Basic Elements of Prose/Fiction

  1. The author, the narrator and the reader
  The author --- choosing the narrator;
  The narrator --- the point of view (naïve narrator, reliable/ unreliable narrator, the first- person/    third-person narration, the omniscient/ the limited omniscient narrator);
  The reader ---participant in the creation of meaning;

  2.The Setting and the Theme
   The setting: more than the background--- mood, emotional state, reinforcing the central ideas (historical/ geographical/ physical/ cultural setting);
   The theme: a general idea beyond the story (the subject refers to what the story is about)

 3.Character and Characterization
   Character:  the features and traits that form the individual nature of a person (hero/ heroine – protagonist/ antagonist, stereotypes, anti-heroes, flat/ round character)
   Characterization: the process of creating imaginary characters (3 ways: direct ---summary of the character’s traits/ indirect --- presentation of the character in action with little explicit comment/ the  presentation from within a character’s mind, revealing the person’s inner life of thoughts and emotions);

 4. The story and the plot
   The story: a narrative following a series of happenings in time order;
   The plot: the certain arrangement of events to reveal the meaning;
   The plot of a story: beginning (exposition), development (complication), heightening (climax), ending (resolution) --- often with open endings in modern stories (nothing is resolved at the end)
   Conflict: a necessary element of fictional literature. No conflict, no story.
   Types of conflict: Person vs God/Fate/Machine; Person vs Self; Person vs Person; Person vs Society; Person vs Nature; Person vs Supernatural
 
 5. Flashback and Foreshadowing
   Flashback: narration of a story from the middle or ending part and then move back into the past to reconstruct the events that lead up to the final outcome;
   Foreshadowing: the introduction early in a story of situations, events, objects or characters that  will reveal themselves as things or persons of importance later in the fiction.  
   OR: Hints of something to    come.

 6. Style, Tone, Irony, and Symbol
   Style: the typical way a writer presents his language;
   Tone: the speaking voice in which we express our attitude;
   Irony: the gap between what is said and what the readers believe to be true     (3 types:   dramatic/ situational/verbal irony)
   Symbol: person or object that, in addition to its literal meaning, suggests something more abstract or complex.