Click on a box to explore each topic.
CharactersCharacters are the people (or sometimes animals and objects) that are the “doers” of the story.
Plot is the action of the story. It has five distinct parts:
- Exposition: The beginning of the story where background information and setting are shared.
- Rising action: The events leading up to the climax and where the conflict is revealed.
- Climax: The point of highest action where the protagonist does something that changes him or her.
- Falling action: The events that occur as a result of the climatic action.
- Resolution: The ending where all points of the storyline are wrapped up.
The when and where the story takes place.
The vantage point from which a speaker or writer recounts a narrative or presents information.
First-person point of view is in use when a character narrates the story with I-me-my-mine. The advantage of this point of view is that you get to hear the thoughts of the narrator and see the world depicted in the story through the narrator’s eyes. Pay attention to the first person pronouns used throughout the story.
Third-person point of view is that of an outsider looking at the action. We will look at two types of third-person narration:
- Third-person omniscient: The thoughts of every character are open to the reader. They seem to be all knowing, understanding everyone’s thoughts and feelings.
- Third-person limited: The reader enters only one character's mind, either throughout the entire work or in a specific section. Third-person limited differs from first-person because the author's voice, not the character's voice, is what you hear in the descriptive passages.