackson does not turn up at 4 p.pm.

The climax in the story is when Jackson’s father gets angry with himself for realizing he has failed
to educate Jackson. This climax is followed by some falling actions, like when Jackson’s father
decides to punish himself by walking home and Jackson’s requesting his father to get into the car.
These falling action lead to the resolution, i.e. when Jackson feels distressing and painful as he
sees his father suffers from physical and emotional pain, and this experience teaches him not to
lie to his father ever after.

Episodic Plot

Episodic plot also employs a chronological structure. However, unlike dramatic plot which
concentrates on a single event, an episodic consists of a series of loosely related incidents, which
are tied together by a common theme and/or characters. An episodic plot is used when the author
wishes to show an event, place, time, or idea from many different angles, or when he wants to
explore one or more character’s personalities or the socio-cultural background of the era (See
Figure 2).

Since this plot includes various events with various characters, it can only be used in a novel. Many
adventure novels employ this plot, in which each part or chapter usually highlights a character
and presents a different aspect of the adventure. The presentation of these characters and
adventure situations enables the reader to get a much larger understanding of the conflict.

Figure 2. Episodic Plot

Image credit: http://www2.nkfust.edu.tw/~emchen/CLit/study_elements.htm

Parallel Plot

A Parallel Plot is a structure that enables an author to combine or weave two or more dramatic
plots in a story. In the beginning, these multiple dramatic plots run on their own up to their rising
events but then crash together at the climax. Although they seem independent in the beginning,
all of them are linked by a similar theme (Figure 3). This plot is very effective to create a very
emotional moment in the climax among the readers because they have previously been involved
in multiple rising actions.
 Figure 3. Parallel Plot

Flashback Plot

A flashback plot presents action or occurrences inconsequentially so that the author is able to
deliver information about events that occurred earlier. It allows the author to begin the story in
the middle of a high-action point, and flash backward to provide back up to it. Such a backstory
helps the readers get a full understanding of the present events before going to the upcoming
events. As illustrated in Figure 4, the story starts with an event occurring in October 2018. To
provide the readers with a full understanding of the event, the author flashes backward or presents
the events taking place in some previous months of the same year. Close to the end of the story,
the author proceeds telling the story chronologically by presenting the events occurring in
November and December 2018. Flashbacks can occur more than once and in different parts of a
story. In Figure 4, for instance, the events occurring in August 2018 is not followed by the event
taking place in July 2018 but the one occurring in January 2018.

Figure 4. Flashback Plot

Adapted from: http://www2.nkfust.edu.tw/~emchen/CLit/study_elements.htm