Story Literary Elements

Unit Vocabulary Genres: fiction, non-fiction, drama, poetry Stages of plot Conflict Flashback Foreshadowing Narrator Point of View Inferences Characteristics Setting Theme Mood Tone

Genres What is fiction? Made up events and characters What is Non-fiction? Tells about real people, events, and places What is poetry? Literature in which words are chosen and arranged

in a precise way to create certain sounds and meanings

What is Drama? Characters and conflicts are developed through

dialogue and actions

Understanding Literature Narratives

Fiction genres Novel Short story Science fiction Fable Myth Legend Folk tale

Fairy tale Play (comedy,

tragedy) Mystery Historical fiction Adventure story Fantasy

In class we use•Fiction

RealisticFantasy

Traditional •Non-fiction

Biography

Informational •Poetry

Nonfiction

Comprehension of nonfiction Identify the author’s point of view or

perspective Identify the main idea, primary hypothesis,

or primary purpose (e.g., to persuade, to inform, to analyze, or to evaluate)

Evaluate the clarity of the information Make valid inferences or conclusions based

on the selection

Nonfiction

Identify, where appropriate, an author’s appeal to reason, appeal to emotion, or appeal to authority

Evaluate the relationship between stated generalizations and actual evidence given

Evaluate organization of a selection For informational texts, evaluate the

effectiveness of their organizational and graphic aids

Nonfiction genres

Trade Book Biography Autobiography Essay News article Editorial

Professional journal articles

Book review Political speech Technical manual Primary source materi

al– Lewis and Clark

Poetry

Construction of meaning in poetry Main idea or theme Symbolism Tone, emotion

Poetry

Poetic elements Verse, stanza Meter Line length Punctuation

PoetryRhyme and Sound PatternsRhyme schemeOnomatopoeia - words such as buzz or murmur that imitate the sounds

associated with the objects or actions they refer to Repetition of wordsAlliteration - same kinds of sounds at the beginning of words Assonance - repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds

Poetry

Imagery and figures of speech

Personification - Flowers danced about the lawn Metaphor - All the world's a stage Simile - How like the winter hath my absence been

or So are you to my thoughts as food to life Hyperbole - I could sleep for a year or This book

weighs a ton.

Poetry

Poetic types and forms Lyrical Concrete Free verse Narrative Couplet

Elegy Sonnet Limerick Haiku

This is the BEST review site: English Poetry http://www.leavingcert.net/skoool/junior.asp?id=1477

Resource and research material

Reference works Dictionary Encyclopedia Thesaurus Atlas Almanac

Fiction

What is a PLOT?

A sequence of events that is fueled by a conflict within a literary text.

1. Exposition 2. Rising Action 3. Climax 4. Falling Action 5. Resolution

The First Stage of Plot Development

Exposition

What are the 3 literature elements in an exposition?

1. Character 2. Setting 3. Conflict

Stories are run by the conflict.

Man vs. Man

Man vs. Nature Man vs. Society Man vs. Himself

External vs. Internal Conflict

External conflicts are:

Man vs. Man

Man vs. Nature

Man vs. Society

Man vs. Technology

Man vs. Fate Internal conflict is:

Man vs. Himself

What are these 2 types of conflicts?

External Internal

What is the next stage of the plot?

Rising Action What is the rising action? Where the characters go through obstacles

that make the conflict more complicated. “The plot thickens”

What is the next stage of the plot?

The Climax Which is the…. Turning point of the story.

The climax is the most exciting part!! “Most intense or dramatic”

Falling after the climax…

Falling action Which … Reveals the outcome of the story’s climax

Finally the conflict within a plot takes us to the… Resolution Which is where… The story’s final outcome and any loose

ends are tied up.

Question

Does every story follow through a plot diagram from the exposition to the resolution?

No, some stories keep us hanging and don’t complete to the resolution.

Name a story like this…

Question

When a story goes through the sequence of events what is it called when a character remembers something from their past?

Flashback

Question

When a story offers information that gives hints and clues that has the reader thinking something is going to happen in the future of the story, what is this called?

foreshadowing

For example, if you hear this:

Then you know someone’s about to get eaten!

Who brings a Character to life?

The Narrator or the Point of View the text is written in.

Cornell Notes page 162

Narrator:

First person:

the person who is telling the story

1. The narrator is a character in a work of literature.

2. Is a main or minor character3. Uses the pronouns I and me to

refer to himself or herself4. Shares his or her thoughts,

feelings, and opinions of the characters and events

5. Doesn’t know the thoughts, feelings, and opinions of other characters

Third-person limited

1. Is not a character in the story but an outside observer

2. Zooms in on the thoughts, feelings and opinions of one character

Third-person omniscient:

1. Is not a character in the story but an outside observer.

2. Is “All Knowing” that is he or she has access to the thoughts, feelings, and opinions of all the characters.

Steps to determining the point of view Step 1:

Notice the pronouns the narrator uses.

