literary elements because your understanding of these elements is necessary for you to further build...
TRANSCRIPT
Literary Elements
Because your understanding of these elements is necessary for you to further build your reading and literary interpretation skills, you will be assessed frequently on their
application.
Literary Elements
• Setting
• Characterization
• Plot (Exposition, Rising Action, Climax,
Falling Action, Resolution)
• Conflict
• Point of View
• Mood
Setting
Lord of the Flies: deserted island, the future.
Setting is the time (year, season, era) and the place (general or main location even though other
sites may enter the story briefly).
The Catcher in the Rye: New York, 1940s
The Bean Trees: Kentucky/Arizona/Oklahoma, 1980s
“…it was so quiet and lonesome out, even though it was Saturday night. I didn’t see hardly anybody on the street. Now and then you just saw a man and a girl crossing the street with their arms around each other’s waists and all, or a bunch of hoodlumy-looking guys and their dates, all of them laughing like hyenas at something you could bet wasn’t funny. New York’s terrible when somebody laughs on the street very late at night. You can hear it for miles. It makes you feel so lonesome and depressed.” The Catcher in the Rye
Setting can help in the portrayal of a character.
Action is so closely related to setting that in some works of fiction, the plot is directed by it.
“The new man stands, looking a minute, to get the set-up of the day room. One side of the room younger patients, known as Acutes because the doctors figure them still sick enough to be fixed, practice arm wrestling and card tricks…Across the room from the Acutes are the culls of the Combine’s product, the Chronics. Not in the hospital, these to get fixed, but just to keep them from walking around the street giving the product a bad name.”
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Nurse Ratchet
Setting can establish
the atmosphere of
a work.
“During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country.”
“The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe
A setting may be one of two types:
1. backdrop – not essential to
plot
2. integral – essential to plot
Writing Connection
Select a story idea from your
Writing Notebook. Decide on
a backdrop or an integral
setting. Justify your choice.
Identify the setting in the following passage.
“Crime and despair stalked the streets of east St. Louis, Illinois, one of the most impoverished cities in the United States. But when Jacqueline Joyner was born, her grandmother insisted that she be named
after Jacqueline Kennedy, America’s glamorous First Lady.”
~ Jackie Joyner-Kersee Olympic Athlete
“Crime and despair stalked the streets of
east St. Louis, Illinois, one of the most
impoverished cities in the United States.
But when Jacqueline Joyner was born,
Her grandmother insisted that she be
Named after Jacqueline Kennedy,
America’s glamorous First Lady.”
~ Jackie Joyner-Kersee Olympic Athlete
CharacterizationMethods an Author May Use
1. By directly stating that the character “was an old man…”
2. By using the character’s own words and actions
3. By the reaction of other characters to a character
4. By the character’s physical appearance
5. By the character’s own thoughts
CharacterThe people (or animals, things, etc. presented as
people) appearing in a literary work.
Types of Characters:
Round convincing, true to life.
Dynamic undergoes some type of change in story.
Flat stereotyped, shallow, often symbolic.
Static does not change in the course of the
story
Dimensions of Character
Character is the identity of an individual.
The total character has three areas:
1.Outer Person
2.Social Person
3.Inner Person
Outer Person
These are the physical
characteristics. This is
how the character looks,
his age, sex, weight,
height, clothing, posture,
etc.
Social Person
The social aspects of the
character are the general
and personal
relationships the
character has with other
characters. This may
include things like family
structure, friendships,
enemies, occupation,
financial standing, and
community reputation.
Inner Person
The inner person reveals
the emotional and moral
composition of the
character. Inner
Characteristics
include being honest,
happy, quick-tempered, or
wise.
Writing Connection
Brainstorm several characters for your
story (the one for which you have
already chosen a setting).
Brainstorm the outer, social, and inner
person characteristics for each of your
characters.
Identify each of the following
characteristics as Outer, Social, or
Inner.
