Elements of Fiction: Plot, Character, Setting, Point of View, Theme
What This Domain Tests
Questions here ask you to identify and analyze the building blocks of narrative and to explain how they work together.
Concepts to Master
- Plot. Exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution. Conflict may be internal (within a character) or external (between a character and another force).
- Character. Round characters show complexity and change; flat characters serve a single function. A dynamic character changes; a static character does not.
- Setting. Time and place, but also mood and social world. Setting can symbolize or drive conflict.
- Point of view. First person (I), third-person limited (one character's mind), third-person omniscient (many minds), and second person (you, rare).
- Theme. The idea the elements combine to produce.
Traps to Watch
- Confusing narrator with character. In first person, the narrator may be unreliable or limited.
- Assuming change. A character who experiences events has not necessarily changed.
- Treating setting as decoration. Questions often ask how setting shapes meaning.
- Mistaking climax for the most exciting moment rather than the turning point of the conflict.
Worked Example
A third-person story follows only Maria, revealing her thoughts but never her brother's. Question: "What is the point of view?" Because we enter one character's mind and no other, the answer is third-person limited, not omniscient. Omniscient would require access to multiple characters' inner lives. Rule of thumb: count whose thoughts you can hear; one mind means limited.
Strategy
For any fiction question, ask: which element is the question really about, and how does that element connect to the others?