AWARENESS

OF
GENRES
PRE- TEST
Direction: Analyze the statements hereunder and determine the veracity of
each. Say ACCEPT if the statement is true; REJECT if it tells otherwise.

______________1. Short stories, novellas, and novels are best examples of

fictional works.

______________2. Fiction is any work that is drawn from the imaginative

reconstruction and creative recreation of life by the
writer.

______________3. The elements of a short story and a novel differ since

the latter is more complex.
PRE- TEST
______________4. Traditional stories circulated through oral lore for
centuries.

______________5. Myths and legends are the first stories enjoyed by our
forebears.

______________6. Length and complexity are the features that make a

short story, and novel differs from each other.

______________7. The linear pattern for plot begins in the middle portion
of the action.
PRE- TEST
______________8. The villain is the character who mainly faces and
resolves the major conflicts in the story.

______________9. Denouement introduces the characters, the setting, and

the context of the story.

_____________10. The point of view pertains to who narrates the story.

What is GENRE?

Genre is the term for any category of creative

work, which includes literature and other forms of
art or entertainment (e.g. music)—whether written or
spoken, audio or visual—based on some set of
stylistic criteria.

Genres are formed by conventions that change

over time as new genres are invented and the use of
old ones are discontinued.
LESSON 1: FICTION

Fiction - is a narrative form, in any medium,

consisting of people, events, or places that are
imaginary—in other words, not based strictly on
history or fact.

Fiction - refers to written narratives in prose – often

referring specifically to novels, novellas, and short
stories.
 SALIENT
FEATURES
OF
FICTION
Salient Features Of
Fiction
1. Fiction is heavily drawn one’s imagination.

2. It depicts the world and an experience that can be

perceived to be mainly contrived or created by the writer.

3. It involves people who do not truly exist. However, the

literary characters can be observed to be entirely real.

4. It recounts and describes circumstances when there is a

crisis.
Salient Features Of
Fiction
5. It presents situations, conditions, and surroundings that
are closely similar to what is real.

6. It presents human life by considering the world of

objective reality through the actions and experiences of man
and the world of subjective reality which centers on
comprehension and apprehension of man.

7. Fiction includes two important composites – characters

and plot; that should go in harmony and unity.
BASIC FORMS
OF
FICTION
Basic Forms Of Fiction
1. Flash Fiction

An emerging form of fiction that is best remembered

because of its relative shortness.

Words used by the writer range from 100-150 but still

considered a complete story since all the essential elements
of fiction can be observed.
Basic Forms Of Fiction
“Give It Up!” by Franz Kafka

“I think we ought to read only the kind of books that wound or stab us.
If the book we’re reading doesn’t wake us up with a blow to the head,
what are we reading for? So that it will make us happy, as you write?
Good Lord, we would be happy precisely if we had no books, and the
kind of books that make us happy are the kind we could write ourselves
if we had to. But we need books that affect us like a disaster, that grieve
us deeply, like the death of someone we loved more than ourselves, like
being banished into forests far from everyone, like a suicide. A book
must be the axe for the frozen sea within us. That is my belief.”
― Franz Kafka
Basic Forms Of Fiction
2. Short Story/ Short Fiction

This form relatively can be done in one sitting

since it deals with a single complication and a
limited number of characters.

Brief fictional prose narrative that is shorter

than a novel and that usually deals with only a
few characters.
Basic Forms Of Fiction
3. Novellas

This fiction form goes between a short fiction

and a novel.

This is relatively long for a short story but is

somewhat short to be classified as a novel. Nick
Joaquin’s “The Woman Who Had Two Navels” is
one work of fiction that best fits this type.
Basic Forms Of Fiction
4. Novels

A Novel is a long narrative work of fiction with

some realism. It is often in prose form and is
published as a single book.

The word ‘novel’ has been derived from the Italian

word ‘novella’ which means “new”. Similar to a
short story, a novel has some features like a
representation of characters, dialogues, setting, plot,
climax, conflict, and resolution.
 ELEMENTS
OF
PROSE FICTION
What is Prose Fiction?
Prose
Any communication (spoken or written) through
the use of language sentences or statements without
the use rhythm, rhyme, and meter but with proper
grammar structure should be considered prose.

