Central theme of 'The Bishop's Candlesticks'

             “The Bishop's Candlesticks” by Norman McKinnel is adaptation of an extract from the play Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. It is about how a simple act of kindness reforms a convicted criminal from a beast to a man. 

        Thus the central theme of the play “The Bishop's Candlesticks” is love, kindness and redemption. It is about how a simple act of kindness reforms a convicted criminal from a beast to a man.

             In the play, a convict comes to a Bishop's house and demands for food, threatening the Bishop’s life in the process. The Bishop offers him not just food and shelter, but his sympathy too. Instead of being grateful, the convict steals the Bishop’s candlesticks, his prized possessions, and escapes. He is soon caught and arrested by a Sergeant, who presents him to the Bishop. The Bishop, however, claims to have given the candlesticks to the convict as a gift and demands him to be released. This simple act restores the convict's faith in humanity and convinces him to go back to leading an honest life.

In short we can say that - The play demonstrates how criminals are not born,but circumstances turn a person into a criminal.

Short Story - Meaning and Characteristics and features of good short story

• INTRODUCTION     

    Like, a novel, the modern short story always shows us something of how people respond to life. The method of the short story is more limited than that of a novel. A novel tries to create a world of its own reality in which its characters developed. In some novels we are apparently shown the ‘whole life’ of a character. As it is impossible to write about every second of that character’s existence, the novelist presents the ‘whole life’ in a series of moments, key incidents that create a strong sense of the kind of persons he or she has invented.

• Depiction of glimpse of individuals:

             On the other hand the short story, presents only a glimpse of individuals – either through a dramatic incident, or by showing them in an everyday situation, or by showing fleeting moments from their lives – from which the reader may gain some, Thus the short story does  not shows an entire impression of characters.  While reading novel we feel that we really know characters in a novel, and may respond to them as to people in real life, like the novel it is really possible to feel the same for a character in short story.

• Lifelike Characters:

                Characters in the short story are closer to the people in real life with which we have fleeting contact, like chance meetings, holiday acquaintances. We share time with them but know little about them, of their past or of what they are really like- and then perhaps loose contact. All that remains in a brief impression based on a few shared moments. Much of the appeal of the short story lies in this incompleteness. It raises questions, doubts, ambiguities. The incompleteness is rather like that of something that is not resolved. More is suggested in a short story than it ever tells us. Our imagination is always creatively engaged.

• Suggestiveness

          Usually the short story raises more questions than it answers. It arouses our curiosity. – Why do certain characters behave as they do? What will they do next? Just as poetry often seeks to communicate feeling or emotion which is often difficult – perhaps impossible – to put into words, so the ‘incompleteness’ of the story can hint at states of mind or feeling common to us all, but difficult to bring out with clarity. 

             Like a poem a short story can rely on a kind of ‘suggestiveness’, for example where it tries to evoke a mood rather than showing it. It certainly shares some qualities with poetry. – It seems no accident that poets like Walter de la Mare, Dylan Thomas and Ted Huges have also written short stories.

                    The short story is often based around a single key moment or incident in the life of the characters. At times it represents a turning point in a character’s life. It can be a moment that actually triggers tension or conflict between two individuals, or an individual and society. It may be less the moment itself than the characters response to it. In such cases the key moment might already have occurred or been reported. Some moments can be trivial and ordinary; others seem dramatic and quite out of ordinary.

• Dynamic in Nature:

                 The short story can show change in the main character, not though one incident but though several small moments at a significant time in character’s life. While still lacking the space for the full psychological development of the character, this kind of story might look at a period in the character’s life rather than at a specific isolated moment. 

  

 Features of a good short story 

"A good short story reflects life and does not contain black and white characters"

Themes of short story could be topical or universal. Topical themes have a sense of immediacy and particularity. They would be pertinent to a particular place and time. Topical themes evoke greater interest and has immediate and contemporary relevance. 

          On the other hand, there are problems, conflicts, and experiences that man has always faced and would continue to face irrespective of time and place. Such things are as for instance, birth and death, love and hate, good and evil, grief, pain and suffering. They are of universal significance. Such themes have greater depth and endurance. It is said that great stories like symphonies contain more than one theme. 

