Fictional Elements Assessment
Imaginative literature makes use of six key fictional elements: Plot (including Conflict), Character, Setting, Point of View, Symbolism, and Theme. These parts or elements of a story work together rather than in isolation to create a particular kind of experience, emotion, or insight for a reader.
As the culminating assessment, you will be asked to demonstrate your understanding of prominent fictional elements in your book by composing three short essay responses. Each 150-200 word response will address a different fictional element and will be completed as an out of class writing assignment.
Preview the fictional elements, considering which ones where highlighted in the novel. While all six elements will be present, not all of them may be equally significant. For example, the setting of the novel may greatly impact the story or the story could have taken place just about anywhere.
Once you have chosen the three fictional elements, use the questions as prewriting. Be sure to note specific examples from your novel that support your analysis. The examples may be paraphrased - directly quoted evidence is not required. For each statement you make about the plot, for example, you'll need to support it with evidence from the novel.
Plot
Plot is the author's arrangement of events in a story. Events can be presented in a variety of orders. A chronological arrangement begins with what happens first, then second, and so on, until the last event is related. Some stories begin at the end and then lead up to why or how events worked out. Another common strategy is the flashback, a device that informs us about events that happened before the opening scene of the work. Authors can also use foreshadowing to give the reader clues about what will happen later in the story.
Plot Question Ideas
How does the author present the events in the story? Is chronological arrangement used, or are the events told in a different order?
Does the author use flashback to tell the reader of events that happened before the story begins?
Does the author use foreshadowing to provide clues to the reader of events that will happen later?
Why do you think the author chose to tell the story in the way he or she did?
Provide examples from the novel to illustrate your response. This topic is not an opportunity to write a summary of the book.
Does the author use flashback to tell the reader of events that happened before the story begins?
Does the author use foreshadowing to provide clues to the reader of events that will happen later?
Why do you think the author chose to tell the story in the way he or she did?
Provide examples from the novel to illustrate your response. This topic is not an opportunity to write a summary of the book.
Conflict
All plots contain at least one conflict, or struggle, between opposing forces. One force is the protagonist and the other is the antagonist. The protagonist is often the "hero" or main character of the story, while the protagonist is the "villain" or force working against the protagonist. The antagonist does not have to be an actual human character, as shown by the types of conflicts.
The conflict can be
The conflict can be
- person vs. person (between two characters)
- person vs. society
- person vs. nature
- person vs. self (internal conflict)
Conflict Question ideas
What is the central conflict of the story?
What type of conflict is it?
Who is the protagonist? Why do you think so?
Who or what is the antagonist? Why do you think so?
How is the conflict begun?
Discuss several key events that develop the conflict.
Is the conflict resolved? If so, how? If not, why not?
Provide examples from the novel to illustrate your response. Your response should not be a summary of the book.
What type of conflict is it?
Who is the protagonist? Why do you think so?
Who or what is the antagonist? Why do you think so?
How is the conflict begun?
Discuss several key events that develop the conflict.
Is the conflict resolved? If so, how? If not, why not?
Provide examples from the novel to illustrate your response. Your response should not be a summary of the book.
Character
Character is essential to plot. Characters are influenced by events just as events are shaped by characters. The methods by which a writer creates people in a story so that they seem actually to exist are called characterization. Authors have two major methods of presenting characters: showing and telling. Characters shown in dramatic situations reveal themselves indirectly by what they say and do. By using adjectives to describe a character the author can tell use about the character's personality.
Character Question Ideas
Select one character in the book who seems especially realistic and well-developed.
Select two or three character traits that define the character.
Select two characters who are opposites or "foils."
Using examples from the novel to develop your response, explain how the author uses "showing" and "telling" to develop the character.
Select two or three character traits that define the character.
Select two characters who are opposites or "foils."
Using examples from the novel to develop your response, explain how the author uses "showing" and "telling" to develop the character.
Setting
Setting is the context in which the actions of the story occur. The major elements of setting are time, place, and the social environment that frames the characters. These elements establish the world in which the characters act. Time, location and the physical features of a setting can all be relevant to the overall purpose of the story. So too is the social environment in which the characters are developed.
Setting Question Ideas
What is the setting of the story: the time, the place, and the social environment?
What details stand out?
How is the setting important to the story? How does it influence the events and characters?
Use examples from the novel to illustrate your points.
What details stand out?
How is the setting important to the story? How does it influence the events and characters?
Use examples from the novel to illustrate your points.