Fiction
Is any prose writing which is completely fictitious
or imaginative though it may be inspired by a true
story or real life event.
What is Prose Fiction?
Prose Fiction is a text written or spoken using the
structure of normal or everyday language. It can also be
considered to be an imagined story typically written
down, that is told in the everyday language or natural
way.

In contrast to nonfiction and poetry, it allows people

to get away from reality, focusing on characters and
events that are only limited by the imagination of an
author. It usually employs a variety of strategies, such
as narrative, and is able to cover a wide spectrum of
length.
Elements Of Prose Fiction
1. CHARACTERS

Are those who give life to the story’s actions and

scenes. It is necessary to understand that
characters are representations of man for they
portray man’s feelings, behaviors, experiences, and
aspirations.

They can be classified as major or minor, round or

flat, protagonist or antagonist, hero or antihero.
CHARACTERS

MAJOR CHARACTER MINOR CHARACTER

• Plays an important role in • Do not play the major role in

a story. the story.
• Usually face an obstacle. • Usually do not face an
obstacle.
• Will be present throughout
all, or almost all of the • Usually do not change
throughout the story.
story.
• Just there for the major
character to interact and
help to advance the plot.
CHARACTERS

ROUND CHARACTER FLAT CHARACTER

• Complex
• Undergo change
• Tend to be dynamic
character
• Characterized by many
different, even contradictory
character trait
• Can surprise the reader
• Uncomplicated
• Remain the same
throughout the work
• Tend to be static
• Can be summed in one or
two sentences
• Cannot surprise the readers
since they are predictable.
CHARACTERS

PROTAGINIST ANTAGONIST

• The central figure who • The main force that creates

tries to resolve the conflict conflicts for the
in the story. protagonist.
• Often portrayed as the • Often portrayed as the bad
good guy. guy.
CHARACTERS
HERO
• Is ‘a person who is admired for
their courage, outstanding
achievements, or noble qualities’.
• A fiction hero is a ‘character in a
book, play, or film, who is
typically identified with good
qualities, and with whom the
reader is expected to
sympathize’.
ANTIHERO
• Is ‘a central character in a
story, film, or drama who
lacks conventional heroic
attributes’.
• Anti-heroes can sometimes
do the right thing, but it is
usually because it serves
their interests to do so.
Elements Of Prose Fiction
2. SETTING

A basic element of fiction, provides the total

environment and atmosphere of the story in
consideration of time and space for the movements
and actions of the characters in facing certain crisis.

It also includes details like the weather, the

language spoken, cultural norms, the political
climate, and other things that can influence your
other story elements.
Elements Of Prose Fiction
3. POINT-OF-VIEW

Simply the vantage point as to how the story

unfolds, or to who is narrating the story. This
element mainly considers how the actions and
scenes of the story are told and reported to the
readers.
The story can be reported in different levels or can
be classified regarding a person like the first person,
third person and the omniscient points-of-view.
POINT-OF-VIEW
1. 1ST PERSON POINT OF VIEW

In first-person narration, the narrator is a person

in the story, telling the story from their own point of
view. The narration usually utilizes the pronoun I (or
we, if the narrator is speaking as part of a group).
POINT-OF-VIEW
1. 1ST PERSON POINT OF VIEW

Example:

When the bus came, I got on, carrying my pink

backpack. It was the first day of school, and I was
nervous. I smiled, though, when I saw my best
friend Kevin sitting in the back.
POINT-OF-VIEW
2. 3RD PERSON POINT OF VIEW

In third-person narration, the narrator exists

outside the events of the story, and relates the
actions of the characters by referring to their names
or by the third-person pronouns he, she, or they.
POINT-OF-VIEW
2. 3RD PERSON POINT OF VIEW

Example:

When the bus came, Sharon got on, carrying her

pink backpack. It was the first day of school, and
Sharon was nervous. She smiled, though, when she
saw her best friend Kevin sitting in the back.
POINT-OF-VIEW
3. OMINISCIENT PERSON POINT OF VIEW