    The topical subjects may well become 'the rags of time’. But themes of universal significance, artistically well crafted into stories form would be according to W.B. Yeats “Monuments of their own significance, gathered into artifice of eternity.'

             A short story may not deal with a vague or general experience. It is a section of a particular experience, special and isolated. But the particularity of the experience a universality of application in theme and value. The best stories contain both. 

             In James Joyce's words, a short story must have 'epiphany' which means self revelation or getting a sudden vision of life. This is a self awareness and a sense of profound insight, the protagonist or hero is exposed to, towards the end. It is said that a good short story is like a diamond; it has many facets. For example, it may reflects the facets of society, the characters, feelings, life etc.

The Victorian age as the age of Compromise.

      The Victorian age does not begin to year in which Queen Victoria Ruled in England, but Victorianism means an attitude to life and things. . This age was also called as the age of Tennyson, because its limit concedes with the limit of his creative life. He is the most representative writer of his time and the mirror of his age. The Victorian Age was the age of compromise or an age that looked for balance among conflicting forces and divergent tendencies. The Victorians Found a compromise between the employer and employees, between Monarchy and Democracy, between Science and religion and between Romanticism and Classicism

      When the queen Victoria became Queen in 1837, English Literature seemed to have external upon the period of leap years. It lacked the poetic fruitfulness of the Romantic Age. Coleridge, Shelly, Keats, Byron and Scott have passed away and Wordsworth complained:

“How fast brother has followed brother,

From sunshine to the sunless cloud.”

       Tennyson found so much glory and beauty in this age while Carlyle, Ruskin and Mathew Arnold found everything dark and hopeless. But there were some optimist like Browning who declared – 

“God’s in his heaven,

And all right with the world”

       A number of critics like G. K. Chesterton and Lytton were ironical in their assessment of the Victorians. The literary as well as social scene of the age can be described as an era of progress and unrest; and therefore what strikes most in the literature of this period is a search for balance. 

Let’s discuss this age as an age of compromise in detail.

(A) Compromise between Monarchy and Democracy:

       The steady advantage of Democratic ideals greatly influenced the literature of the people for personal liberty resulted in the establishment of democratic and the kings and the lords were left only figureheads. The Industrial Revolution of eighteenth century changed whole structure of the society. The passing of Reform Act and ne factory laws made education available to all people. The class walls were removed and the house commons became ruling power.

(B) Compromise between Science and Religion:

     The Victorian age was an age of scientific advancement and material progress.  The publication of Darwin’s ‘The Origin of Human Species’ changed man’s attitude, religion and life. Old views of religion and old faith had to justify themselves on new grounds. Literature caw to the aid of religion in upholding of idealistic view of life. Thomas Carlyle, Ruskin, Newman, Matthew Arnold and others made serious effects to revive the religious tradition and criticized the growing materialism. Whereas Tennyson and Browning did not lose faith in human virtues. They show in this new development, the birth of grater age. Tennyson’s ‘The Princess’ and ‘In Memoriam’ contain lines which show Tennyson’s faith in the theory of evolution. Again it is this scientific pamper which made the literature of this period critical of this age. Everywhere in the poetry of the Tennyson and Arnold, in the novels of Dickens and Thackeray, in the prose of Carlyle and Ruskin, we get the same note of social criticism. The Oxford Movement was an attempt to recover the lost tradition. From 1530 onwards the struggle between Science and Theology becomes more apparent. But ultimately the practical Victorian mind adjusted itself to the new changes and came to terms with reality.

(C) Compromise between the Romanticism and Classicism or        Between Idealism and Realism

       Side by side with the development of the democratic ideals, scientific advertisement, industrial development, social unrest, religious tolerance and growing brotherhood, the Victorian Age and its literature reflected human interest. The Romantic Revival had shown interest in nature and art as the subject matter of the art. Therefore the Victorian Age displays a very interesting and complex mixture of two opposing elements – Classicism and Romanticism. Basically it was inclined towards classicism on account of its rational approach to the problems of life, a search for balance and stability and a deeply moral attitude. But on the account of its close proximity to the Romantic Revival which had not completely exhausted itself. But it had came to a sudden end of account pre mature death of Byron, Shelly and Keats, the social economic unrest, the disillusionment caused by the industrialization and material prosperity. The spirit of Romanticism also survived and produced counter currents.

