Important Parts of a Novel
• Setting
• Characters
• Plot
• Theme
• Point of View
Setting
Tells when (time) and where (place) the story takes
place
 Specific: The summer of 2002 in Voorhees, N.J.
 General: A large city sometime in the future
Setting Clues: characters, lifestyles, transportation,
dress, speech
Novels can have more than one setting – each has
a time (when) and place (where)
Characters
The people or animals in a story
Described by how they look, act, think, or feel
Major Characters/Minor Characters
How the characters are revealed:
What they say or think
What they do
What others say
Physical characteristics/personality traits
Plot
Series of events created by the
author to tell a story
Elements of a plot:
Exposition/Conflict – the basic problems,
main goals
Rising Action – suspense, events before the
climax
Climax – turning point, most exciting part
Falling Action – events after the climax
Conclusion/Resolution – how everything
turns out, how the conflict was solved
Plot Diagram
Climax
Rising Action
Exposition/ Conflict
Falling Action
Resolution/Conclusion
Theme
• The underlying message or point the
author is trying to make
• Ties the plot setting or characters
together
– Example: Cinderella – Evil is punished,
good is rewarded
Point of View
The position from which the events in a
story are told
1st Person – the narrator is a character in the story
Clues: I, me, mine, we, ours
3rd Person – the narrator is someone outside the story
Clues: he, she, him, her, they, them, theirs
Sequence of Events
The order in which events happen
Chronological – the order in which events
actually happen
Interrupted – the events are listed in an
order different than they actually
happened
Cause and Effect
Cause – something that makes something else
happen, happens first
Effect – what happens because of the cause,
happens last
Examples:
Cause
The boy kicked the ball.
He teased the dog.
Effect
The ball rolled.
The dog growled.
Sam studied very hard.
Sara became tired.
Sam earned an A.
Sara went to bed.
Fictional Genres
Realistic Fiction – everything in the story is fiction, but
could actually happen in real life
Tall Tale – a story based on possible
occurrences but is exaggerated enough
that it could not be true
Legend – a story about a person and heroic deeds or
about a place surrounded by mystery. The story starts
with a real event or person, but over the years the
story grows and changes
Symbolism
A symbol in literature is an object that represents
and idea or entire set of ideas
Peter Pan’s shadow is a
symbol of reality. When
he loses his shadow, it
shows us how he has lost
his sense of reality from
being in Neverland.
Allusions
An allusion is a reference to someone or
something that is known from literature, history,
religion, mythology, politics, sports, or any other
field that most people are familiar with.
Allusions enrich the reading experience and
broaden the meaning of what is said or written.
Examples:
 He is a real Scrooge.
 You are opening up Pandora’s box.
 Hers is a real Cinderella story.
Writers expect readers to recognize the allusions.
Elements of a Good Story
Setting
Plot
Conflict
Climax
Resolution
Theme
Characterization