Plot, Character, Setting and Narrative Technique
Plot: The sequence of events in a narrative where each event affects the next through the principle of cause-and-effect relationships between what happens.
General Structure of Plot
The general structure of a novel's plot typically follows a pattern known as the narrative arc or dramatic structure. This structure usually consists of five main parts:
- Exposition:
- Introduces the setting, main characters, and the basic situation
- Establishes the tone and style of the story
- Rising Action:
- Presents the central conflict or problem
- Builds tension through a series of events or challenges
- Develops characters and their relationships
- Climax:
- The turning point of the story
- Highest point of tension or drama
- Often features a major decision, confrontation, or revelation
- Falling Action:
- Shows the immediate results of the climax
- Begins to resolve the central conflict
- May include final obstacles or twists
- Resolution (or Denouement):
- Ties up loose ends
- Reveals the final fate of the characters
- Provides closure to the story
This structure can be modified or expanded upon, but it forms the backbone of most novel plots. Some additional elements that may be included:
- Inciting Incident: The event that sets the main plot in motion, usually occurring early in the story.
- Subplots: Secondary storylines that complement or complicate the main plot.
- Plot Twists: Unexpected turns in the story that keep readers engaged.
Character and its Types
In literature, a character is any person, animal, or even inanimate object that participates in a narrative. They are the ones who drive the plot forward through their actions, reactions, and relationships with other characters.
Types:
Protagonist:
The protagonist is the central character of the story. The plot typically revolves around this character, and their journey or development is usually the primary focus of the narrative. Protagonists can be heroic, anti-heroic, or even villainous, but they are always the driving force of the story.
Antagonist:
The antagonist opposes the protagonist, creating the central conflict of the story. While often portrayed as a villain, an antagonist doesn't necessarily have to be evil; they simply need to have goals that conflict with those of the protagonist. Antagonists can be other characters, societal norms, nature, or even internal struggles within the protagonist.
Deuteragonist:
The deuteragonist is the second most important character in the story, often serving as a companion, supporter, or rival to the protagonist. They may have their own subplot and character arc, contributing significantly to the main plot.
Static Character:
A static character remains essentially the same throughout the story, experiencing little to no internal change. These characters often serve specific roles in the narrative, providing stability or contrast to the changing elements of the story. Examples include Mr. Collins in Pride and Prejudice
Dynamic Character:
Dynamic characters undergo significant internal changes during the course of the story. These changes can be in personality, outlook, or values, often as a result of the events and conflicts they experience.
Round Characters are complex, multi-dimensional characters with detailed backstories, strengths, weaknesses, and character arcs. They undergo significant development and change over the course of the narrative. They are essential for creating a compelling story. They draw us in, make us care about their struggles, and leave a lasting impression long after we finish reading. Example is Elizabeth Bennet in novel Pride and Prejudice. She is Intelligent and witty, challenges societal expectations and learns to see beyond first impressions.
Flat Character:
Flat characters are simple and one-dimensional, often defined by a single trait or quality. While they may play important roles in the story, they lack the depth and complexity of round characters. Mrs. Bennet in Pride and Prejudice
A stock character, also known as a character archetype, is a type of character found in narratives like novels, plays, television shows, or films. These characters are instantly recognizable to audiences because they embody predictable traits and fulfill specific roles within a story.
Foil: A foil is a character who contrasts with another character, typically the protagonist, to highlight particular qualities or traits. By providing a contrast, the foil helps to emphasize certain aspects of the main character's personality or situation.
Confidant:
The confidant is a character to whom the protagonist reveals their thoughts, feelings, and secrets. This character often serves as a sounding board for the protagonist's ideas and helps to reveal their inner world to the reader.
Catalyst: A catalyst character instigates change or action in the story without necessarily changing themselves. They set events in motion that affect other characters and drive the plot forward.
Symbolic Character:
Symbolic characters represent abstract ideas, themes, or concepts within the story. They often carry deeper meanings beyond their surface-level roles in the narrative.