Charecteristic ( Techneque ) of One Act Play

Chief Characteristics OR Techniques of One Act Play

• Inroductiof of One Act Play

         The One Act play is often thought to be a short form of the long play. But the question is not one of length. A One-Act Play is a separate literary form by itself. It is not a condensed three or five Act Play, nor can it be elaborated into a three Act play. The very nature and structure of the two are entirely different. 

         A One-Act Play deals with a single dominant situation, and aims at producing a single effect, though the methods used may different  from tragedy to face, according to the nature of the effect desired. As the play is short and the action takes place within a short period of time, greatest economy and concentration is required. Everything superfluous is to be strictly avoided. The play must be close knit and the greatest attention must be paid to its structure. This makes the One-Act Play a difficult form of art and much training and practice is required to master it. It is a highly artistic form and has immense possibilities for development.

• THEMETIC CONCERN

         Though short in form the One-Act Play can have as its theme a large number of varied subjects. In fact every subject between heaven and earth is fit for the One-Act Play. It, of course, deals with only one action to produce the maximum of effect. Some tense situation or some particular phase in the life of an individual is chosen and is depicted in an effective manner. All attention is concentrated on that particular moment and the story of the play hangs on it.

Various problems connected with the life of the individual are discussed.

Thus various sorts of things – love, marriage, divorce, justice, crime, punishment, law, superstitions, customs and manners – are all suitable themes for a One-Act Play. According to its theme the One-Act Play can be divided into different types as – realistic plays, problem plays, fentasies, costume plays, satire, romance, etc. In short, the playwright has a large and varied choice of subjects which can be discussed equally well in the One-Act Play.

PLOTS OR THEMATIC CONCERN OF SOME PLAYS FOR EXAMPLE ONLY

THE BISHOP'S CANDLESTICKS is an adaptation of the story of the encounter between a convict and a bishop from Victor Hugo's novel Les Miserables.

THE MONKEY'S PAW is a horror play which is also an adaptation from a short story by W.W. Jacobs.

REFUND is a satire on the anomalies of the modem educational system.

HOW HE LIED TO HER HUSBAND makes an original play out of the hackneyed

situation involving a husband, wife and lover.

THE DEAR DEPARTED is a very amusing little play which makes good fun of the petty-Mindedness and complacency of a middle class family.

FUMED OAK is remarkable as an effective and satirical comedy on human relationships with strings attached.

HELLO OUT THERE is a moving short play'on the hypocrisies of a society that fails to understand the call of one human being to another out there.

   The plots of one-act plays are simple and easily comprehensible. The basic plot formula is that of a beginning, a middle and an end, where the end is distinctly different from the bEginning. This is what lends to a play its dramatic quality.

         

• STRUCTURE OF DRAMA

           The One-Act Play, like the longer drama, should have a beginning, a middle and an end. It may be divided into four stages: 

 1.The Exposition. 

 2.The Conflict, 

 3.The Climax and

 4.The Denouement. 

         All these stages may be distinctly marked as in the larger play, but more often than not they tend to over-lap in a One-Act Play.

           The Exposition serves as an introduction to the play. It explains situation introduces the characters and tells us of action prior to the situation on hand. Thus, the themes of the play are explained to the audience and the important characters are also introduced. The part of the story that has already happened and which it is necessary to know for an understanding of the play, is also told to the audience. But as the One-Act Play is very short, the dramatist cannot devote much time to this introduction-and explanation. Hence the exposition of a One-Act Play is usually brief.

           The exposition is followed by the conflict. It is through the conflict that the action of the drama develops. The conflict means a struggle between two opposing forces. The conflict may take different forms. There may be a struggle between two opposite interests, ideas, persons, group of persons, or the hero and his fate or circumstances. There may also be an inner conflict between two opposite ideas or urges in the mind of the hero, who may not be able to decide what to do and so may suffer great agony of spirit as a consequence. The conflict is the very back-bone of the One-Act Play. Complications after complications arise and the readers are in constant suspense about the outcome of the conflict.