1. Tall 7. Generous
2. Wise 8. Bald
3. Middle child of three 9. Student
4. Spoiled 10. Red hair
5. Stout 11. Wealthy
6. Mother 12. Jealous
Key
1. Outer 7. Inner
2. Inner 8. Outer
3. Social 9. Social
4. Inner 10. Outer
5. Outer 11. Social
6. Social 12. Inner
A plot's structure is the way in which the story elements are arranged. Writers vary structure depending on the needs of the story. It shows the causal arrangement of events and actions within a story.
Plot Structure
Plot Components
Exposition: the start of the story, the situation before the action starts
Rising Action: the series of conflicts and crises in the story that lead to the climax
Climax: the turning point, the most intense moment—either mentally or in action
Falling Action: all of the action which follows the climax
Resolution: the conclusion, the tying together of all of the threads
Types of Linear PlotsPlots can be told in
Ab ovo – from the egg or ab initio (from the beginning or in chronological order)
Analepsis (Flashback - an interjected scene that takes the reader back in time)
In medias res or medias in res (into the middle of things) when the story starts in the middle of the action without exposition
Brainstorm a plot using a
plot line for the setting and
characters you have
previously brainstormed.
ConflictConflict is the dramaticstruggle between twoforces in a story. Without conflict,there is no plot. (A story may have both internal and external conflict.
Person vs. Person(External)
This is a conflict orcontest between the protagonist and one or more other people.
Person vs. Society(External)
This is a struggle involving socialissues such asclass, race, or social order.
Person vs. Self
This is a conflict that centers
around an inner struggle
between the protagonist and
his or her feelings.
(Internal)
Identify the conflict(s) in the following excerpt. Explain your choice.
Chandra shares a bedroom with her
older sister Thuma who has hung a
gauzy red curtain from the middle of
the ceiling to divide the room into
two sides. Whenever Chandra wants to
see herself, she has to push through
that thin curtain and cross into her
sister’s territory.
First PersonThe story is told from the point of
view of one of the characters.
“I have been afraid of putting air in a tire ever since I saw a tractor tire blow up and throw Newt Hardbine’s father over the top of the Standard Oil sign. I’m not lying. He got stuck up there. About nineteen people congregated during the time it took for Norman Strick to walk up to the Courthouse and blow the whistle for the volunteer fire department.”
The Bean Trees - Barbara Kingsolver
Second PersonSecond person refers to the person spoken
to directly and is recognized by the singular
and plural you. It directly addresses the
reader.
Examples of 2nd person writing would be
“choose your own adventure” books, many
computer games, cook books,
and how-to manuals.
Third Person
In third person both the speaker and
the person spoken to are unidentified.
Third person is recognized by the use
of such indefinite singular pronouns
as it, he, she, her, his, and him, and
indefinite plural pronouns like they,
them, and their. Third person may be
limited or omniscient.
Third Person Omniscient The author (or narrator) is telling
the story.
“The boy with fair hair lowered himself down the last few feet of rock and began to pick his way toward the lagoon. Though he had taken off his school sweater and trailed it now from one hand, his grey shirt stuck to him and his hair was plastered to his forehead. All around him the long scar smashed into the jungle was a bath of heat.”
The Lord of the Flies - William Golding
“In his black suit he stood in the dark glass where the lilies leaned so palely from their waisted cutglass vase. He looked down at the guttered candlestub. He pressed his thumbprint in the warm wax pooled on the oak veneer. Lastly he looked at the face so caved and drawn among the folds of funeral cloth, the yellowed moustache, the eyelids paper thin. That was not sleeping. That was not sleeping.
All the Pretty Horses - Cormac McCarthy
Third Person Limited A character in the story
is telling the story.
Scene: A person “cuts” into a long line of
waiting people. As the author, how
would you express the character’s
feelings in third person omniscient point of
view?
Writing Connection
Choose a point of view and write
a first paragraph for your story.
Explain why you chose that point
of view.