Omniscient means “all-knowing.” If the narrator

has an omniscient point of view, then he knows
what is going on in the minds of all of the characters
at all times. The reader gets to know what every
character is thinking and feeling.
POINT-OF-VIEW
3. OMINISCIENT PERSON POINT OF VIEW

Example:

When the bus came, Sharon got on, carrying her

pink backpack. It was the first day of school, and
Sharon was nervous. She smiled, though, when she
saw her best friend Kevin sitting in the back. Kevin
was nervous, too. So, he was thrilled to see Sharon.
Maybe this day would not be so bad after all.
Elements Of Prose Fiction
4. PLOT

Simply lays out the structure of the story

considering the flow of events and actions. It also
presents the casual relationships or connections of
events.

In the attempt to analyze the plot, it is important

to determine its significant composites: exposition,
rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement.
PLOT
In 1863, German playwright and novelist Gustave
Freytag wrote Die Technik des Dramas in defense of the
5-act dramatic structure. His study gave us what we call
Freytag’s Pyramid, which breaks down the plot of a
story into five key elements:

1. Exposition (or introduction)

2. Rising action (rise)
3. Climax
4. Falling action (fall or return)
5. Denouement/ Resolution (finale)
FREYTAG’S PYRAMID
FIVE KEY ELEMENTS OF PLOT
1. EXPOSITION (Introduction)

The exposition is basically the story’s introduction,

where we meet the main character, get a feel for the
setting and other essential details, and learn what’s at
stake.

This part of the story primarily introduces the major

fictional elements – the setting, characters, style, etc. In
the exposition, the writer’s sole focus is on building the
world in which the story’s conflict happens.
FIVE KEY ELEMENTS OF PLOT
2. RISING ACTION

The rising action explores the story’s conflict up until

its climax. Often, things “get worse” in this part of the
story: someone makes a wrong decision, the antagonist
hurts the protagonist, new characters further
complicate the plot, etc.
FIVE KEY ELEMENTS OF PLOT
3. CLIMAX

Climax is often identified as the highest point of

interest in a story. It is the moment the rising action
begins to transition in the falling action of the story’s
plot. At this point, the conflict is at the highest point of
tension.
FIVE KEY ELEMENTS OF PLOT
4. FALLING ACTION

Falling action occurs after the turning point of the

climax and signifies that the story’s main conflict is
coming to a close. Ideally, it resolves any loose ends in
the plot and shows the aftermath of the climax.

Falling action also typically leads to the resolution,

which is the end of the story.
FIVE KEY ELEMENTS OF PLOT
5. DENOUEMENT/ RESOLUTION

Denouement is derived from the French word denoue,

which means “to untie.”

Denouement is a literary device that can be defined

as the resolution of the issue of a complicated plot in
fiction. The majority of examples of denouement show
the resolution in the final part or chapter, often in an
epilogue.
Elements Of Prose Fiction
5. SYMBOLS
Images that bear certain meanings that go beyond the
literal. Certain symbols may covey both positive and negative
connotations depending on how they are used, presented, and
perceived.

In literature, symbolism is used to produce an impact,

which it accomplishes by attaching additional meaning to an
action, object, or name. Symbolism takes something that is
usually concrete and associates or affixes it to something else
in order to give it a new and more significant meaning.
SYMBOLS
Examples:

1. Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1960 book "To Kill a

Mockingbird," the bird symbolizes innocence and beauty. Lee
chose the mockingbird because it's without guile. A
mockingbird's only purpose in life is to sing—it doesn't want to
harm anyone. Because of this, killing a Mockingbird is
considered an act of senseless cruelty.

2. The crucifix may represent suffering and death as its

negative interpretations, but it can also suggest salvation,
sacrifice, and even victory.
Elements Of Prose Fiction
6. IMAGES

These are principally the features and the

qualities that are concrete rather than abstract
which appeal to the human sense of touch/feel,
sight, sound, taste, or smell.
Elements Of Prose Fiction
7. THEME

Statement of generalization about life. The

highlights noteworthy realizations concerning the
nature and complexities of human life cultivated
from the experiences, actions, and decisions of the
characters.