          After the conflict comes the climax. It is the turning point of the drama. One of the two contending forces now gains supremacy over the others. It is now clear which of the two would win in the end. The climax is an important part of the One-Act Play and constitutes its moment of supreme interest.

         The Denouement is the next and the final stage of the One-Act Play. The play now reaches its end. One of the two contending forces now definitely gets victory over the other and the action of the drama concludes. As the space at the disposal of the writer of One-Act Plays is limited, the denouement is very brief and often overlaps with climax. The plays come to an end just after the climax.

• DRAMATIC UNITIES

          There are three dramatic unities which are observed in the One-Act Play as far as possible. The unities are – the unity of time, unity of place and the unity of action. If the drama is to be probable and natural, these three unities are to be observed by the dramatist. Of course, sometimes it is difficult to observe these unities, but effort is to be made to observe them as far as possible.

• CHARACTERS

             The characters in a One-Act Play are limited in number. The space at the disposal of the playwright is limited and if he introduces too many characters, it would result in overcrowding and lessen the effect of the drama. Of course, there is no hard and fast rule as to the number of characters in a play. But generally there are not more than two or three principal characters.

Not only are the characters limited in number, there is also no full development of character. The dramastist has no time to present the characters through the different stages of their development. All the different aspects of a character are not presented. The attention is focused on only one or two salient aspects of character and they are brought out by placing the characters in different situations and circumstances.

           Besides this, the characters in the modern One-Act Play are ordinary men and women. They are neither saints nor devlis. They have all the faults and weaknesses, as well as all the virtues that ordinary human beings have. If they are otherwise, it would make the play unnatural, unrealistic and unconvincing.

• DIALOGUE

             Dialogue is of the greatest importance in the One-Act Play. As the drama is short, all superfluity is to be avoided. Absolute economy of means should be used. Every word is to be carefully choosen and sentences must be compact and condensed. Effort should be made to say, whatever is to be said, in the least possible words. Thus the language of the dialogue should be simple, brief and easy to understand. Long speeches and arguments and long sentences would be out of place and would lessen the charm and interest of the play.

            Detailed stage-directions are invariably introduced by the dramatist in the One-Act Play. The space at the disposal of the playwright is limited and so he cannot supply us detailed information through a lengthy exposition or during the action of the play itself. This purpose is served by the stage directions. Moreover these stage directions, describing the minute details of the scene, give an air of realism to the drama.

          Besides, the play is not meant only for acting but for reading as well. The reader can know of the entire scene through the stage direction and can, to a great extent, appreciate the real spirit of the drama. These stage directions make the play perfectly clear to the reader. They impart realism and verisimilitude to the One-Act Play.

Trends in Victorian Poetry

Introduction:

       The poetic material of the Victorian age is not materially different from that of early ninetieth century.

       There is a contribution of Romantic Tradition. They are individualism, play of imagination, love of picaresque, and interact in past and love of nature. It is little different from Romantic temper, in its response to the changed political, social, economic, religious and moral condition.

 

Ethical and Spiritual:

      The Victorian poetry is characterized by its ethical and spiritual tone. Tennyson, Browning, Clough and Arnold are deeply moral and didactic in their verses. Prof. O. Elton rightly remarked that the remarkable quality of literature between 1830 and 1880 in ‘the quality of nobleness’ the poets of the age were concern with the grave and serious issues of the life and conduct. As compared to these the Romantics were not so concerned with these issues. The Victorian poetry abounds in passages showing the nobility of spirit and temper. Thus in Tennyson we have –

“Not unbecoming men that strove in God

Say not the struggle naught availed”

Such passages may be easily multiplied. They are the example of poetry written in ‘grand style’. The Victorians might have been confused bewildered at places but they did fix their gaze on what was noble and beautiful. They shaped their art for ‘life sake’ and not for arts sake.

