Story Elements

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Story Elements
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What do all stories have in common?

• Characters
• Point of View
• Setting
• Conflict (problem)
• Plot (events)
• Theme

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Characters

• Characters are the people, animals, or objects
  who make the action happen in a story
• A story can have many characters, or just a few

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Protagonist/antagonist

• Protagonist the central character (main
  character)
• Antagonist whatever opposing force the
  protagonist struggles with (it may be a
  character, the environment, or something within
  the protagonist)

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Can you name the characters in these stories?

• The Three Little Pigs
• Cinderella
• Spider-Man
• Ratatouille
• The Frog Prince

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Point of View

• Point of View The vantage point from which a
  story is told
• We will look at three different points of view
• Omniscient
• First person
• Third person

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Omniscient Point of View

• Omni means-all
• Sciens- to know
• Soomniscient means all knowing
• The author writes the story so that the reader
  knows what everyone is feeling and thinking.

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First Person Point of View

• In first person the main character tells the
  story. The story is written using the pronoun I.

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Third Person Point of View

• In the third person point of view the narrator
  focuses on the thoughts and feelings of only one
  character

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Setting

• The setting is the time and place of the story

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Can you find the setting of this scene?

• Place
• This picture is of a beach
• Time
• Its hard to tell the time from this picture.
  Wed need more details to figure that out

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Inferring setting
Sometimes the author doesnt come out and explain
the setting. Can you make an inference with the
paragraph below?

• Anna sighed. She hated having to do so many
  chores. Her mother was always telling her to
  fetch the water from the well, watch her brothers
  and sisters, and fetch wood for the fire. I wish
  that I could go to school, she sighed, looking
  at her bare feet. But with her father in the
  Union Army, she had to help her mother.

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Inferring setting
The clues tell us that this happens in the past.
Can you guess the exact time period? There is a
clue!

• Anna sighed. She hated having to do so many
  chores. Her mother was always telling her to
  fetch the water from the well, watch her brothers
  and sisters, and fetch wood for the fire. I wish
  that I could go to school, she sighed, looking
  at her bare feet. But with her father in the
  Union Army, she had to help her mother.

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What about fairy tales?

• With fantasy stories, its hard to tell a time
  and place
• Sometimes you can just say that a story happened
  in a fantasy world or in fairy tale time

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Review

• What two story elements have we learned about so
  far?
• Character and setting
• What are the two parts of setting?
• Time and place

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Conflict

• The conflict in a story is the problem
• Every story has to have a conflict
• The conflict is what drives the action in the
  story

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Kinds of conflict

• Stories have different kinds of conflict. Its
  not always just two people fighting!

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Person versus person

• In this kind of conflict, two people have
  different ideas about what should happen
• Here is a playground. What kind of person versus
  person conflict could happen here?

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Person versus self

• In this kind of conflict, the problem is inside
  the main character
• Suppose that you were hired to work on this ship
  and climb up into the rigging. What kind of
  internal conflict might you have?

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Person versus environment

• In this kind of conflict, someone has to battle
  the environment, usually to survive
• Suppose you were stranded at this place. What
  would you need to survive?

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Think about conflict!

• Think about a story that you have read lately.
  What was the conflict?
• Short stories often have just one conflict.
  Longer chapter books may have one main conflict,
  and several less important conflicts

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Review

• The story element that includes the time and
  place of the story
• Setting
• The people or animals who act in a story
• Characters
• The problem in a story
• Conflict

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Plot

• The events of a story make up the plot
• In other words, the plot is what happens!

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The plot of a story follows a pattern
Climax
Rising Action
Falling Action
Exposition
Resolution
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Plot part Exposition

• The exposition is the beginning of the story
• The author introduces the characters and the
  setting

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Plot part Rising action

• Things get more exciting with the rising action
• This is when the conflict is introduced

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Plot part Climax

• The climax is the turning point of the story
• Its often the most exciting part
• Nothing will be the same again

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Think about it!

• The plot of a story looks like a mountain. Why do
  you think the climax is at the top?

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Plot part Falling action

• The falling action is the part of the story that
  happens after the climax
• In some stories, this is a long part in other
  stories, it happens quickly

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Plot part Resolution

• The resolution is the end of the story
• Everything is resolved and explained

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Think about it!

• A story that ends at the climax is called a
  cliffhanger. Why do you think this is so?

climax
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Theme

• The theme of a story is the underlying idea. Its
  the big message, the big idea.
• The theme is the point of the story. Without a
  theme, a story doesnt make much sense.

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Some common themes

• Youll often see the same themes pop up again and
  again.

Good will triumph over evil
Honesty is the best policy
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More themes
Friendship is more important than popularity
Hold onto dreams, because they might come true
Slow and steady wins the race
Hard work will pay off in the end
Can you think of stories or movies that show
these themes?
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Review

• What is the plot of a story?
• The events
• Which part of the plot is the most exciting?
• The climax
• What is the main idea or message of a story?
• The theme

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• What are the three types of conflict?
• Person verses person
• Person verses the environment
• Person verses self