Elements of Fiction-Creating and Achieving Goals

1.Who lived in the house before the current family?
2.Where does the narrator (person telling the story) want to go?
3.Why does he want to go to this place so badly?
4.Does he end up going?
Bonus: Where does the story take place?

Elements of fiction

§Character
§Plot
§Conflict
§Climax
§Conclusion
§Setting
§Point of View

Character

§A fictional personage who acts, appears, or is referred to in a work
A protagonist is the main character in a work. A protagonist usually initiates the main action of the story.
An antagonist opposes the protagonist.

Plot
§The arrangement of the action, what happens
§How an author chooses to construct the plot determines the way the reader experiences the story
§Manipulating the plot can be the author’s most important expressive device

Conflict
§Struggle between opposing forces, such as between two people, between a person and something in nature or society, or between two drives, impulses, or parts of the self (character)
§Generally occurs when some person or thing prevents the protagonist (main character) from achieving his or her intended goal
§Considered an element of plot

Setting
§The time and place of the action in a story, poem, or play
§Can include climate or social, psychological, or spiritual state of the participants

Point of View
§The perspective from which a story is told
§First-person—the narrator is a participant in the action (I)
§Third-person—narrator is non-participant (He, she it)
§Omniscient narrator— “all-knowing”—narrator who has the ability to move freely through the consciousness of any character and a narrator who has complete knowledge of all external events in a story.

Questions to Ask
§While reading a work, you should ask questions about the work to determine the author’s intention
§How is the author using the elements of fiction?
§What does author’s use of the elements of fiction indicate about his/her intention?
§Is there a larger issue being addressed?—social, personal, sexual, etc.
§What is the author’s purpose? Entertain? Persuade? Inform? Incite Action?

Always Ask
§When answering questions, always ask:
WHAT within the text makes you come to the conclusions you do?
vYou will always be asked to support your answers with references to the text

Setting and Achieving Goals
§Process for Short-Term goals
§Two main steps
§Use beyond English 116—once it becomes natural to you, it can help you achieve other goals that may help you achieve your long-term goals


Steps for Short Term Goals

Step 1
a)Identify the short-term goals
b) Rank the goals in order of importance
c)Select the most important goals to focus on
Step 2
a) List all the steps in order in which they should be taken
b) Estimate how much time each step will take
c) Plan the steps in your daily/ weekly schedule

Example Diagram
§Goal: Prepare for biology quiz in two days.
Steps to be taken Time Schedule
1.Photocopy notes 20 min after class
2.Review assign. 2 hrs tonight
3.Make review sheet 1 hr tomorrow
4.Study review sheet 30 min before quiz