 

Revolt:

      The Victorian poetry struck the note of revolt. It was against deadening effect and cramping inertia cased by the growing material and mechanical affluence (richness) of the age. It also raised its voice against effete conventions. However their voice was louder and stronger in fiction. Some of poet fed up with the atmosphere around adopted an escapist tendency. They look refuge in cozy beliefs of Middle Ages. It is particularly true of the Pre-Raphaelites. D. G. Rossetti delved (searched) in the folklores (the traditional beliefs) of the medieval age. Unlike the Arnold stood all for “art for art’s sake’. They were true possessors of aesthetes of the 1890s.

Individuality:

        The poetry of the Victorian Age is also marked by a touch of individuality. Though it is not much original in theme, it is yet distinctly individual in its voice. Tennyson loved to sing songs in praise of sturdy independence in England. His Princess (1847) is a forceful statement of woman’s liberty. Browning cultivated a poetic mode full of eccentricity and whimsicality. In that lies his striking individuality and inimitable originality. Arnold was concern with the best ideas.

Pessimism and Optimism:

       A note of pessimism and optimism is runs through the age in poetry. The poetry of Arnold, Clough, Fitzgerald and Tennyson is deeply coloured with pessimism and scepticism. Even Tennyson ‘In Memoriam’ is so. This was all the direct result of Darwin’s evolutionary theory. The Bad conditions prevailing in mills and factories seems to be strengthening the people’s disbelief in God. But Browning was glorying exception. He was an optimist to the core of his heart. His ideal belief in life hereafter might be questionable, but his spirit remains still unquestionable in all circumstances. His poems ‘Rabbi Ben Ezra’, ‘Prospice’, and  ‘Epilogue To Asolando’ are good examples.

A Sense of Patriotism:

       Another feature of the Victorian poetry is a sense of patriotism. Like Dickens. Thackeray in Fiction, Tennyson felt sense of national pride in his countries superiority over the countries. His Patriotic Emotions (insights) are clear in the following lines:

“…. A land of settled government,

A land of just an old renown….”

Different from the Romantic Poetry:

        A Contrasted to the Romantic Poetry, it written largely for the delight of the poets himself only, while the Victorian poetry was written for the enjoyment of the reader. The poets of Romantic Revival were interested in nature, in past and lesser degree of art, but had not interest in men and women of the world at the large. The Victorian poetry came to be related human beings with the same warmth and glow that the Romantics given to the nature. The Victorian Poets and novelist added humanity to nature and art as a subject matter of literature.

Two Groups of Poets:

       The Scientific and Romantic trends run parallel in most of the poetry of the Victorian age. There were two distinct groups of poets writing at the same time. One was influenced by the Contemporary Scientific movement like Tennyson and Arnold. The other was motivated by a desire for idealistic scope. This group being represented by Beddoes, Hood, Eliot, Rossetti, Morris and Fitzgerald.

Treatment of nature:

      Under the impact of science, the general attitude of the Victorian poets toward nature has somewhat challenged. Nature was no longer invested with divinity or with philosophical significance. It was what the science had revealed to men – matter in motion, tracking an inconceivable variety of form, but always in it variety of acting rigidly according to certain ways, which for want of wiser term, we call law.

Poetic Form:

       Much attention was paid to finish of form and polish of technique in the poetry of period. There was an attempt at the technical excellence and the poetical variety. Browning and Hopkins took immense library with English language almost to the point of obscurity and unintelligibility. As for the variety of form lyric, elegy, song, ballad and so on were written by poets.

One Act Play - Meaning, Origin, History and Characteristics

        Origin and History of One Act Play

• Meaning of One Act Play

The words “one act play” Plainly stated the it is a play in one-act. This simple definition conveys all that is to be said about one-act plays. Let us analyses this bald statement.

1) It is a play-that is, it is meant to be performed or enacted.

2) It is a short play (of one act) as distinct from a long play (of three or five acts).

• Origin and History

           One-Act plays were written & staged throughout the 18th & 19th centuries as “The Curtain Raisers” or “The after Pieces”. But the origin of one-act plays can be traced to the satyr plays of the Greeks of the 4th century B.C. which were intended to provide relief at the end of the performance of serious tragedies. The modem one-act plays and the Greek satyr plays share a common trait-both can be enjoyed without too much of expense of effort or of time.

