Our stories

Table of Contents

1. About this section
2. Journal
3. Suggested reading
4. What is narrative?
5. Narrative elements
   1. Character
   2. Setting
   3. Plot
6. Style
7. Reading stories
8. Writing a short story
9. Telling stories - elements of storytelling
10. The Dreaming - stories from Australian Aboriginal culture
11. Task
12. Copyright/Disclaimer

Narrative elements

Narrative elements are the parts of a story, a bit like the ingredients of a cake. All narratives have these elements.

• characters: the who of the narrative
• setting(s): the when and the where of the narrative
• plot: the what, the how and the why of the narrative
• style: how the story has been written, for example, to create a particular atmosphere
• point of view: the perspective or stance from which the story is told (this may be from a particular character's perspective)
• theme: the comment that the narrative is making on some aspect of life