Tragic Hero:
A tragic hero is a type of protagonist who possesses heroic traits but is ultimately brought down by a fatal flaw or mistake. This character type, originating in Greek tragedy, often evokes both pity and fear in the audience.
Anti-Hero:
An anti-hero is a protagonist who lacks conventional heroic qualities such as idealism, courage, or morality. They may still be sympathetic characters, but they often act in ways that would be considered villainous if performed by other characters.
Sidekick:
The sidekick is a character who closely associates with and supports the protagonist. They often provide comic relief, emotional support, or practical assistance to the main character.
Mentor:
The mentor is a wise and experienced character who guides and teaches the protagonist, often playing a crucial role in the hero's development and journey.
Allegorical Character: A character who represents abstract ideas or concepts, such as virtues, vices, or societal issues.
Setting in Literature
Setting in literature is like the stage on which your story plays out. It encompasses both the time and place where the events of your narrative unfold. Here's a deeper look at this essential literary element:
Components of Setting
Time Period: This could be anything from a specific historical era (victorian England, dystopian future) to a more general timeframe (present day, medieval times). The time period can influence everything from the characters' clothing and technology to the social norms and political climate.
Location: This can be a real place (New York City, the Amazon rainforest) or a fictional one (Middle-earth, Hogwarts). The specific location can shape the characters' experiences, the challenges they face, and the overall atmosphere of the story.
Social and Cultural Environment: This includes details about the social class structure, customs, traditions, and prevailing attitudes of the time and place. Understanding the social and cultural environment helps the reader grasp the characters' motivations and limitations.
Physical Environment: This describes the geographical features, weather patterns, and sensory details of the setting. Think about the landscape (mountains, deserts, bustling cities), the prevailing weather (scorching heat, freezing cold, constant rain), and the sights, sounds, and smells that would be experienced by the characters.
Importance of Setting
Setting is more than just a backdrop for the story. A well-crafted setting can:
- Create Atmosphere: The setting can evoke a particular mood or feeling in the reader, such as suspense, mystery, peace, or danger.
- Shape the Plot: The limitations and possibilities imposed by the setting can influence the challenges faced by the characters and the direction of the plot.
- Develop Characters: The setting can help to define the characters' personalities, motivations, and conflicts. For example, a character raised in poverty in a war-torn country will have a different perspective than someone raised in a wealthy, peaceful society.
- Enhance Realism: A believable setting can make the story feel more real and immersive for the reader.
Narrative Technique in Literature
- First-person Point of View: In first-person POV, the story is narrated by a character within the story, typically using "I" or "we." This perspective offers intimate access to the narrator's thoughts and feelings, but limits the narration to what this character knows, experiences, or learns.
Characteristics:
- Uses pronouns like "I," "me," "my," "we," "us," "our"
- Provides deep insight into the narrator's mind
- Limited to the narrator's knowledge and perceptions
- Can be unreliable, as the narrator may be biased or mistaken
- Second-person Point of View: This less common POV addresses the reader directly as "you," making them a character in the story. It creates a sense of immediacy and can be very engaging, but it's challenging to sustain for longer works.
Characteristics:
- Uses "you" as the primary pronoun
- Places the reader directly in the story
- Can feel intrusive or gimmicky if not well-executed
- Often used in choose-your-own-adventure books or experimental fiction
- Third-person Limited Point of View: This POV tells the story from outside, focusing on one character at a time. The narrator has access to the thoughts and feelings of this focal character but not others.
Characteristics:
- Uses "he," "she," "they" to refer to characters
- Focuses on one character's perspective at a time
- Allows deeper character exploration than omniscient, but more flexibility than first-person
- Can switch focus between chapters or sections
- Third-person Omniscient Point of View: An all-knowing narrator tells the story, with access to the thoughts, feelings, and actions of all characters. This POV offers the broadest perspective but can feel less intimate.
