Critical Elements

People, animals, or other creatures in a story

• Characters
• Setting
• Text
• Resolution

The overall feeling created by a piece of writing

• Mood
• Character
• Setting
• Theme

The author's central message about life or how people behave

• Theme
• Rising Action
• Setting
• Resolution

The problems the characters face in the story

• Conflict
• Setting
• Resolution
• Plot

Most important person around whom the events of the plot revolve

• Main Character
• Setting
• Minor Character
• Genre

The reason for writing 

• Author's Purpose
• Conflict
• Resolution
• Genre

The main story events and actions

• Plot
• Genre
• Setting
• Text

The most exciting part of the story

• Climax
• Setting
• Plot
• Theme

The time and place in which the action of a story takes place

• Setting
• Plot
• Theme
• Genre

The end of the story when the reader finds out what happens to the characters after the conflict

• Resolution
• Plot
• Setting
• Climax