An element of historical fiction in which the words spoken by the characters reflect the knowledge and thoughts of the people in that time period.

This element must be related to life, people, social, political events as well as good versus bad. It can be about courage, loyalty, kindness and etc.

The plot can be mixed with real events and fictional events as long as it makes sense to the time period of the story.

What element is described in the example?

Ex: If the story happened during the Holocaust period, the author can use the year 1941-1945 and Germany in writing his/her story.

Just like any other story, the main characters are involved in a dilemma, but in historical fiction, this element must be realistic to the time period.

What point of view is used in the passage?

Sordo passed the wine bottle back and nodded his head in thanks. He leaned forward and patted the dead horse on the shoulder where the muzzle of the automatic rifle had burned the hide. He could still smell the burnt hair.

(For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway)

Descriptions of the characters, events, and places must be very vivid. Any historic information that may be unfamiliar to the reader is explained by the writer in the story.