Using the numbers 1, 2, and 3, assign person to each of the following:
a. ____ yourself j. ____ theirb. ____ she k. ____ minec. ____ I l. ____ you’red. ____ they m. ____ hise. ____ you n. ____ oursf. ____ her o. ____ himselfg. ____ we p. ____ theyh. ____ themselves q. ____ ourselvesi. ____myself r. ____ he
Scene One: A car runs out of gas on a
lonely road.
Scene Two: There is a 75% off sale at Best Buy.
As the author, how would you express the character’s feelings in 1st Person and 3rd person omniscient?
Animals are another common
tool used by authors to set the
mood for an entire scene.
(Ex. The cow
stood quietly
and chewed
its cud.)
Remember the little train who
said: “I think I can, I think I
can, I think I can!” According
to the story, the little train
believed he could and
because of his determined
“mood,” he was successful.
I can!
To indicate mood, writers sometimes
give the readers clues in the types of
words used or the character’s actions.
In the story about the little train, the
author used dialogue (what the train
said) to indicate the character’s mood.
Frequently, the mood of an entire event will be
more important than the mood of a single
character. In this case, you will need another type of
clue to find the mood.
Weather is often a favorite device
of authors to indicate mood.
(Ex. It was a dark and stormy
night.)
Even when you cannot give it anexact name, remember thatawareness of mood is moreimportant than what it is called.
The author is obligated to establish the mood, while the reader isobliged to recognize the significanteffect that mood has on understanding the author’s intent.
Writing Connections
Imagine you are the author. What could you
have each character do to illustrate the indicated
mood?
To indicate a content (happy) mood:
A 3-year-old boy might ____________________
An adolescent girl might____________________
A grandparent might_______________________
Nick snuggled under the blanket, holding sleep at bay so his thoughts could go back through their firstweek in the new town. The moving men had beenstill unloading the van when their neighbor cameacross the yard with his arms full of puppies. Justlike that, Nick had a new wiggly brown puppy named buster and a brand new best friend livingright next door named Brian. Tomorrow…………….
Buster’s stubby tail beat a steady tattoo on Nick’s pillows asslumber seeped in and dreamsreplaced memories.
Mood: __________________________
The sneer is gone from Casey’s lips
His teeth are clenched in hate
He pounds with cruel vengeance
His bat upon the plate.
- from “Casey At the Bat”
by Ernest Lawrence Thayer
Mood: _________________________
As an author, what could you have each
character do to illustrate the indicated mood?
1. Mood: Impatient or Worried
Four-year-old girl__________________________
Father___________________________________
Mother __________________________________
2. Mood: Afraid or Scared
Five-year-old ____________________________
Grandparent _____________________________
Adolescent boy___________________________
ThemeA theme is an idea or message about life, society, or human nature, and it is often the hardest element to identify in a book. The writer may express insight about humanity or a world view.
In most short stories, the theme can be expressed in a single sentence.
In longer works of fiction, the central theme is often accompanied by a number of lesser, related themes, or there may be two or more central themes.
Identifying Theme
To identify the theme of a work of literature, you need to look under the
surface of the narrative.
The author reveals his or her ideas about the world through subtext
(dialogue and action between characters), subtle details, and events
not spoken about openly.
Themes are usually stated as
generalizations.
It’s important to ask yourself what
the author is trying to prove. You
do not need to agree with the
author!
Theme in Shrek
Don’t judge a book by its cover?
Love and accept yourself for who you are?
Accept and embrace others for who they are?
???
Symbolism
A symbol represents an idea, quality, or concept larger than itself.
A journey can symbolize life.
Darkness can represent evil or death.
Water may represent a new beginning.
A lion could be a symbol of courage.
Other Fiction ElementsAllusion: A reference to a person, place or
literary, a historical, artistic,
mythological source or event.
“It was in St. Louis, Missouri,
where they have that giant
McDonald’s thing towering over the
city…” (Bean Trees 15)
Antagonist: The character who opposes the protagonist.
Other Elements Continued
Foreshadowing: early clues about what will
happen later in a piece of
fiction.
Irony: a difference between what is
expected and reality.
Style: a writer’s individual and distinct
way of writing. The total of the
qualities that distinguish one
author’s writing from another’s.