The Art of Fiction
As your text, Understanding
Literature points out, “Fiction is prose
text in the form of a story that is
primarily a product of human
imagination” (Soles 5).
Forms of Fiction
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In addition to the three forms listed in
the book, you could consider other
types of writing fictitious, as well:
Parables and Fables
 Anecdotes
 Jokes

Evaluating Fiction
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Aristotle, a famous scholar from ancient
Greece, in his Poetics formed certain
theories of evaluating literature. Some ideas
that have developed from his work into
aesthetic principles are:
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That the best works of literature have no elements that
are extraneous to the communication of the piece’s
message.
That the use of the elements be manipulated to best convey
that piece’s message
In other words, we expect works of
literature to be unified.
Theme
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Most works of fiction should tell a
story of some sort, bringing together a
sequence of events with an underlying
meaning or message.
This underlying message, as I’m sure
you know by now, is called the theme,
and it is just as important in the study
of literature as it is in film.
Definition of Theme

Just as we used in our discussion and
analysis of film,s, we’ll use “the moral
or lesson that the reader learns and
can apply to his or her own life” as the
definition of theme.
More Elements to Consider

We will look at two other elements in
addition to Plot, Character, and Point
of View, which are discussed in
Understanding Literature:
Setting
 Style

Setting

Setting can be defined as the time and
place where a story occurs. Setting is
important because it provides the
context of the story.
Settings can provide mood or tone
 Settings can be symbolic

Style

Style refers to the manipulation of
language and includes the following
categorical components:
Diction
 Syntax
 Figurative Language

Diction

Diction refers to the word choices that
the writer has made.

Writers choose words based on both
connotative and denotative meanings.

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They might select a word that has a double
meaning to add significance to their ideas
They might select a word whose etymology
suggests another or deeper meaning than a
synonymous word.
They might select an unusual form of a word to
illustrate a geographical region or a cultural
difference between characters.
Syntax

Syntax refers to both the way the
sentences are constructed and they
way they are put together.
Writers might use short simple sentences
 Some may use lengthy complicated ones
 Some may mix both kinds of sentences,
depending on the meaning they are trying
to evoke.

Figurative Language

Figurative language can be described as the
“intentional departure from the normal
order, construction, or meaning of words in
order to gain strength and freshness of
expression, to create a pictorial effect, to
describe by analogy, or to discover and
illustrate similarities in otherwise dissimilar
things” (202), according to C. Hugh Holman
and William Harmon in their A Handbook to
Literature.
Types of Figurative Language

There are many different types of
language use, or devices, that can be
considered figurative language:
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Hyperbole
Imagery
Irony
Personification
Similes and Metaphors
Symbolism
Hyperbole

Hyperbole is intentional exaggeration for an
intended effect, with the understanding that
the reader is not meant to believe the passage
literally.

Example: A student might say to a classmate on the
way to lunch that,”I’m so hungry I’m starving to
death.” The listening student can probably glean
from the context—that the class seemed long, that
the speaking student does not seem emaciated—
that the student is not in imminent danger of dying
but that he or she was merely dramatizing the idea
that “Hey, I’m really hungry.”
Imagery

For our purposes, imagery is a word or set of
words that create a resonance upon one or
more of your five senses.

Consider the following use of imagery from Poe’s
“The Fall of the House of Usher”:

I looked upon the scene before me—upon the mere
house, and the simple landscape features of the
domain—upon the bleak walls—upon the vacant eye-like
windows—upon a few rank sedges—and upon a few white
trunks of decayed trees—with an utter depression of
soul which I can compare to no earthly sensation more
properly than to the after-dream of the reveler upon
opium—the bitter lapse into every-day life—the hideous
dropping off of the veil.
Irony
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This is perhaps the most
misunderstood term in the literary
pantheon; even English teachers debate
over what is or is not irony.
Various Types of irony:
Verbal
 Dramatic
 Tragic

Verbal Irony

Verbal irony can be understood as words
that evoke a meaning opposite to what they
suggest literally.
An example of verbal irony occurs in Jonathan
Swift’s “A Modest Proposal,” when he ironically
suggests that the poverty in Ireland can be
solved by having the wealthy English purchase
Irish babies from the poor to eat.
 Take link to Project Gutenberg's version of The
Modest Proposal at

ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext97/mdprp10.txt
Dramatic Irony

Dramatic irony is when the audience
knows or understands something more
than a character or characters in the
work.

In Hamlet, for example, the audience
knows that Hamlet is trying to fake metal
illness to avoid having his investigation into
his father’s murder exposed. As Claudius
is not aware of this, he begins his own
investigation into the cause of Hamlet’s
psychosis.
Tragic Irony

Tragic irony is when the character uses words
that mean differently for the character than
the audience or other characters, usually with
the meaning that the character doesn’t
understand being a dark negative one.

