GED Language Arts
Elements of Fiction
Week 1 - Genre
Fiction is often broken down into different genres, or categories. Some of the most common fiction genres are fantasy, science fiction, mystery, horror, thriller or adventure. Watch the video below to learn more about the different genres of fiction, and read more about them here.
Week 2 - Plot Elements
The plot, or story, is typically made up of five elements.
1) Exposition: introduction of characters, setting, and main conflict
2) Rising action: the characters are in crisis and events leading up to the conflict begin to happen
3) Climax: the peak of the story, where characters face their biggest challenge; the most dramatic or exciting part
4) Falling action: the story begins to slow down, resolving all of the action
5) Resolution/Denouement: the conclusion of the story; all conflicts are resolved
Watch the video to learn more about these five plot elements, or read about them here.
1) Exposition: introduction of characters, setting, and main conflict
2) Rising action: the characters are in crisis and events leading up to the conflict begin to happen
3) Climax: the peak of the story, where characters face their biggest challenge; the most dramatic or exciting part
4) Falling action: the story begins to slow down, resolving all of the action
5) Resolution/Denouement: the conclusion of the story; all conflicts are resolved
Watch the video to learn more about these five plot elements, or read about them here.
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Answer the practice GED questions about plot elements: 
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Week 3 - Making Inferences in Fiction
An inference in fiction is a reasonable conclusion or judgment about some element of a story based on information given in the story and the reader's personal knowledge of how the world works.
Making inferences, or reading between the lines, requires the reader to look for details that provide clues about events, characters or other story elements. These details may give information about the story's setting or a character's background or motivation. By making inferences, you can better understand a character, situation, or other parts of the story that are not explicitly stated.
Making inferences, or reading between the lines, requires the reader to look for details that provide clues about events, characters or other story elements. These details may give information about the story's setting or a character's background or motivation. By making inferences, you can better understand a character, situation, or other parts of the story that are not explicitly stated.
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Watch the video to learn more about making inferences in fiction and download the practice GED questions to practice making inferences on your own.
More practice with inferences:
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Week 4 - Character
Characters are the fictional people that authors create in their stories. Authors bring characters to life by describing their appearance, thoughts, words, gestures, actions, and other characters' reactions to them. Understanding characters and why they do what they do can help you understand an author's main ideas and themes.
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To analyze a character, you need to pay attention to what characters say and do, how they look and behave, and what others think and say about them. Watch this video to learn more strategies for analyzing characterization.
Practice analyzing characterization on your own with these practice GED questions:
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Week 5 - Theme
The theme of a story is an idea or insight about life, human nature, or the world in general. Themes are usually not stated explicitly in the text; they must be inferred from the details and clues included in the story, and they can usually be expressed in a short statement. Read more about theme here.
One example of a theme is in the story "The Ugly Duckling." A baby bird is left on its own and believes it is a duck, although other ducks see it as different and unappealing. At the end of the story, the duckling grows up to be a beautiful swan . The theme of this story could be stated as don't judge others based on their appearances.
One example of a theme is in the story "The Ugly Duckling." A baby bird is left on its own and believes it is a duck, although other ducks see it as different and unappealing. At the end of the story, the duckling grows up to be a beautiful swan . The theme of this story could be stated as don't judge others based on their appearances.
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Read selected pages from the GED test and practice answering questions on theme:
For more practice with theme, read these poems and answer the comprehension questions:
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