        In the Middle Ages (in the 14th and the 15th centuries), there were short there were short plays which dealt with Christian subjects and scriptural themes. These were called the medieval miracle and mystery plays. There was also another of a similar category called the Morality play, of which the outstanding examples was Everyman. Written in the 15th century, Everyman, fits in well with the one-act plays of modem times.

     The 16th century saw the rise and glory of great English drama. The Elizabethan drama was written for professional actors and professional theatre. But in the second half of the 16th century short interludes were written to be performed between two long miracle or mystery plays or between the courses of a banquet. These were truly one-act plays requiring just a few actors and capable of being performed in less than half an hour's time.

       In the 18th century Fielding's Tom Thumb and Sheridan's The Critic deserve to be mentioned in any account of one-act plays. From the above account it is evident that one-act play is not unique to the 20th century, but since the end of the First World War, there has been a proliferation of this kind in the English theatre world. Two reasons can be attributed for this large output of one-act plays the rise of the amateur drama of radio and television

         So, we can say that ----

        The origin of the one-act play may be traced to the very beginning of drama  in ancient Greece, Cyclops, a play on the forest God , by Euripides, is an early example. But, It was great Norwegian dramatist Ibsen, who, for the first time, introduced the minute stage-directions into the one-act play. Before him, one-act plays were written in poetry, but he made prose the medium of his one-act plays. In short, he made the drama, simple & real , & brought it nearer to everyday life. He made the modern one-act play what it is & his example has been widely followed. George Bernard Shaw & John Galsworthy are two of his greatest followers.

         The one-act play requires no elaborate setting & costumes, & so comes in handy to be staged in amateur dramatic societies & clubs.

          One-act plays by major dramatists —–

 (i)  Anton Chekhov —– A Marriage Proposal (1890)

 (ii) August Strindberg —–Pariah (1889)

                                        Motherly Love (1892)

                                        The First Warning (1892)

 (iii) Thornton Wilder —-The Long Christmas Dinner (1931)

 (iv) Eugene Ionesco —- The Bald Soprano (1950)

 (v)  Arthur Miller —-A Memory of Two Mondays (1955)

 (vi) Samuel Beckett —- Krapp’s Last Tape (1958)

 (vii) Israel Horovitz —-Line (1974)

 (viii) Edward Albee —- The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? (2002)

• Chief Characteristics of One Act Play

1. One-act play is a play that has only one act, but may consist of one or more scenes.

2. One-act plays are usually written in a concise manner.

3. It deals with a single dominant situation, & aims at producing a single effect.

4. It deals with only one theme developed through one situation to one climax in order to produce the maximum of effect.

5. It treats the problems of everyday life as marriage, punishment for crimes, labor conditions, divorce, etc.

6. The one-act play, like the longer drama, should have beginning, a middle & an end. It may be divided into four stages :

- The Exposition, 

-The Conflict, 

-The Climax & 

-The Denouement.  

             The exposition is usually brief, serves as an  introduction to the play. It is through the conflict that the action of the drama develops. It is the very backbone of the one-act play. Climax is the turning point of the drama. It  is an important part of the one-act play & constitutes its moment    of supreme interest. The Denouement is very brief & often overlaps with climax.

7. Action begins right at the start of the play.

8. There are no breaks in the action, that is , it is continuous       since its a short play; no intervals.

9. Everything superfluous is to be strictly avoided as the play is short & the action takes place within a short period of time. It introduces elaborate stage directions to minimize the time taken by the action itself.

10. The creation of mood, or atmosphere is indispensable to its success.

11. There are three dramatic unities which are observed in the one-act play. The unities are —- the unity of time, unity of place & the unity of action.

12. It aims at simplicity of plot ; concentration of action & unity of impression. It does not rely on spectacular effects & common dramatic tricks of old.

13. The characters in a one-act play are limited in number. Generally, there are not more than two or three principal characters.

14. There is no full development of character. All the different aspects of a character are not presented. The attention is focused on only one or two salient aspects of character & they are brought out by placing the characters in different situations & circumstances. The author implies the past & intimates the future of a character by presenting a crucial moment in the life of that character.

15. There is an influence of realism. The characters in the modern one-act play are ordinary men & women. It depicts characters that seems to be real & related to everyday life.

