What is Novel, Short Story, Novella, Plot, character, Protagonist, Narrator, Conflict, Episode, Historical novel

What is a Novel, Short Story, Novella, Plot, Character, Protagonist, Narrator, Conflict, Episode, Historical novel

1 Novel

The Novel A Novel is a long written story about imaginary people. The term novel is a truncation of the Italian word “novella” (new). It is longer than a short story. It is an extended word of fiction written in prose. It has a great variety of characters. The novel may have any kind of plot, tragic, comedy, satiric or realistic. There are various types of novels like realistic, social novel, historical novel, romantic novel, etc. The novel does not follow any fixed structure or style. It is popular because of its flexibility. Some famous and important novels are “Charles Dickens” Hard time, Henry Fielding’s “Joseph Andrew.

What is a Novel, Short Story, Novella, Plot, Character, Protagonist, Narrator, Conflict, Episode, Historical novel

2 Short Story

A short story typically takes the form of a brief fictional work usually written in prose. The short story is written between 1600 to 2000 words. It usually focuses on a single subject or theme. The story may be realistic, natural, or fantasy. It arranges the action, thought, and dialogues of its characters. It can be reading in one sitting.

Sir Walter Scott, Edgar Allen Poe, Mark Twain are some famous short story writers.

3 Novella

The novella is a literary genre of written fiction. Novella means “a little new thing” which is an Italian term. We can broadly say that a novella is shorter than a full-length novel but longer than a short story. They are typically about 60 to 120 pages. Novella will have fewer conflicts and subplots. The novella is also not usually divided into chapters. The conflicts in a novella are more complicated and better defined than in a short story. Thomas Mann’s “Death in Venice” is an example. 

 4 Plot

The plot is a literary term used to describe the events that make up a story or the main part of a story. These events relate to each other in a pattern or sequence. The plot is known as the foundation of a novel or story around which the character is setting are built. Plots may be romantic, satiric and comic. The protagonist, the character, the suspense discriminate are the types of plot. Introduction, Rising action, Climax, falling action, the conclusion are the primary elements of a plot.

5 Character 

A character is a person or other being in a literary work. The character may be entirely fictional or based on real-life person (non-fictional). E.M. Forster has classified the characters into two categories. These are flat and round characters. A flat character or type character is built around a single idea or quality. A round character is complex in temperament and motivation. The character of Prospero is flat but the character of King Lear is around who undergoes radical changes.

6 Protagonist

A protagonist is a central character or leading figure in poetry, narrative, novel, or any other story. A protagonist is sometimes called a hero by the audience or reader. The word originally came from the Greek language. The story revolves around the protagonist. He works the emotional heart of the story. A well-constructed protagonist attracts the audience emotionally and relates them with the joys, fear, and hopes of the character. The legendary or historical figure.

7 Narrator 

A narrator is a person who tells a story and the voice that an author takes on to tell a story. This voice can have a personality quite different from the author. The narrator tells the story by name or by using the third person. In the first-person narrator, the narrator speaks in the first person ‘l’. A story told by a narrator who is not a character in the story is a third-person narrator. The narrator is sometimes divided into two categories which are the intrusive narrator.

8 Conflict

Conflict is the heart of the narrator. It is a literary element that involves a struggle between two opposing forces. Usually a protagonist and an antagonist. It can be between the main character or fate. Conflict may be internal or external. It may be written in a character’s mind or between a character and an exterior force. The basic type of conflict is man against man, man against nature and man against self.

9 Episode

The episode is also known as the incident, helps to frame the plot. The word derives from the Greek term “epeisodion” meaning the material contained individual Sciences but lengthy, action sequences and indents. The episode has a tight narrative. It is not an internal part of the novel so the narrative becomes an episode.

Joseph Andrew by Henry Fielding is a good example.

10 Historical novel 

A novel that re-creates a period or event in history and often uses historical figures as some of its characters. The historical novel is written keeping in mind the history of one or two generations or even several generations. It deals with the customs and mentality of that period. It was Sir Walter Scott who used his pen in the nineteenth century to the historical novel. 

Dickens ‘A tale of two cities in Paris and London during the French Revolution. Story’s war and peace are the best examples.