I ,me, and ,my ,the story is told by a first –person narrator .

he, she, him, and her, the story is told by a third-person narrator

Step 2: Identify the narrator and the point of view

Ask: Who is telling the story?

FIRST PERSON: The narrator participates in the action of the story and uses pronouns, such as I, we, and us

THIRD PERSON: The narrator is an outside observer and uses pronouns, such as he an she.

For the third person:Step 3:

Identify third-person omniscient or third-person limited.

Omniscient: The narrator knows the thoughts and feelings of all the characters in the story.

Limited: The narrator know the thoughts and feelings only of one character in the story.

Practice: Think Pair Share 1. A. Her son in kindergarten told her about a

mischievous classmate named Charles. B. My son in kindergarten told me about a

mischievous classmate named Charles. 2. A. When we adopted the little boy, we never

dreamed we would be such a wonderful gift. B. When Bill and Angela adopted the little boy,

they never dreamed they would find him to be such a wonderful gift.

1. The brilliant detective Sherlock Homes and his humble friend, Dr. Watson, have solved many baffling mysteries together. One of their strangest cases began early one morning when a terrified young woman came to visit them. She said that her sister had been killed in her own locked room.

A. First Person B. Third-person 2. When I inspected the room carefully, I suspected how the

murder had been committed. Even though the door was locked and the windows were barred, I saw that something small and deadly could have crawled in through ventilator hole in the wall. Without sharing my ideas with Watson, I announced that we would spend the night in the room.

A. First Person B. Third-person

“Red Riding Hood”Version 1

I skipped up to the door of my grandmother’s house in the clearing singing out, “Are you there, Grandma?” Then I heard a strange, gruff voice bark out, “Yes, my child,” “That can’t be Grandma’s voice,” I thought. Cautiously, I asked, “Why don’t you open the door, Grandma?” The voice replied, :I'm sick in bed with a cold. Just lift the latch and walk in.” For a moment, I thought about running home through the woods. Then I thought, “Maybe Grandma is really sick.” I lfted the latch and the door creaked open.

Version2

Little Red Riding Hood skipped up to the door of her grandmother’s house in the clearing signing out, “Are you there, Grandma?” Inside, the wolf licked his lips, thinking how clever he was. “Yes, my child,” he replied. Red Riding Hood, startled, thought, “That can’t be Grandma’s voice” She hesitated, then she asked, “Why don’t you open the door, Grandma?" Hiding his impatience, the wolf moaned, “I’m sick in bed with a cold. Just lift the latch and walk inn.” For a moment, Red Riding Hood thought about the running home through the woods. Then she thought, “Maybe Grandma is really sick.” She lifted the latch and the door creaked open.

Version 3 The wolf heard Little Red Riding Hood sing out, “Are you

there, Grandma?” He licked his lips, thinking how clever he was. “Yes, my child,” he replied. There was a silence outside the door, then Red Riding Hood asked, “Why don’t you open the door, Grandma?” Hiding his impatience, the wolf moaned, “I’m sick in bed with a cold. Just lift the latch and walk in.” Again there was a long pause. The wolf waited, wondering whether he should spring out of bed, throw open the door, and grab Red Riding Hood before she could run away. Then he saw the latch slowly lift and the door creak open. The wolf was so pleased with the success of his plan that he could barely conceal a toothy grin.

Minor Characters

Character Traits

Less than important character

Qualities of a character such as personality

CHARACTERIZATION

The methods an author uses to reveal a character’s personality.

There are two types of characterization.

Types of Characterization

Direct Characterization

The author or narrator makes direct

statements about a character’s traits

Indirect Characterization

The author or speaker reveals a character’s personality through the character’s own

words, thoughts, and actions and through the words, thoughts, and actions of other

characters.

Every story needs characters

People

Animals

Or Creatures

PROTAGONIST VS. ANTAGONIST Protagonist- The central character in a

literary work around whom the main conflict revolves. The protagonist is often the person with whom the audience members or readers sympathize or identify.

Antagonist – A person or force in society or nature that causes a problem for the protagonist, or central character.

The protagonist is the “good guy” the MAIN character

The antagonist is the “bad guy” or force

Identify Character Traits

From: 1. Direct Comments about the character’s

personality by the narrator. 2. Physical Description of a character’s

appearance.