16. It must present a question, for which the audience eagerly awaits the answer.

17. Its language is simple & can be followed without any strain. All superfluity is to be avoided in the dialogue. The dialogue must be purposeful; the best dialogue is that which does several things at one time. Every word is to be carefully chosen & sentences must be compact & condensed. Effort should be made to say, whatever is to be said, in the least possible words. Thus, the language of the dialogue should be simple , brief & easy to understand . Long speeches & arguments & long sentences would be out of place & would lessen the charm & interest of the play.

The Elements of Literature for a good interpretation of literature

1. ELEMENTS OF FICTION

 • The Story, whether it is a short story, novel or fork tale, has the following general elements that are used to analyze any written story:

 -Author 

-Setting 

-plot 

-Themes 

-Characters 

-Style 

-Language

1.1. ELEMENTS OF FICTION (AUTHOR) 

       Author: This is the writer of any written work of art or fiction. It is very important to not only know the name of the author, but you should also understand and appreciate his or her background. This will help you the reader to understand what, how and why the author writes any story or novel. For example, authors have different writing styles in their works, and they are motivated variously in their writing the story. Once you appreciate these things about the author, it most likely that you shall understand and enjoy the story you are reading and analyzing.

1.2. ELEMENTS OF FICTION (SETTING) 

 • This is the place and time in which the story unfolds or takes place. 

• Setting is important in understanding the background and impact of the story or incidents in the story. If a story is well told, we will recall the setting later, long after we have put the story aside. Where the setting threatens the characters, it creates the conflict which is as important in fiction writing or literature. 

• So, in interpreting or reviewing a setting of a story, you may have to ask and answer such questions as: How does the setting or atmosphere influence the work? Where do the events of story take place? When do they occur? What was the mood when the incident took place?

1.3. ELEMENTS OF FICTION (PLOT) 

        This is a series or chain of related events that tells us ‘what happens’ in a story. When a plot is well mapped out, it ‘hooks’ us, that is, it catches our curiosity (interest) about what will happen next. A good plot draws us along after the narrator, just as a fish is hooked and played and reeled in by an expert fisherman. The first thing to recognize about plot is the nature of that hook which pulls us along and keeps us reading. What the hook grabs is our own curiosity, making us wonder about the outcome of a conflict. When a story is strong, you can be reasonably sure its conflict is strong.

1.3.1. ELEMENTS OF PLOT 

• Let us explore this idea of conflict further because it is a core or basic element of plot in the story. It is conflict or struggle that gives any story its energy.

 • This conflict can be between one person or animal and another, one person or animal and a group of persons or a whole society, one person or animal and nature, or one person or animal with something in the person or animal such as fear, shyness, homesickness, or just an inability to make a decision.

1.3.2. ELEMENTS OF PLOT CONFLICT

 • A conflict can be external, as when a person struggles with another person, or with an angry warthog or with a hurricane. On the other hand, a conflict can be internal, that is, it can take place inside a person’s mind or heart. This might happen when a character has to make a hard decision, or struggle against fear, or resist an urge to poke his nose into everyone’s business.

• More conflicts in a story result into complications that develop as you read the story that require resolutions. In most cases, these complications are full of suspense that builds up as you anticipate what happens next in the story. This leads to a climax in the story, that is, the most emotional moment or the tensest mood of the story (breath-taking). Lastly, every story with conflicts should come to a resolution or an end. Sometimes the story may end in suspense, leaving you to guess what happens at the end of the story. However, most stories especially short stories will often have a resolution or conclusive end. In other words, your questions are answered at the end of the story whether for good or bad.

 • Therefore, in interpreting or reviewing a plot for the story, you may have to ask and answer such questions as: What is the central conflict of the story? Why does the conflict occur? What larger meaning or picture is suggested by the way the conflict is resolved?

1.4. ELEMENTS OF FICTION (THEME)

 • Theme: This refers to the controlling, main idea or central insight in the novel or short story. Theme answers the question ‘What does it mean?’ a story’s theme is often hard to state, but it is what the author means or what the reader perceives to mean by the whole story. 

• A theme is usually stated in a sentence or statement. This is so because a theme has to say something about the subject rather than just stated as a subject phrase!