Instances of these uses of irony are often contained entirely
within a text, but there can also be instances where the
tragic irony is not intended but is caused by cultural
circumstances. For example, in Sidewalks of New York, a film
released in November 2001 although it was originally slated
for a September 2001, a character mentions than nothing
ever happens in New York. Given the World Trade Center
tragedy of 11 September 2001, the verbal irony becomes
tragic.
More Clarification on Irony

Generally, for something to be ironic it
must be more than an unexpected or
“twist” occurrence. The writer, in the
case of endings, for example, should
have taken pains to set up the exact
opposite expectation from the one that
occurs.
“Ironic” Mistakes
Many people sometimes mistake poetic
justice for irony. This occurs when a
character gets his or her “just desserts.”
 In the popular song, “Ironic,” most of the
examples given that precede the chorus
“Isn’t it ironic?” Don’t you think?” are not.
Someone afraid to die who gets killed in a
plane crash isn’t an example of irony, just
possible an example of tragedy (or Murphy’s
Law).
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Personification
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Personification occurs when a writer
give human characteristics to an
inanimate object.
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The Little Engine That Could is a
children’s story that depends upon
personification.
Anthropomorphism occurs when a
writer gives human characteristics or
motivations to animals or other living
creatures.
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Bambi is an anthropomorphism at work.
Similes and Metaphors
A simile expresses similarity directly
between two objects, usually using “like” or
“as.”
 A metaphor expresses an implied analogy
between two different objects, making the
claim that the first has one or more of the
qualities of the associated with the second
or giving the first the emotional or
imaginative qualities of the second. These
may use “is” to link the objects.
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Symbolism
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Symbolism happens when a writer uses one
object to stand for another. The symbol can
be a word, phrase, or idea that contains both
its literal meaning and some deeper more
complex meaning.

Symbols may be universal, or accepted by all people
educated within a certain culture.

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For example, the bald eagle can be used to symbolize the
United States of America.
Symbols may also be contextual, or have their
meanings determined by the context of the work in
which they appear.

For example, in the film A Civil Action, water becomes
symbolic of life, truth, and honesty.
Additional Reading

You may want to read ahead in your
Understanding Literature text. In its
discussion of poetry, it covers:
Metaphor
 Imagery
 Symbolism
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Questions for Analysis
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
In Literature and Ourselves, Gloria
Henderson, William Day, and Sandra
Waller identify some key questions to
help readers determine how the
elements of fiction are being used or
manipulated by writers (12-13).
The following slides give you those
questions by element.

Questions in blue are my additions.
Plot Questions
What is the conflict of the story? Where do you first
realize that there is a conflict?
 Can you list the steps in the development of the
conflict?
 Where does the conflict reach a climax?
 What is the resolution of the conflict?
 Is that resolution satisfying to you? Why or why
not?
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Character Questions
Are the characters believable? Why or why not?
 How are the characters revealed through what the
author says about them, through what the other
characters say about them, and/or through what
they say and do?
 Which characters are round? Which are flat? Does
their development/lack of development affect the
success of the story, and if so, in what way(s)?
 Do any of the characters develop or change in the
course of the story? How do these changes affect
the story?
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Point of View Questions
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What is the point of view of the story?
If it is first person or third person limited, through
which character do readers see the story? Is the
character a reliable or an unreliable narrator? How
does his or her personality affect the perception of
the other characters and of the action?
Could the story be told as effectively from another
point of view? If so, how and why? If not, why not?
Setting Questions
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Where and when does the story take place? How
does the author let the readers know the time and
place?
Could the story take place as effectively in any
other time or place?
Is there anything unique about that setting,
culturally or psychologically? Anything symbolic?
Style Questions
Diction: What kind of diction does the write
use? Can you describe it? Are the words easy
to recognize or obscure? Is there a lot of
technical jargon or represented accents?
 Syntax: What kind of syntax is used? Could
the sentences be described as simple or
complex? Are the language and sentence
structure dictated by the point of view? If
so, how?
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Style Questions, continued
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Figurative language:
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Are there any instances of hyperbole? If so,
what affect do they have upon the story?
What kind of imagery does the author use, and
which of your five senses do they resonate upon?
Does the language seem poetic?
What kind of irony, if any, is evoked in the text?
Style Questions, continued

Figurative language, continued:
Can you examine any instances of personification,
similes or metaphors to see if they give any clues
about the characters or the plot events?
 Are there any symbols used in the piece? Are
they universally accepted or are they contextual?
What do they represent and how do they enrich
the story’s meaning?
 What is the tone or mood of the story? How is
that effect created?
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Works Cited
Henderson, Gloria, and William Day and
Sandra Waller. Literature and Ourselves.
New York: Harper Collins College Publishers,
1994.
 Holman, C. Hugh and William Harmon, A
Handbook to Literature. 5th Edition.
Macmillan Publishing Company, 1986.
 Soles, Derek. The Prentice Hall Pocket Guide
to Understanding Literature. Upper Saddle
River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2002.
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