Characteristics:
- Uses "he," "she," "they" to refer to characters
- Narrator knows everything about all characters and events
- Can provide insight into multiple characters' minds
- Allows for a broader, more objective view of the story
- Multiple Point of View: This technique uses different POVs within the same story, often alternating between chapters or sections. It can combine any of the above POVs.
Characteristics:
- Offers varied perspectives on the story
- Can provide a more comprehensive view of events
- Allows exploration of different characters' thoughts and motivations
- Requires clear transitions to avoid confusing the reader
Narrative structure
Narrative structure offers different storytelling possibilities and can significantly impact how readers experience and interpret the story. The choice of structure often depends on the story's themes, the author's goals, and the desired effect on the reader. Some works may combine elements of multiple structures for more complex narratives.
- Linear Narrative Structure: A linear narrative follows a straightforward, chronological sequence of events from beginning to end.
Characteristics:
- Events occur in chronological order
- Typically follows a clear plot structure (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution)
- Easy for readers to follow
- Often used in traditional storytelling
- Non-linear Narrative Structure: Non-linear narratives present events out of chronological order, often using techniques like flashbacks, flash-forwards, or parallel storylines.
Characteristics:
- Events are not presented in chronological sequence
- May jump between different time periods or perspectives
- Can create suspense or reveal information gradually
- Challenges readers to piece together the story
- Circular Narrative Structure: In a circular narrative, the story ends where it begins, often with a changed perspective or deeper understanding.
Characteristics:
- The ending brings the reader back to the starting point
- Often used to emphasize themes of repetition, inevitability, or growth
- Can provide a sense of closure or continuity
- May reveal new meanings when the initial scenario is revisited
- Frame Narrative Structure: A frame narrative is a story within a story, where an overarching narrative sets up and contains one or more embedded narratives.
Characteristics:
- Contains a primary narrative that introduces secondary story/stories
- The frame can provide context, commentary, or thematic links
- Often used to explore multiple perspectives or time periods
- Can add depth and complexity to storytelling
- Epistolary Narrative Structure: An epistolary narrative is told through a series of documents, traditionally letters, but can include emails, diary entries, news clippings, or other forms of communication.
Characteristics:
- Story is conveyed through written documents or recordings
- Can provide intimate access to characters' thoughts and feelings
- Often employs multiple perspectives
- Can create a sense of authenticity or historical context
Narrative Time
Narrative time refers to how the timeline of events is structured and presented in a story. Different techniques can be used to manipulate time in a narrative to create various effects, enhance the storytelling, and engage the reader. Here are four common methods:
- Chronological: A chronological narrative presents events in the order they occur, from earliest to latest.
Characteristics:
- Events unfold in a linear, time-ordered sequence
- Provides a clear sense of cause and effect
- Easy for readers to follow
- Often used in traditional storytelling
- Can build tension naturally as events progress
- Flashbacks: Flashbacks involve interrupting the current narrative to depict events from an earlier time.
Characteristics:
- Reveal past events relevant to the current story
- Can provide background information or context
- Often used to explain character motivations or behaviors
- Can create suspense or deepen character development
- May be triggered by a character's memory, dreams, or storytelling
- Flash-forwards: Flash-forwards jump ahead in time to show future events before returning to the present narrative.
Characteristics:
- Provide glimpses of future outcomes or consequences
- Can create intrigue or foreshadowing
- Often used to build anticipation or tension
- May show potential futures or inevitable outcomes
- Less common than flashbacks but can be very effective when used well
- In medias res: In medias res, Latin for "in the middle of things," starts the narrative in the middle of the action, then fills in backstory later.
Characteristics:
- Begins at a crucial point in the story, often during a conflict or dramatic moment
- Immediately engages the reader with action or tension
- Backstory and context are revealed gradually
- Can create curiosity and encourage readers to piece together information
- Often used in action-oriented genres or to create a hook at the beginning of a story
These narrative time techniques can be used individually or in combination to create various effects:
- A chronological narrative might use occasional flashbacks to reveal important past events.
