SOME ELEMENTS OF LITERATURE
To talk about fiction, we need a common vocabulary. These terms are used by students, scholars, and critics to describe common elements of novels, plays, short stories, and films.
Character
Characters are the people (or, occasionally, animals) in stories. The term character refers to people’s outward appearance and behavior, and also to their inner emotional, intellectual, and moral qualities. Fiction writers usually suggest character indirectly by showing what a person does, says, and thinks; by how other characters in the story react to that person; and by what other people say and think about that person. Character is also revealed by the choices the person makes and the changes the person undergoes.
The characters in a work of fiction drive the story. Their personalities and conflicts set up what happens. Our identification with major characters keeps us interested in what happens to them.
As you read, consider the consistency of a character’s words or actions, the motivations that drive them, and the choices that they make.
Setting
Setting refers to the time, place, social environment, and physical environment of the story. The physical environment in which a story takes place often reflects some other key aspect of the story (a character’s personality or important theme, for example). The way the narrator describes the setting is often a clue to the theme of the story, and the setting is often a symbol of something intangible. A character’s interactions with their environment help us understand that character better.
Plot
Plot is a series of events and thoughts, arranged to reveal their dramatic and emotional significance. Plot is not just a sequence of events: it implies a meaningful relationship among the events. The way the plot is revealed to us (through jumps in time, flashbacks, etc.) gives clues to the writer’s purpose in telling the story. As you read, ask yourself “why is this happening now?” “How does this event relate to what’s gone before?” “What expectations are being set up for what will happen next?” Plot revolves around some kind of conflict (within a character or between characters), so notice the way the conflict develops and resolves.
Speech
Characters’ speech can reveal the personality, intellect, emotional state, philosophical beliefs, and other information about a character. Speech includes dialogue, or speech between characters; monologue, when one character speaks with no interruptions from others; and the thoughts of a character. Speech gives clues about the characters, and about the society they live in. The choice of words, the type of information exchanged, and the things the characters do
NOT talk about can all reveal important aspects of the story.

Tone
Tone refers to the author’s emotional attitude
to the action, characters, objects, and even readers of a story. Tone is not explicitly stated, but shows in the language the author chooses. The author may use a humorous, tragic, or frightening tone, to make the reader laugh, cry, or feel afraid. The author may be sympathetic, hostile, admiring, or critical toward the characters in the story, or toward the subject of the story. Tone can be paradoxical – a sad story can be told in a humorous way, or a happy event can be described in a sober way.
Imagery
Imagery refers to the way the author uses words to create mental pictures in the reader’s mind.
Writers use concrete sensory words to evoke specific visual scenes, sounds, smells, and sensations – images. These images move the story forward, help us envision settings and characters, and convey particular emotions and states of mind to the reader.
Symbolism
A symbol is an image that represents something else. In literature, a symbol is an image of an event or physical object that is used to represent something invisible or abstract such as an idea, a value, or an emotion. One symbol may suggest more than one meaning. Often the setting is a major source of symbols.
Not all images in stories are symbols. Some are just what they appear to be and have no additional meaning. Considering which images are symbols is part of the fun of reading literature!
Theme
A theme is a truth that a story reveals . Through creation of a fictional world, authors reveal what they believe to be true about the real world.
A theme is rarely directly stated by the author. Instead, the reader discovers themes, inferring meaning from the details in the story. Usually themes deal with general areas of human experience, for example: the nature of humanity or society, the relationship of people to the environment, or a question of ethical responsibility. While the theme grows out of the specific story, it can have implications for all readers. By focusing on one example of a human dilemma or struggle, the writer arrives at a deeper understanding of how human beings deal with this issue.
A theme is not:
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A subject. A subject is what the story is about; a theme reveals what the story says about the subject.
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A topic. A topic is what an essay is about; a theme reveals a truth about the topic.
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A moral. A moral is a statement or lesson that teaches right and wrong behavior; a theme reveals how some people behave, without telling people how to behave. A theme does not directly teach a lesson, but suggests why people are the way they are.
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A thesis. A thesis, usually found in essays, is a clearly stated point. However, themes, like theses, are central to the meaning of a work.