M1
L3
TARGET
Lesson 3: Identify the elements of fiction
What is Derive the meaning and theme of sample sections
fiction? Write the draft of a short story using the various
elements of fiction
CREATIVE NONFICTION Lesson 3:
What is fiction?
Defining Fiction
• Fiction is defined as any narrative about
imagined ideas, people, places, events
• it may also be based on true-to-life events,
places, and people
• traditionally, fiction refers to narratives in
prose form: stories, novels, novellas, and
dramas
CREATIVE NONFICTION Lesson 3:
What is fiction?
Elements of Fiction
1) Characters refers to the creatures,
animals or people being depicted in the
story
they are described through the way they
move, act, or speak
CREATIVE NONFICTION Lesson 3:
What is fiction?
Elements of Fiction
2) Setting refers to the time and place,
including the atmosphere or the feeling
that the story evokes
it includes a depiction of the social,
political, and historical context of the story
CREATIVE NONFICTION Lesson 3:
What is fiction?
Elements of Fiction
3) Plot gives a sense of causality to the
story, moving the actions through stages
of rising and falling events
it includes the scenes and actions starting
with the exposition (or the story’s opening
scene) until the denouement (or the final
unfolding of events)
CREATIVE NONFICTION Lesson 3:
What is fiction?
Elements of Fiction
4) Point of view refers to the perspective of
the character telling the story
it is also called angle of vision and
determines from whose perspective the
story is being told
CREATIVE NONFICTION Lesson 3:
What is fiction?
Elements of Fiction: Point of View
a) First-person point of view (recounts the
events and action from the narrator’s
perspective)
b) Second person point of view (the writer
is having a conversation with the readers
and the writer addresses the readers as
you)
c) Third person point of view (either a
limited or an omniscient point of view):
• Limited (detached from the story or
comments on the action of the characters)
• Omniscient (allows writers to get inside
the minds of their characters)
CREATIVE NONFICTION Lesson 3:
What is fiction?
Narrative Devices
Narrative devices refer to the strategies
and techniques that writers use to relay
their message
these are the tools that allow fictionists to
expand the story and clarify its meaning
CREATIVE NONFICTION Lesson 3:
What is fiction?
Types of Narrative Devices
1) Tone is carried out through the narrator’s
voice or through dialogue
it may be humorous or serious, gentle or
sarcastic, apologetic or arrogant, casual or
formal
CREATIVE NONFICTION Lesson 3:
What is fiction?
Types of Narrative Devices
2) Foreshadowing allows the fictionist to
prepare the readers for later events in
the story
it involves giving readers bits of
information and allowing them to guess the
plot’s outcome
CREATIVE NONFICTION Lesson 3:
What is fiction?
Types of Narrative Devices
3) Symbols are images, ideas, themes, or
character types that are universally
recognized across cultures
Example: A heart may represent love.
