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Fiction – a story that is entirely made up and is not true; may resemble reality, but is
purely circumstantial; broad term encompassing any narrative created from the author's
imagination; can include short stories, novels, and other imaginative works.
Examples:
1. "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien
2. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" by J.K. Rowling
3. "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger
4. "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley
5. "The Martian" by Andy Weir
Nonfiction – a story that is purely true and is based on reality; based on real events,
facts, or information; includes genres like biography, history, essays, and journalism.
Examples:
1. "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank
2. "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari
3. "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer
4. "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
5. "The Elements of Style" by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White
Novels – a genre of fiction which is referred to as a long narrative prose which presents
a quite lengthy story of a group of fictional or imaginary characters and events; longer
narrative form with a complex plot and developed characters; multiple settings and
subplots; explores various themes and often involves character development over time.
Examples:
1. "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee
2. "1984" by George Orwell
3. "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen
4. "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald
5. "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel García Márquez
Short Story - a story with a fully developed theme but significantly shorter and less
elaborate than a novel; Brief narrative focused on a single plot or theme; Limited number
of characters and settings; typically explores a single conflict or idea.
Examples:
1. "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson
2. "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe
3. "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry
4. "Hills Like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway
5. "The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant
1 | Shaniz Aleya A. Lutian \\ STEM 11 - N
========= LIT 01 =========
Character – the one you relate with, converse with, or listen the thought of; the driving
force of fiction; the reason that you as a reader will be interested or disinterested as you
read; holds the key to whether the fiction will be good or not.
Symbolism – a character, object, or an event may signify or symbolize something besides
from its original meaning.
THE THREE KINDS OF IRONY
Verbal Irony – when what is said by the character is not what he or she originally
meant.
Situational Irony – when the actual outcome of a situation (conclusion) is different from
the expected outcome; “twists and turns in a story”
Dramatic Irony – when the readers know more than the characters in the story.
THREE AUTHORS TO REMEMBER:
Merlinda Bobis – a dancer, visual artist, and writer who was born in Legaspi City, Albay.
She completed her post-graduate degrees from the University of Santo Tomas and the
University of Wollongong in Australia. She writes in English and Filipino (Tagalog and
Bikolano). She tackles themes of diaspora, immigrant cultures, and magic realism in her
fiction. She has won numerous awards for her literary works, more recently the Philippine
National Book Award for Fish-Hair Woman in 2014. She currently teaches at the
Wollongong University. “The Sadness Collector”
Nicomedes Marquez Joaquin, or more popularly known as Nick Joaquin, was a Filipino
fictionist, historian, and journalist who has written some of the best short stories and novels
in English. Some of these stories were written under the pen name Quijano de Manila. He
is considered to be one of the most important Filipino writers in English up until now, and
was awarded the title National Artist for Literature in 1976. Wrote “Summer Solstice”
Francisco Sionil Jose (F. Sionil Jose) – fictionist, essayist, and novelist; themes are usually
the social struggle and strife in Philippine society; awarded as a National Artist for Literature
in 2001; wrote “The God Stealer”
2 | Shaniz Aleya A. Lutian \\ STEM 11 - N
========= LIT 01 =========
THE PLOT STRUCTURE OF FICTION
Aristotle once declared that for a story to be considered a story, it must have a
beginning, a middle, and an end. Plato agreed.
Gustav Freytag – a German novelist that realized novel and story plots have common
patterns, summarized in a diagram.
Exposition – the beginning of the story, wherein the writer sets the scene by introducing
the characters, describing the setting, and sometimes will give a brief background of the
story. It is also here, before the nest part of the Freytag pyramid, that something happens
to begin the action. This is called the inciting incident - small events and telltale signs that
tell you that the conflict is about to begin. It is also sometimes known as "the complication"
of the story.
Rising action – when the complication begins to show itself on the characters, setting,
and events in the story. This is when the story starts to become more exciting.
Climax – the event with the greatest tension in the story. This is when the characters know
the truth, act on their impulses, make rash decisions or decide to do something, and so on.
This part usually signals how the story will end.
Falling action – the result of the climax, and it is the part when things start falling into
place for the characters. Reaching the conclusion of the story, the story reaches a
premature resolution of the conflicts, problems, and issues that were raised in the previous
parts of the story.
Denouement – a French term that means the "ending." This is where the story reaches its
final conclusion and the writer starts to get ready to tell the ending by way of explaining a
finality, a flashback, a peace treaty, or anything to make the story complete. It also will
include an explanation of what had happened and how characters think or feel about
this.
3 | Shaniz Aleya A. Lutian \\ STEM 11 - N