 • Mostly, questions are framed in such a way as to let you show that you have learnt one or so lessons from the novel that bear on human interests. These are usually challenging questions because they require you to have a good overview of the text with regard to a wide spectrum of issues raised in the novel or short story. Such questions may be asked and answered as: What central idea or insight into life does the work convey? How do other elements help illustrate or reveal this idea or insight?

1.5. ELEMENTS OF FICTION (CHARACTERS) 

• Characters: These are persons or animals involved in a story in order to show entertain and show us some truth about human experience and ourselves. A good character should be ‘alive’ to help us appreciate the story well. In a story, we can recognize a character by his/her/its appearance, actions and thoughts, reactions of others (what other characters say or do in relation to the character), and direct statement of the author (comments made by the writer of the story as the narrator). 

• However, the best story is one in which the narrator doesn’t tell much directly about what the character is like. Instead, you learn about the character indirectly by how the character acts and how others act toward him/her, and by noticing what he/she thinks and says.

• Characterization refers to the kinds of characters the novel or short story has depending on the level of their development and involvement in the story of the book. For example, are the characters flat or round, protagonists or antagonists, major or minor, stars or backers? 

• So, in most cases, questions come in such a way that you need to compare and contrast, describe, discuss pros and cons of one or more characters with regard to the development of the story or show appreciation of the characters generally. In other words, you can ask and answer such questions as: Why do characters act as they do? What are their motives? Do the characters change? How do they change?

1.6. ELEMENTS OF FICTION (STYLE) 

• This refers to the way the novel or short story is written in order to have a desired effect on the reader or audience. 

• It also refers to the techniques used by the writer of a literary work such as point of view, humor, fantasy, flashbacks, tone, and so on.

 • Style of writing if understood and appreciated well, can help you to analyze the story very well.

 • On rare occasions, questions are asked to test your knowledge and skills in these literary devices or techniques based on a novel or story that you have read. The questions that may help you interpret or review a work of literature include: What stylistic devices does the author use? What effects do they have? How does the tone, or author’s attitude, affect the work of art?

 • Point of View: This refers to the style the writer of a story uses to narrate the story. In other words, writers usually chose who should tell the story or who should be the mouth piece in the story. So, you can tell the story from various angles by using points of view. There are three basic points of view often used in narratives: omniscient, third-person limited, and first-person.

• The omniscient (unlimited) point of view is the point of view of a god-like (all-knowing) being who has created a fictional world and who can tell us everything that is going on in the minds of all the characters. The omniscient narrator is outside the story; he or she is not part of the action at all.

 • The third-person (limited) point of view is where the writer has decided to tell the story from the limited point of view of a single person (participant) in the story. This kind of story reads as if a camera is zooming in on just one character. The writer uses the third person singular (he or she, or the actual name) of the character. This is very close to the omniscient point of view in that the writer still takes a prominent role.

 • And in the first-person (limited) point of view, the narrator speaks as ‘I’, as a character in the story. This character can tell us only what he or she sees and hears and thinks about what is going on. In other words, the narrator is a participant in the story. The writer chooses to tell the story in the name of another fictitious person and uses the first person pronoun ‘I’ as witness and participant in the events that unfold in the story. In this case, the point of view is also limited in that the narrator can only tell what he or she sees or experiences rather than what others do.

 • In order to review the points of view of any story, you may need to ask and answer such questions as:

 • What is the point of view used in the story?

 • Is it consistently used? 

• How does it affect your understanding of the work? 

• Why did the author choose that point of view?

1.7. ELEMENTS OF FICTION (LANGUAGE) 

• Language is part of style but it stands out to be the most important element of any fiction writing.

 • Literary language is often used in fiction writing to ‘relish’ the story so that it is more clear, educative, informative, and indeed interesting or entertaining.

 • Some of these language devices include figures of speech and symbolism such as images, symbols, irony, metaphors, similes, satire, and so on.

• The questions that may help you interpret or review a work of literature include:

•  What figures of speech have been used? What symbols or images does the work include? 
• What do they mean? 
• What do they suggest about the meaning of the work as a whole? 
• You shall learn more about literary language later when we deal with poetry.