Characters, setting and plot

Every story has characters (who it is about), a setting (where and when it happens) and a plot (what happens). Most plots follow a pattern: an opening, a build-up, a problem, a resolution and an ending. As the story goes on, the main character often changes.

Key facts

  • The main character is the person the story is mostly about. We learn what they are like from what they say, do and think.
  • The setting is the place and time: ⟦a lighthouse on a stormy night⟧, ⟦a school in winter⟧.
  • The plot is the chain of events. The problem (or conflict) is what goes wrong; the resolution is how it is solved.
  • Story structure: opening → build-up → problem → resolution → ending.
  • To see how a character changes, compare them at the start and at the end: ⟦afraid of water⟧ → ⟦asks for swimming lessons⟧.

Worked examples

Example 1

Character, setting or plot? ⟦Waves crashed against the rocks of the lonely island.⟧

  1. It describes a place.
  2. So it is about the setting.

Answer: setting

Example 2

⟦Noah lost the notes for his speech, but he gave it from memory.⟧ What is the problem?

  1. Losing his notes is what goes wrong.
  2. Giving the speech from memory is the resolution.

Answer: ⟦Noah lost the notes for his speech.⟧

Example 3

Which part of a story? ⟦That night, safe at home, Hana promised never to leave the path again.⟧

  1. The problem is over and the character is safe.
  2. It tells us how things are afterwards: the ending.

Answer: ending