Lyrics

Chorus
We’ve got the characters, the setting, and of course the plot
It’s the elements of fiction that I’m talking about

Verse I
In any decent story, you’ve got to have characters
The people in it, and they can be generic or
They can be complex, interesting, unique
Like a girl who walks on her hands and writes with her feet

The protagonist, the main character, the good guy
In most works of fiction, is usually opposed by
The antagonist, the bad guy, the villain
“But what about the other folks, are they just chillin’?”

Nope, not really, though some of them are static
So they’re flat, one-dimensional, nothing real dramatic
And people with the drama are called dynamic characters
Like if they start out calm and get hysterical

Or if they start out in love and end up not
That’s the motion and emotion that propels the plot
“What’s that?” Fear not, I’ll tell you in verse III
Here’s how it goes writing fictional prose

Chorus

Verse II
For the setting of a story, you need to know when it occurs
Like 7:30 in the morning on November the first
It doesn’t always have to be that specific
For instance, if the characters are using hieroglyphics

Then you know you’re in ancient times, not the present day
But if somebody’s driving up in a Chevrolet
You’re in the present or the future or the recent past
But there’s another setting question that we need to ask

And that’s “Where?” Location, it can be narrow
Like 57 Main Street, Rio de Janeiro
Or it can be broad, not specific at all
Like somewhere in Canada, north of Montreal

So there you have it, the time and the place
Even if it’s in the future or up in outer space
Make up a fundamental element of fiction: the setting
Now here’s the hook again so you don’t forget it

Chorus

Verse III
Now, the plot unfolds in five different phases
I’ll try to get you through it in just a few phrases
Take you all the way from beginning to end
But you’ve got to listen close or rewind again

Before action happens, we’ve got the exposition
Where the author can establish or begin a definition
Of the characters, the setting, and yes, the point of view
And once that’s all established we can move to phase two

The rising action. A period of conflict and crisis
This part is unpredictable, it’s full of surprises
So open up your eyes as wide as they can possibly be
After this we’re gonna hit phase three, which is the

Climax, the high point, a moment most intense
A turning point, a major culmination of events
After that, there isn’t really much more
We gotta end the story, let’s go to phase four

We’ve got the denouement, that’s what we call the falling action
And hopefully it leaves you with a sense of satisfaction
‘Cause phase five is the end, it’s called the resolution
Tying it all together, and we’ve come to the conclusion

Resources

Further Reading

Website: Book Nuts Reading Club
Literary Elements
This website has detailed definitions for several literary terms, including character, setting and plot.

Website: Kim’s Korner for Teacher Talk
Literary Elements and Devices
This website has detailed definitions for several literary terms including character, setting and plot. It also has links to other resources.

Lesson Plans & Activities

Website: The Educator’s Reference Desk
Dear Character
This classroom activity asks students to share character traits of a chosen character, and to then write a letter as that character to another character.

Website: The Educator’s Reference Desk
Descriptive Character Analysis
This lesson plan gives several ideas for teaching students about character development, from drawing pictures to acting as the characters.

Website: The Educator’s Reference Desk
I Can Write; I’m an Author!
This lesson plan teaches how to write a narrative, with focus on structure and elements such as character, setting and plot.

Website: The Educator’s Reference Desk
Inferring Character Traits
This activity includes the whole class. Students analyze characters as a large group.

Website: The Educator’s Reference Desk
Story Creation Magic: Character, Setting and Plot
Though this activity was created for students younger than middle school, it works for older students, too, if the example story is changed to be more advanced. This exercise teaches students the importance of properly using character descriptions, settings and plot structures.

Website: Education World: The Educator’s Best Friend
Applying Character/Setting to Play Readings
This classroom activity asks students to identify two elements of a play (character/setting) in the text of a book.

Website: Education World: The Educator’s Best Friend
Character in a Bag
Partners use clues from a bag to cooperatively develop a mystery character and produce a PowerPoint about that character.

Website: Education World: The Educator’s Best Friend
Create-A-Plot
This activity asks students to use characters, settings, and plots to write original stories.

Website: Education World: The Educator’s Best Friend
Mapping the Mockingbird
After reading To Kill a Mockingbird, students participate in a case study about how the setting of this book affected the plot.

Website: Education World: The Educator’s Best Friend
Stir Up a Character Analysis Recipe
This lesson challenges students to discover the right “mix” of ingredients (characteristics) in a real or fictional character.

Website: Education World: The Educator’s Best Friend
Writing a Character Sketch
This activity asks students to write character sketches about people they already know.

Website: International Reading Association
Developing Story Structure with Paper Bag Skits
Paper bags containing five unique props are distributed to each group; these props provide the impetus for the development of creative skits. Students then use online tools to outline the story elements in their skits.

Website: International Reading Association
Graphing Plot and Character in a Novel
In this lesson, students graphically illustrate the plot of the story, and then assigning positive and negative values to each of those occurrences. Students can then draw conclusions based on their visual representation of the plot.