Point of View
Because one of the pleasures of reading fiction consists of seeing the world through someone else's eyes, it is easy to overlook the eyes that control our view of the plot, character, and setting. Point of view refers to who tells us the story and how it is told. What we know and how we feel about the events in the story are shaped by the author's choice of point of view. The teller of the story is the narrator.
A character in the story who tells the story is a first-person narrator. The first-person narrator uses I and is a major or minor character in the story. The reader is restricted to the perceptions, thoughts, and feelings of that single character. A third-person narrator uses he, she, or they to tell the story and does not participate in the action. No type of third-person narrator appears as a character in a story. The omniscient narrator is all-knowing. From this point of view, the narrator can move from place to place and pass back and forth through time, slipping into and out of characters as no human being possibly could in real life. The limited third-person narrator is much more confined than the omniscient narrator. With a third-person limited narrator, the author very often restricts the narrator to a perspective of either a major or minor character.
A character in the story who tells the story is a first-person narrator. The first-person narrator uses I and is a major or minor character in the story. The reader is restricted to the perceptions, thoughts, and feelings of that single character. A third-person narrator uses he, she, or they to tell the story and does not participate in the action. No type of third-person narrator appears as a character in a story. The omniscient narrator is all-knowing. From this point of view, the narrator can move from place to place and pass back and forth through time, slipping into and out of characters as no human being possibly could in real life. The limited third-person narrator is much more confined than the omniscient narrator. With a third-person limited narrator, the author very often restricts the narrator to a perspective of either a major or minor character.
Point of View Question Ideas
Whose point of view are we getting in the story?
Who is the narrator? What type or narrator is used (1st person, 3rd omniscient, or 3rd limited) and how do we know?
What do we know about that character or narrator?
Why is this POV important to the story?
Use examples from the novel to illustrate your points.
Who is the narrator? What type or narrator is used (1st person, 3rd omniscient, or 3rd limited) and how do we know?
What do we know about that character or narrator?
Why is this POV important to the story?
Use examples from the novel to illustrate your points.
Symbol
A symbol is a person, object, or event that suggests more than its literal meaning. This basic definition is simple enough, but the use of symbol in literature makes some students slightly nervous because they tend to regard it as a trap, a hidden device. Symbolic meanings are not "hidden"; instead, they are carefully placed. Reading between the lines is unnecessary. What is needed is a careful consideration of the elements of the story.
Symbol Question Ideas
What item, event, or person seems to suggest more than its literal meaning?
Why does it seem important in the story? What role does it play in the story?
What symbolic meaning does the item, event, or person seem to have?
Use examples from the novel to illustrate your points.
Why does it seem important in the story? What role does it play in the story?
What symbolic meaning does the item, event, or person seem to have?
Use examples from the novel to illustrate your points.
Theme
The theme is the central idea or meaning of a story. It provides a unifying point around which the plot, characters, setting, point of view, and symbols are organized. In some works the theme is explicitly stated. A reader can point to a specific sentence in the work that states the theme. Most modern writers, however, present their themes indirectly or implicitly, so determining the underlying meaning of a work often requires more effort from the reader.
While the theme is the central idea or message, it is always more than one word. Theme of a work of fiction cannot simply be "love." Love is the topic of the story. The theme is the point the story makes about love; for example, love can overcome obstacles or a person will sacrifice almost anything for love.
While the theme is the central idea or message, it is always more than one word. Theme of a work of fiction cannot simply be "love." Love is the topic of the story. The theme is the point the story makes about love; for example, love can overcome obstacles or a person will sacrifice almost anything for love.
Theme Question Ideas
What do you think the theme is? Remember a theme is not a single word. It is a statement
Why do you think this is the author's central message?
How does the author develop the theme?
Use examples from the novel to illustrate your points.
Why do you think this is the author's central message?
How does the author develop the theme?
Use examples from the novel to illustrate your points.
How to Score
Each essay, worth 50 points, is scored separately and the scores are combined for a final total out of 150 points.
Each essay will be scored in these categories:
Each essay will be scored in these categories:
- Focus on Topic: Main idea is stated in a topic sentence and clearly addresses the selected topic throughout the response.
- Analysis of Text: Response provides a thorough and insightful analysis which demonstrates a clear and accurate understanding of the text. Does not rely on summary.
- Support for Analysis: Response includes substantial details from the text that thoroughly support the writer's analysis.
- Concluding Sentence: The concluding sentence is strong and leaves the reader with an understanding of what the writer is "getting at."
- Flow & Rhythm: All sentences sound natural when read aloud. Maintains an academic voice - no unnecessary 2nd or 1st person pronouns.
- Writing Conventions: Text is thoroughly proofread and contains few, if any, mechanical or sentence errors.