What parts make up a story?

Plot
Setting
Characters
Point
of View
Theme
Plot is what happens
and how it happens in a
narrative. A narrative is
any work that tells a
story, such as a short
story, a novel, a drama,
or a narrative poem.
 Exposition – event that gives rise to conflict
(opening situation)
 Rising Action- events that complicate or
intensify the central conflict (rising action)
 Climax- highest point of interest or emotional
involvement in the story
 Falling Action- logical result of Climax
 Resolution- Final outcome of the story
 Conflict is a struggle between opposing forces
 Every plot must contain some kind of conflict
 Stories can have more than one conflict
 Conflicts can be external or internal
 External conflict- outside force may be person, group,
animal, nature, or a nonhuman obstacle
 Internal conflict- takes place in a character’s mind
 Climax
(often called the “Turning Point)

Exposition Resolution
Conflict
 Suspense- excitement or tension
 Foreshadowing- hint or clue about what will
happen in story
 Flashback- interrupts the normal sequence of
events to tell about something that
happened in the past
 Surprise Ending- conclusion that reader does
not expect (use of irony)
 Time and place are where the action occurs

Details that describe:

 Furniture
 Scenery
 Customs
Transportation
 Clothing
 Dialects
 Weather
 Time of day
 Time of year
 L
o
ca
tio
n L
ife E
ra

P
la
c
e T
im
e

P
h
y
sica
l S
e
tin
g H
isto
ry

A
tm
osp
h
er D
a
y

M
od Felings

Word
Choice
Usea
sa ctiv
a
tortoa
ctiv
a
tep
riork
n
owled
g
e
.Write
W
ea
th
er thewebontheboardorverheadandstu
dentscreateoneatheirseats.Thenasclashar
eandfiln.
 To create a mood or We left the home place behind,
mile by slow mile, heading for the
atmosphere mountains, across the prairie where the
 To show a reader a wind blew forever.
different way of life At first there were four of us with
one horse wagon and its skimpy load.
 To make action seem Pa and I walked, because I was a big boy
more real of eleven. My two little sisters romped
and trotted until they got tired and had
 To be the source of to be boosted up to the wagon bed.
conflict or struggle That was no covered Conestoga,
 To symbolize an idea like Pa’s folks came West in, but just an
old farm wagon, drawn by one weary
horse, creaking and rumbling westward
to the mountains, toward the little
woods town where Pa thought he had an
old uncle who owned a little two-bit
sawmill.

Taken from “The Day the Sun Came Out” by D. Johnson

People or animals
Major characters
Minor characters
Round characters
Flat characters
 Round
F
uly
Relativ Friends
Developed es

M
a
in M
in
o
r

N
otFuly
Protagonist C
h
a
rc
te
r Flat
Developed

Flat Others
Co- A
n
ta
g
o
n
ist
Main

E
n
em
y
 A writer reveals what a character is like and how
the character changes throughout the story.

 Two primary methods of characterization:

 Direct- writer tells what the character is like

 Indirect- writer shows what a character is like by

describing what the character looks like, by telling
what the character says and does, and by what other
characters say about and do in response to the
character.
 …And I don’t play the dozens or believe
in standing around with somebody in my face
doing a lot of talking. I much rather just
knock you down and take my chances even if
I’m a little girl with skinny arms and a
squeaky voice, which is how I got the name
Squeaky.
From “Raymond’s Run” by T. Bambara
 The old man bowed to all of us in
the room. Then he removed his hat
and gloves, slowly and carefully.
Chaplin once did that in a picture, in a
bank--he was the janitor.

From “Gentleman of Rio en Medio” by J. Sedillo

 A writer reveals what a character is like and
how the character changes throughout the
story.
 Two primary types of character:
 Flat- reveals only one or two traits.

 Round- reveals varied and sometimes

contradictory traits.
 Physical appearance of character
 Personality
 Background/personal history
 Motivation
 Relationships
 Conflict
 Does character change?
A central message, concern, or
insight into life expressed
through a literary work
Can be expressed by one or two
sentence statement about human
beings or about life
May be stated directly or implied
Interpretation uncovers the
theme
“Every man needs to feel allegiance to
his native country, whether he always
appreciates that country or not.”

From “A Man Without a Country” by Edward Hale

pg. 185 in Prentice Hall Literature book