University of M’sila Level: 1st Year License – Groups 6, 7, 8

Module: Literary Texts Lecturer: Dr. A. Ahmed Kadi

Lecture 4: Key Narrative Elements: Plot, Setting and Characters

1- Defining the Plot

The Plot is defined as the arrangement or sequence of events in a narrative i.e., it refers to the
“storyline” of the literary work. Every narrative has a plot, of greater or lesser complexity.
In the book, Introduction to Literary Theory the plot refers to “the logical interaction of the various
thematic elements of a text which lead to a change of the original situation as presented at the outset of the
narrative” (15)
o Plot Structure
A typical plot consists of a tripartite (three-part) action structure: rising action, climax, and falling
action. The rising action of a work consists of the main character’s attempts to overcome whatever obstacles
stand in his or her way. This struggle usually results in the greatest dramatic moment of the story, the climax.
After this climax follows the story’s falling action. The engine that drives this entire plot structure is conflict.
Conflict may be internal or external. Stories may contain several different conflicts of internal or external
natures. The main purpose of such conflict is to create a sense of suspense in the reader to foster continued
interest in the narrative (O’Neill 6).
o Freytag’s Pyramid
What is Freytag’s Pyramid? Novelist Gustav Freytag developed a narrative pyramid in the 19th century,
as a description of a structure fiction writers had used for millennia. Freytag’s Pyramid builds upon Aristotle’s
Poetics by expanding the structural elements of plot.
Freytag’s Pyramid describes the five key components of a story (Exposition, Rising Action, Climax,
Falling Action, Resolution).

Here is the five-part structure of Freytag’s Pyramid in diagram form.

Source: [Link]

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 1. Exposition:
The opening part of the story that sets the scene, introduces the main fictional elements – setting and
characters, and provides any other background information that we need in order to understand the events
that follow (Kennedy 9). The exposition is disturbed by an “inciting incident” – the event that starts the main
conflict of the story.
o The Conflict or Complication: the plot is driven by a conflict which is defined as the struggle
between opposing forces. The conflict may be external—perhaps between the protagonist and another
person or between the protagonist and nature or the environment; or the problem may be internal—
occurs within a character's mind and it involves a struggle between the character’s opposing desires,
emotions, or decisions. For instance, between the protagonist’s sense of duty and her desire for
freedom.
2. Rising Action:
The events that build tension and develop the main conflict, leading up to the climax of the story. Things
“get worse” or “complicated” in this part of the story.
3. Climax:
The highest point of tension or the turning point in the story, the moments in which the central conflict
reaches its peak, and we learn the fate of the main characters.
4. Falling Action:
The events that follow the climax, leading to the resolution of the conflict. The writer explores the
aftermath of the climax.

5. Resolution/Denouement

The outcome or conclusion—the tension of the climax is released in the resolution, or as it is sometimes
called, the dénouement, a French word that literally means “untying”; the part of a plot in which the conflict
is “untied” or resolved i.e., how the story ends.

Most traditional fiction, drama, and film employ this basic plot structure, which is also called linear plot
since its different elements follow a chronological order. In many cases—even in linear plots—flashback
and foreshadowing introduce information concerning the past or future into the narrative (Klarer 15).

o Flashback an interruption of the normal chronological order of a plot to narrate events that happened
earlier (Schumacher 542)
o Foreshadowing use of hints or clues about what will happen later in a plot (Schumacher 543)

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What Determines the Success of an Author’s Development of Plot?

A good plot is always characterized by an Artistic Unity, which means that all components of the story,
such as characters, events, and themes, contribute to a unified and meaningful plot development. At the same
time, it should avoid any unjustified or unexpected turns or twists (evil twin!), no false leads, and no deliberate
and misleading information; something which is referred to in the literature as the Plot Manipulation.

2- Setting

In the book, Introduction to Literary Theory, the setting refers to “the location, historical period, and
social surroundings in which the action of a text develops (25).

By the setting of a story, we mean its time and place. The idea of setting includes the physical
environment of a story: a house, a street, a city, a landscape, a region. Setting may also involve the time of the
story—hour, year, or century. Besides time and place, setting may also include the weather—which indeed,
in some stories, may be crucial (Kennedy 110-111)
Here is an example from Jane Austin’s novel Emma:
“The evening of this day was very long, and melancholy, at Hartfield. The weather added what it could of
gloom. A cold stormy rain set in, and nothing of July appeared but in the trees and shrubs, which the wind
was despoiling, and the length of the day, which only made such cruel sights the longer visible.” (Qtd in Lodge
84)

In some literary works, the setting may play a relatively minor role, serving mostly as a backdrop, but
more often the setting plays a vital role for understanding a fictional world (Pugh and Johnson 139).

Why is the Setting Important?

Authors hardly ever choose a setting for its own sake, but rather embed a story in a particular context
of time and place in order to support action, characters, and narrative perspective (Klarer 25)

3- Character and Characterization:

Characterization is defined as the active process through which an author assigns attributes to characters
in a story (a person, animal, force, influential thing – all are characters).

In Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama, a character is defined as an imagined

person who inhabits a story (Kennedy 67).

In simple terms, a character refers to any individual—be it human, animal, or otherwise—that

undertakes actions depicted in a narrative. The central or most important character serves as the protagonist.
Most of the action of a literary work revolves around the protagonist (Pugh and Johnson 137).

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 Readers identify the protagonist through the author’s focus on this character. Literary works may also
have an antagonist, a character (or characters) against whom the protagonist struggles. Although antagonists
are often exciting characters—not all literary works include them; instead, other circumstances, psychological
conditions, or environments can serve as the central struggle for the protagonist to overcome (Pugh and
Johnson 137).

How important they are to the story determines whether they are main characters, or minor characters.
The more crucial the character is to the plot, the more he or she will be developed by the author (Schumacher
14).

Modes of Characterization

Characters can be rendered in a text through showing and telling as two different modes of presentation.
The explanatory characterization, or telling, describes a person through a narrator. This technique deliberately
places the as a judgmental mediator between the action and the reader (Klarer 18-19)

1. Direct Characterization (also called “telling”): Involves the direct description of a character’s traits
of appearance, personality and background by the narrator. This technique deliberately places the
narrator as a judgmental mediator between the action and the reader (Klarer 18-19)
2. Indirect Characterization (also called “In showing”): Involves revealing a character’s traits through
actions, speeches, thoughts, feelings, and interactions with others. Instead of explicitly stating
characteristics, the author allows readers to infer qualities from the character's behavior, actions and
speech.

Types of Characters
Fictional characters can be divided into two main categories: the ‘round’ and the ‘flat’.

1. Round characters: figures with multiple dimensions to their personalities, often change and have the
capacity to develop, they are the main focus of the narrator’s interest (complex figures).
2. Flat characters: one-dimensional figures, with simple personalities, they stay the same throughout a
story.
3. Static characters: fixed characters, remain unchanged throughout the narrative.
4. Dynamic Character: Dynamic characters undergo significant internal changes or development
throughout the plot.

End of Lecture Four!