The Art of Fiction
•The narrator – point of view
•Modes of presentation
•Characters and characterisation
•Composition and structure
•The short story
The narrator – point of view
A
B
C
D
Point of view
The first-person narrator is a character in the story. It can be a
minor character or the protagonist. The first-person narrator
has a limited point of view.
B
The omniscient narrator is a third-person narrator with a
unlimited point of view. The narrator is in a godlike position
behind the scenes, managing the characters like puppets on
strings, knowing everything.
D
The third-person narrator with a limited point of view can be one
or more persons in the the story whose thoughts and feelings we
know but we are excluded from the the other characters’ inner
life.
C
The third-person observer with a limited point of view is a
narrator who employs an impersonal narration. He only describes
or reports the action in dramatic scenes, making no comments.
A
Point of views - pros and cons
Advantages
•
•
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•
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First-person narrator
very convincing and vivid as we know
everything of one character
identification with character
very personal and credible
Third-person narrator
Omniscient
great freedom for writer
narrator can comment
readers know everything, too, so they
can choose a character they favour
and draw own conclusions.
observer
objective style – dialogues and
descriptions
3rd person limited
perspective of one character but still
free to move to other characters
more personal than other 3rd person
narrator
Disadvantages
First-person narrator
• limited knowledge and language
• narrator may be unreliable, not objective
Third-person narrator
Omniscient
• reader may has no guide, what is
important, risk of losing a focus
observer
• reader cannot identify with any character
• too cool, impersonal, no access to
characters’ thoughts and feelings
3rd person limited
• like in first person narration may be too
limited, too restricted to one character
Modes of presentation
The way the narrator narrates events is known as mode of presentation. There are
two different kinds:
Scenic presentation (showing)
Panoramic presentation (telling)
The characters’ words and action are
shown in dramatic scenes (dialogue and
detailed action).
•effect of immediacy
•conveys an intense moment vividly
•offers an intensive view
The narrator summarizes the events in
his own words.
•gives general account of events
•Provides an comprehensive and
extensive view
Interior monologue
• special kind of scenic pres.
• reported thought (thoughts presented
in reported speech)
• narration consists of thoughts and
feelings passing through a character’s
mind.
stream-of-consciousness
• special kind of scenic pres.
• introduces the reader directly into a
character’s interior life
• often no sentence structure
• explores the character’s mind
Characters and characterisation
Direct or explicit characterisation
The reader is told about a character
directly by:
a)
the narrator
b)
another character
c)
the character him-/herself
Indirect or implicit characterisation
The reader must draw conclusions about a
character by:
a)
studying his or her behaviour
b)
opinions
c)
choice of words and/or way of
talking
Characters can be flat or round:
flat: A character has only limited number of traits or represents only a single
quality. He/she does not change in the story
round: A character is similar to real individuals and has several traits, good and bad.
He/she is very complex and often develops or changes in the course of the story.
Composition and structure
The plot is the interplay between characters, what the do, say and think and what happens.
There can be more than one plot in a story such as main plot and subplot.
In a story you have always main characters (hero/heroine) or a central character protagonist
and an antagonist (opponent) between whom there is a conflict.
Other elements of a story you can describe are:, setting (time and place) and atmosphere
(mood) The plot (dramatic) structure is normally given as follows:
climax
(turning point or crisis)
rising action (complication)
conflict develops
exposition
falling action
solution = dénoument
open ending, happy ending,
catastrophe (tragic
ending)
The short story
According to Edgar Allan Poe:
• Should be short to be read at one sitting (one general idea)
• Long enough to produce the desired effect on the reader (normally one single effect)
You can say that the short story …
 is a brief fictional prose narrative with a simple, single motive (or theme)
 deals with only a few characters who are revealed but do not develop
 aims at a unity of effect (single situation, single character, single emotion or a series of emotions
that are uniquely interwoven so unity is achieved
 no subplot
 an abrupt opening, a turning point, an open (surprising) ending
 plot structure in a very condensed form