Plot and Character
Development
Elevements of Fiction
1. Character
2.Plot
3.Setting
4.Theme
5.Point of View
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Character
(1) A person in a fictional story
(2) Qualities of a person
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People in a work of fiction can be…
Protagonist: Main character, clear
center of story; all major events are
important to this character
Antagonist: Opposition or “enemy” of
main character
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Build your character
Direct Characterization Indirect Characterization
When the narrator or another Requires the readers to look for
character tells us what a person clues that reveal a character’s
like. characteristic and motivation.
What a character does (actions),
thinks, says (dialogue).
Ex: Jason was a tall, broad- What other characters say and
shouldered football player who how they react.
always had a smile on his face.
Ex: Jody ran up the stairs to her
room, tears streaming down her
face, and slammed her door
loudly, hoping her mother would
hear.
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Charateristics of a character can be revealed through
1. His/her physical 2. What he/she says, 3. What others say
appearance thinks, feels, dreams about him/her and how
and what he/she others react to him/her
does or does not do
Margot: a very frail girl Now she stood,
who looked as if she They surged about her,
separate, staring at caught her up and bore
had been lost in the the rain and the loud
rain for years and the her, protesting, and
wet world beyond the then pleading, and then
rain had washed out huge glass
the blue from her eyes crying, back into a
and the red from her stood quietly apart tunnel, a room, a closet,
mouth and the yellow from all of them and where they slammed
from her hair. watched the patter- and locked the door.
ning windows They stood looking at
They hated her pale the door and saw it
snow face, her waiting “I think the sun is a
flower, tremble from her
silence, her thinness, beating and throwing
and her possible future. That blooms for just herself against it. They
one hour” heard her muffled cries.
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Characters can be
Flat
Round Dyanamic
Static
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Character Development
▧ Round: Fully developed personalities that are
affected by the story’s events; they can learn, grow,
or deteriorate by the end of the story. Characters are
most convincing when they resemble real people by
being consistent, motivated, and life-like.
▧ Dynamic: Chracter who does go through change and
grows over the course of a story due to a conflict or
newfound understanding.
▧ Flat: One-dimensional character, less developed with
one or few traits; usually one-sided or stereotypical.
▧ Static: Character does not go through a change and
remains the same over the course of the entire story.
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Examples
Think about the stories we read, think about the
characters in the stories, who do you think is
round/dynamic/flat/static?
Margot? Esperanza? Schatz? Charley? Sam?
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PLOT!
How the author arranges events to develop the basic
idea, it is the sequence of events in a story or play.
The plot is a planned, logical series of events having
a beginning, middle, and end.
There are five essential parts of plot: Exposition,
rising action, climax, falling action and resolution.
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Exposition:Beginning of the story; characters, background, and
setting revealed.
Rising action: Events in the story become complicated; the conflict is
revealed. These are events between the introduction and climax.
Conflict: Essential to plot, opposition ties incidents together and
moves the plot.
Internal conflict -- Struggle with one’s self
Character vs. Self - Struggles with own soul, physical limitations,
choices…
External conflict-- Struggle with a force outside one's self.
Character vs. Character - Struggles against other people.
Character vs. Nature - Struggles against animals, weather,
environment, ...
Character vs. Society - Struggles against ideas, practices, or
customs of others
Recalled the stories we read, what conflicts do you remember?
Eg: in A Day’s wait, Schatz has a internal conflict when he knew his
temperature, he struggle with himself to accept the “coming death”. There is
also external conflict between Schatz and his father, his father wanted to
stay with him but he wanted his father to leave him alone.
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Climax: Turning point of the story. Readers wonders what will happen
next; will the conflict be resolved or not?
Consider the climax as a three-fold phenomenon:
• Main character receives new information.
• Main character accepts this information (realizes it but does not
necessarily agree with it).
• Main character acts on this information (makes a choice that will
determine whether or not objective is met).
Recalled the stories we read, could you think about any climax that
fits this three-fold phenomenon?
Eg: new information for Schatz: knowing his temperature reached 102 &
knowing the differences of Degrees Celsius and Fahrenheit.
accept: struggling with the idea that he would die & finally knew that he
won’t die.
actions: keep himself closed and asked his father to leave & relieved but
still a little bit sensitive.
Falling action: Resolution begins; events and complications start to
fall into place. These are the events between climax and denouement.
Resolution (Conclusion): Final outcome of events in the story.
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Plot diagram
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Thanks!
Any questions?
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Create your own!
▧ Use the two worksheet to think
deeply into your characters (make it
round/dynamic) and what would
happen to him/her (conflict and
information).
▧ Write as detailed as possible.
▧ Introduce your character and plots to
your partner.
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Homework!
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