As I mentioned before, there are many, many things that people talk about when they talk about fiction.  And we're going touch on, if not cover in depth, as many as we can. 

As a starting point, I want to introduce you to some ideas that are commonly discussed in literary analysis (well, some more commonly than others).  More complete glossaries of literary terms can be found both in your anthology and in the Helpful Links section.  These are just the ones we'll be focusing on most.

 One of the first things we'll be talking about is the THEME of a story.   The theme is the central or unifying idea around which everything else in the story turns.  It is often referred to as the story's message, but this is an oversimplification.  Two questions that will lead you to the story's theme are: what does the story say about the human condition, and was is the intended effect of the story?

 Among the many ways in which a story's theme is revealed is through its STRUCTURE.  One of the most common ways of looking at story structure is through a scheme developed by Aristotle.  It looks something like this (read left to right):

		Climax The "peak" of the story, both in terms of action and plot - the point at which all subsequent action becomes inevitable
	Rising Action In which the plot develops and the action builds - often the majority of the story		Falling Action/ Denouement That which follows from the climax and closes the story
Introduction/Set-up In which we are introduced to the characters and situations

 Sometimes rather than a climax, a story will have an ANTI-CLIMAX, or an unexpectedly insignificant resolution to the events.

 

Another basic element of a story is its POINT OF VIEW.  This is the perspective from which the reader sees the action of the story.  The variations are:

• FIRST PERSON: The story is told by a character who either participated in or observed the events.  The key to this one is "I."  The use of first person often leads to questions of an UNRELIABLE NARRATOR, a narrator whose interpretation of events, or even truthfulness, cannot be trusted.
• SECOND PERSON: The story is narrated as if you, the reader, were participating in events.  Very rare, but see Lorrie Moore in your anthology.
• THIRD PERSON: The story is told by an uninvolved, usually unknown/anonymous, narrator.  Variations include:
  • THIRD PERSON OBJECTIVE: "Fly on the wall," or in more modern terms, "camera on the wall."  We get only the information we would get from a movie: what we can see and hear.  In particular, we do not get any of the characters' internal reactions or views.
  • THIRD PERSON LIMITED: We get the internal action of only one character (or at least of only one character at a time - in longer works, we sometimes get different characters in different scenes).
  • THIRD PERSON OMNISCIENT: The narrator knows all, including all of the internal reactions and thoughts of all the characters.

POINT OF VIEW is often a very crucial element, as it determines how much information we get, what kind of information we get, and whose interpretation of that information we get.

SETTING, simply put, is the time and place in which a story takes places.  Among many other things, the setting can be very valuable in establishing the MOOD, or general feel, of a story.

One very commonly discussed element of fiction is SYMBOLISM.  Simply put, symbolism is when one thing in a story (often an object, but also things like weather or even a character) stands for something else (an idea, emotion, or other abstract quality).  Variations include:

• CONVENTIONAL SYMBOLISM: These are symbols that have certain cultural, commonly recognized, meanings.  Stop signs would be a conventional symbol in the U.S.  Judeo-Christian religious symbols (cross, Star of David) tend to be conventional symbols.
• LITERARY SYMBOLISM: These are symbols that operate within the story itself.  Although they may be commonly used in literature in general, they make sense only with the context of the story.  A thunderstorm, for example, might reflect a character's inner turmoil.
• ALLEGORY: An allegory is when an entire story is symbolic: when the characters, events, and settings represent abstract ideas or general truths about the human condition.  Sometimes these are even named for these qualities: Pilgrim's Progess's "Christian" and "Slough of Despond."  Other times, the story will take a complex, abstract notion and make it literal by exaggerating it - Star Trek's "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield," for example.

Related to symbolism is the notion of a work as ROMAN A' CLEF.  The term literally means "key to the novel."  In literary terms, it refers to a fictional work that is a thinly disguised retelling of real events.

Another common literary notion is that of IRONY.  Irony exists when there is a disconnect between what the readers know to be true and the perception of truth in the story.  One particular variation is DRAMATIC IRONY, which specifically refers to the reader having a different perception of truth than the characters, usually because the readers have information that the characters do not.

In speaking of characters, we often refer to the PROTAGONIST and the ANTAGONIST.  The protagonist is often referred to as the "hero," but that's not entirely accurate.  Rather, she or he is the main character, the principal figure in the story's action, often the prime mover of the story.  The ANTAGONIST is generally a character who is in some form of opposition to the protagonist.  Often these two types take the form of "hero" and "villain," but this not always the case. 

There are many, many other fun and interesting ideas that we will discuss this summer, but these should basically get you started.