Literary Elements: Setting and Character

Setting

• The setting is the time and location where a story takes place.
• Setting can be crucial to a story or inconsequential.
• Aspects of setting include the location, time period, weather, social conditions, and mood.

Character

• Character refers to both the person within a fictional work and their characteristics.
• In short stories, the protagonist is the central character, while the antagonist opposes them.

Characterization

• Characterization is the information the author provides about a character.
• It can be revealed through direct statements, physical appearance, dialogue, actions, thoughts, feelings, and how others interact with them.

Types of Characters

• Round Characters: Complex and multifaceted personalities like real people.
• Flat Characters: Briefly presented, lacking depth.
• Dynamic Characters: Change significantly by the end of the story.
• Static Characters: Stereotypical with limited unchanging characteristics.

Plot

• The plot is the organized sequence of events in a story.
• It has a beginning, middle, and end.
• Short stories typically have one plot to be consumed in a single sitting.

Conflict

• Conflict is essential to plot, driving the narrative forward.
• It’s any form of opposition faced by the main character.
• Conflict can be internal or external, and can include human vs. human, human vs. nature, human vs. society, and human vs. self.

Point of View

• Point of view is the perspective from which a story is told.
• Examples include:
  • First Person
  • Second Person
  • Third Person: Omniscient, Limited Omniscient, Objective, Innocent Eye

Theme

• Theme is the underlying message or idea the author wants to convey.
• Examples include themes of bravery, perseverance, or love.

Moral

• Moral is a lesson the reader is expected to derive from a story.
• Examples include: "Pride comes before a fall" or "Think twice before you leap."