3. Speech, Actions, or Thoughts of a character.

4. How other characters React to the character

Types of Characters

Round character – a character the reader gets to know very well; will show varied and sometimes contradictory traits

Flat character – reveals only one personality trait to the reader

Stereotype – a character who is not developed as an individual, but as a collection of traits and mannerisms shared by a group.

Question on Traits

Despite her athletic build, sleek clothing, and racing bike, Kat never looked smooth or polished. She had dirt under her nails from fixing her bike, and always chewed a stray hair. She tended to stand knock-kneed if she ever stood in one place at all.

Answer

Trait: awkward, fidgety, hardworking, introverted, quiet

How do we know: Through the narrator’s description of the character’s physical description.

Question

A natural athlete, Julie had been training for the bicycle race for months, for she was single-minded and determined beyond her fifteen years.

Answer

Trait: determined, single-minded, serious

How do we know: Direct comments about the character’s personality by the narrator.

Question

She felt she had to prove that she was faster than anyone else. But she worried too. “If I let up for even one day,” she thought, “someone stronger and faster will beat me”.

Answer

Trait: competitive, insecure

How do we know? Speech, actions, or thoughts of a character.

Question

Lora pulled up beside Esperanza, breathless from riding, but not a hair out of place. “I’m racing next month at fairhaven.” Esperanza didn’t reply, so Lora plunged ahead. “I guess you’re a racer too. Maybe we could, train together”? “Uh maybe, “ Esperanza mumbled. She hopped back on her bike. Lora watched her ride away, feeling a little stupid.

Answer

Trait: Esperanza-awkward, abrupt, loner Lora-friendly sensitive

How do we know? How other character’s react.

SETTING

The time and place in which the events of a story, novel, or play occur. The setting often helps to create an atmosphere or mood. Setting is not just physical! It includes ideas, customs, values, and beliefs of a particular time and place.

Theme

The main idea or message of a literary work.

Theme is not the subject of the work, but instead is an insight about life or human nature.

There are two types of theme.

Types of Theme

Stated Theme- Theme that is expressed directly and explicitly. Very clear to the reader.

Implied Theme – Revealed gradually through such other literary elements as plot, character, setting, point of view, imagery, figures of speech, or symbolism.

A Theme is a universal message or truth about life

You can’t always get what you want

Sometimes implied

Through metaphor Through simile

Through personification Through imagery

Through tone of voice Through symbols

Dream DeferredWhat happens to a dream deferred?Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore—and then run?

Does it stink like rotten meat?Or crust and sugar over—like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags

like a heavy load

Or does it just explode?

- Langston

Hughes

Implied through simile

Sleeping in the Forest by Mary Oliver

I thought the earth remembered me,

she took me back so tenderly,arranging her dark skirts, her

pocketsfull of lichens and seeds.

---

Implied through personification

Implied through tone of voice

Implied through symbols

Life is a yo-yo. It's a series of ups and downs.

Implied through metaphors

Implied through Imagery

SUSPENSE The growing interest and excitement readers

experience while awaiting a climax or resolution in a work of literature.

To build suspense, an author may use foreshadowing as well as a number of other literary devices.

Symbol

An object, a person, a place, or an experience that represents something else, usually something abstract. A symbol may have more than one meaning, or its meaning may change from the beginning to the end of a literary work.

TONE

A reflection of a writer’s or speaker’s attitude toward a subject of a poem, story, or other literary work. Tone may be communicated through words and details that express particular emotions and that evoke an emotional response in the reader.

MOOD The feeling or atmosphere that an author

creates in a literary work. The mood can suggest a specific emotion, such as excited or fearful. Mood can also suggest the quality of a setting, such as somber or calm.

Irony

The general term for a literary technique that portrays differences between appearance and reality, expectation and result, or meaning and intention.

There are three main types of irony.

Types of Irony

Situational irony – exists when the actual outcome of a situation is the opposite of what is expected.

Verbal irony – exists when a person says one thing and means another

Dramatic irony – exists when the reader knows something that a character does not know

Dialect, Dialogue, & Local Color

Dialect – A variation of a standard language spoken by a group of people, often within a particular region.

Dialogue – Conversation between characters in a literary work. Dialogue brings characters to life by revealing their personalities and by showing what they are thinking and feeling as they react to other characters.

Local Color – The use of specific details to re-create the language, customs, geography, and habits of a particular area.

Whether you’re the reader, or the writer, a great story includes all

these literary elements!!!

conflict

setting

point of view

climaxcharacters

protagonist

antagonist

foreshadowing

Mood

Plot

theme

Tone