- A story that begins in medias res might use extensive flashbacks to explain how the characters arrived at that point.
- Flash-forwards might be used sparingly in a largely chronological narrative to create anticipation or dread.
- Some complex narratives might weave together multiple timelines using a combination of these techniques.
The choice of narrative time technique depends on factors such as:
- The genre and style of the story
- The author's intentions for pacing and revelation of information
- The complexity of the plot and character backgrounds
- The desired emotional impact on the reader
Skillful use of these techniques can enhance storytelling by controlling the flow of information, building suspense, deepening character development, and engaging readers in more complex and intriguing narratives.
Narrator types
The choice of narrative voice significantly impacts how readers perceive and interpret the story, influencing their emotional engagement, their trust in the information provided, and their overall experience of the narrative.
- Reliable Narrator: A reliable narrator is one whose account of events, interpretation of situations, and judgment of characters can be trusted by the reader.
Characteristics:
- Provides accurate information about the story world
- Offers unbiased or objectively biased perspectives
- Often omniscient or has a clear, rational point of view
- Establishes trust with the reader
- May be either a character in the story or an external narrator
- Unreliable Narrator: An unreliable narrator is one whose credibility is compromised, either intentionally or unintentionally. The information or interpretation they provide may be inaccurate, biased, or deceptive.
Characteristics:
- May have limited knowledge, personal biases, or mental instability
- Can be deliberately deceptive or simply mistaken
- Often revealed gradually, causing readers to question earlier assumptions
- Creates tension between the narrator's account and the implied truth
- Can be used for dramatic irony, suspense, or character exploration
- Stream of Consciousness: Stream of consciousness is a narrative mode that attempts to depict the multitudinous thoughts and feelings passing through a character's mind. It's an interior monologue taken to its most extreme form.
Characteristics:
- Presents thoughts in a free-flowing, associative manner
- Often lacks traditional punctuation or syntactic structure
- Blends sensory perceptions, memories, and random thoughts
- Can jump between past, present, and future
- Provides deep insight into a character's psyche
- Often challenging for readers due to its unstructured nature
Plot Devices: can enhance storytelling by creating suspense, complexity, and satisfaction.
Let's explore these important plot devices in detail:
- Cliffhanger: A cliffhanger is a plot device that leaves the audience in suspense at a crucial moment, often at the end of a chapter, episode, or installment.
Characteristics:
- Creates tension and anticipation
- Encourages audience engagement and continued interest
- Often used in serialized fiction, TV shows, or chapter endings
- Can involve physical peril, emotional crises, or major revelations
- Risks frustrating the audience if overused or poorly resolved
- Red Herring: A red herring is a misleading clue or distracting element that leads the audience or characters to false conclusions.
Characteristics:
- Diverts attention from the true solution or important elements
- Often used in mystery, detective fiction, or thrillers
- Can create false suspense or misdirect the audience's expectations
- Requires careful balance to be effective without feeling manipulative
- Enhances the complexity of plots and challenges readers' problem-solving skills
- Deus ex Machina: Deus ex machina, Latin for "god from the machine," refers to an unexpected power, event, or character that suddenly resolves a seemingly unsolvable problem.
Characteristics:
- Provides a sudden and often implausible solution to a conflict
- Can feel contrived or unsatisfying if not set up properly
- Originally from Greek theater, where gods would be lowered onto the stage to resolve plots
- Often criticized as a lazy or ineffective storytelling technique
- Can be used effectively if foreshadowed or if the point is to subvert expectations
- Chekhov's Gun: Named after playwright Anton Chekhov, this principle states that every element in a story must be necessary, and irrelevant elements should be removed.
Characteristics:
- If a gun is shown on stage, it must be fired later in the story
- Emphasizes economy in storytelling - all details should serve a purpose
- Creates expectation and foreshadowing
- Helps maintain narrative focus and cohesion
- Can be applied broadly to any seemingly insignificant detail that later becomes important
