Fiction
is any story made up by an
author
. It is a creation of the author's
imagination
.
[1]
It is not based strictly on history or facts.
[2]
[3]
The opposite of fiction is
non-fiction
, writing that deals with facts and true events. Often in a
library
, part of the library is for fiction books and another part of the library is for non-fiction.
The word
fiction
comes from the
Latin
word
fictum
, which means "created". This is a good way to remember what fiction is: if it has been created or made up by somebody, it is fiction. Fiction can be written or told, or acted on stage, in a movie, on television or radio. Usually the purpose of fiction is to
entertain
.
However, the dividing line is not always so clear. Fiction with real people or events in it is called
historical fiction
, because it is based on things that happened in
history
. This type of fiction is written so that we can imagine and understand what it was like when those people were alive. Reality can be presented through creative writing, and imagination can open the reader's mind to significant thoughts about the real world.
In fiction, there are always characters. There is usually a
protagonist
, or hero. Sometimes this is a group of people, not one person. You usually support the hero (or heroes.) The protagonist has to face some kind of enemy, usually another character called the
antagonist
, or villain. The fight between the protagonist and their enemy is called the
conflict
.
[4]
Plot is a literary term. It is the events that make up a
story
, particularly as they relate to one another. The events may form a pattern. That pattern may be a sequence, through cause and effect, or how the reader views the story, or simply by coincidence. (For
example
, at the start. a
puppy
hunged
by a tree branch. At the middle, someone sees that puppy is about to fall. At the end, someone saves the puppy.)
[4]
In his
Poetics
,
Aristotle
considered plot (
mythos
) the most important element of drama?more important than character, for example. A plot must have, Aristotle says, a beginning, a middle, and an end, and the events of the plot must causally relate to one another as being either necessary or probable.
Of the utmost importance to Aristotle is the plot's ability to arouse emotion in the
psyche
of the audience. In
tragedy
, the emotions are
fear
and
pity
, emotions which he considers in his
Rhetoric
.
Gustav Freytag considered plot a
narrative
structure that divided a story into five parts, like the five acts of a play.
[5]
These parts are: exposition (of the situation); rising action (through conflict); climax (or turning point); falling action; and
resolution
.
The climax is the most dangerous and exciting part of the plot. For example, if you were on a
rollercoaster
, the highest part would be the climax.
The climax usually near to the end of the story, because the whole story has been building up to it (rising action). In an action drama it is the point when the hero or heroine looks like s/he is about to lose, and is in the greatest danger.
Conflict is very important in fiction.
[4]
Every work of fiction needs a conflict, or problem. There are five basic types of conflict. In modern times, a new one, "Person vs.
Technology
", has been used.
Person vs. Self is when a character is facing his own fears,
confusion
or
philosophy
. Sometimes the character tries to find out who he or she is, and comes to realize it or change it. Sometimes the character struggles to find out what is right or wrong. Although the enemy is inside the character, they can be influenced by outside forces. The struggle of the
human being
to come to a decision is the base of this type of conflict.
Person vs. Person is when the hero is fighting another person. There is usually more than one time that the hero meets the enemy. For example, if a child is being bullied, that is person vs. person conflict. An example is the conflict between Judah and Messala in
Ben-Hur
.
Person vs.
Society
is when the hero's main source of conflict is
traditions
or ideas. The protagonist is basically fighting what is wrong with the world he lives in. Society itself is often treated as a single character, just as another person is in person vs. person conflict. An example in literature would be
Wuthering Heights
by
Emily Bronte
.
Person vs. Nature is when a character is fighting against forces of nature. Many films focus on this theme. It is also found in stories about trying to
survive
in places far away from humans, like
Jack London
's short story
To Build a Fire
.
Person vs. Supernatural is when a character is battling
supernatural
forces. Sometimes, this force is inside themselves, it is internal. Such stories are sometimes used to represent or
criticize
Freud
's theory of
id vs. superego
.
Bram Stoker
's
Dracula
is a good example of this, as well as
Frankenstein
by
Mary Shelley
and
Christabel
by Samuel Coleridge. It is also very common in
comic books
.
Person vs. Machine/Technology places a character against robot forces with
artificial intelligence
.
I, Robot
and the
Terminator
series are good examples of this conflict.
- ↑
fiction
. Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster. 2015.
- ↑
William Harmon and C. Hugh Holman
A Handbook to Literature
. 7th ed, New York: Prentice Hall, 1990, p. 212.
- ↑
"Literature in the form of prose, especially novels, that describes imaginary events and people".
Definition of 'fiction'
Archived
2022-08-27 at the
Wayback Machine
.
Oxford English Dictionaries
(online). Oxford University Press. 2015.
- ↑
4.0
4.1
4.2
Foster-Harris (1960).
The basic formulas of fiction
. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press.
ASIN
B0007ITQBY
.
- ↑
Freytag, Gustav 1863.
Die Technik des Dramas.