Story elements
The time and place in which a story occurs.
Setting
Frog: He ate a frog on his salad.
Noun
The Huskies
UW
This pair explored the Louisiana Purchase, reaching the west coast of America in 1805.
Lewis and Clark
I came in like a
Wrecking ball
The challenge or problem a protagonist faces.
Conflict
He: He likes to eat weird foods.
Pronoun
The Cougars
WSU
This American was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, before disappearing without a trace.
Amelia Earhart
You can get addicted to a certain kind of sadness
Somebody that I used to know
The protagonist’s opposition.
Antagonist
But: He liked to eat, but sometimes he wasn’t hungry.
Conjunction
Sasquatch
SFCC/SCC
This Venetian explorer sailed from Europe to Asia, but he’s known better now for the game kids play in a pool using his name.
Marco Polo
You had my heart inside of your hand and you played it to the beat
Rolling in the deep
A synonym for backstory.
Exposition
Over: His favorite place to sit was the balcony over the garden.
Preposition
The knights
Wenatchee Valley CC
This British explorer “discovered” the Hawaiian Islands.
James Cook
Flip up my cup, mazel tov
I’ve got a feeling
The single event that starts the plot moving.
Inciting incident
Is: Is it wrong to be hungry all the time?
Verb
Evergreen State U
This was the first European to explore the entirety of the Columbia River - establishing trading posts for the American Fur Company.
David Thompson
Concrete jungles where dreams are made of
Empire State of mind