Literary Elements

How do they add meaning?

Think of a math equation!

Tone + mood + figurative language = theme When literary elements are added together they equal the true meaning of a literary piece of work.

Diction

• Think of “Dictionary” – what’s in a dictionary?

• Words!

• Diction is an author’s choice of words.

Point of View

• Mode of narration that an author employs to let the readers “hear” and “see” what takes place in a story, poem, essay etc.

First Person

Involves the use of either of the two pronouns “I” and “we”.

Example: • “

I

felt like

I

was getting drowned with shame and disgrace.”

Second Person

Second person point of view employs the pronoun “you”.

Example: “Sometimes

you

cannot clearly discern between anger and frustration.”

Third Person

Third person point of view uses pronouns like “he”, “she”, “it”, “they” or a name.

Example: “

Mr. Stewart

is a principled man.

He

acts by the book and never lets you deceive

him

easily.”

Tone (Voice)

• An attitude of a writer toward a subject or an audience. • Tone is generally conveyed through the choice of words or the viewpoint of a writer on a particular subject.

Tone: Example

If we were to read a description of a first date that included words and phrases like “dreaded” and “my buddies forced me to go on the date”, we could assume that the individual didn’t really enjoy the date.

Negative tone!

Mood

Mood is the atmosphere of a piece of writing; it’s the emotions a selection arouses in a reader.

Creating Mood Through Setting

•

Example #1

• Charles Dickens creates a calm and peaceful mood in his novel “Pickwick Papers”: • “The river, reflecting the clear blue of the sky, glistened and sparkled as it flowed noiselessly on.” • The depiction of idyllic scenery imparts a serene and non-violent mood to the readers.

Example #2

• Emily Bronte in “Wuthering Heights” creates two contrasting moods through two contrasting settings. • The events of the narrative takes place in two neighboring houses: Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. A depressing mood is created whenever Wuthering Heights is described.

For example, in chapter 12 the narrator says: • “There was no moon, and everything beneath lay in misty darkness: not a light gleamed from any house, far or near all had been extinguished long ago: and those at Wuthering Heights were never visible…”

On the contrary, the description of Thrushcross Grange creates a calm and peaceful mood: • “Gimmerton chapel bells were still ringing; and the full, mellow flow of the beck in the valley came soothingly on the ear. It was a sweet substitute for the yet absent murmur of the summer foliage, which drowned that music about the Grange when the trees were in leaf.”

How does the contrast add meaning?

• The contrast presented in the settings also helps in the development of the different characters i.e. the people from Wuthering Heights are unsophisticated while those from Thrushcross Grange are refined.

An Author’s Style

What is style?

• The style in writing can be defined as the way a writer writes and it is the technique which an individual author uses in his writing. • It varies from author to author and depends upon one’s syntax (sentence structure), word choice, and tone . • It can also be described as a voice that readers listen to when they read the work of a writer.

Function of Style

• A unique literary style can have great impact on the piece in which it is used and on the readers. • When authors write and put their ideas into words, they meet with a large number of choices which include: words, sounds, logic, sentence structures.

• However, different authors use different literary styles that depend on their distinct expression and their utilization of these choices. And their choice creates their niche.

What is Dr. Seuss’ Style?

• David Donald Doo dreamed a dozen doughnuts and a duck-dog, too • Many mumbling mice are making midnight music in the moonlight Alliteration, rhyme, creates imaginative characters (combines characteristics of people and animals to create a new breed)

Alliteration

• Occurs when a series of words in a row (or close to a row) have the same first consonant sound. • An important point to remember here is that alliteration does not depend on letters but on

sounds

.

Examples of Alliteration

• The wind whipping wildly as the boat tried to cross the wavy waters.

• “She sells sea-shells down by the sea shore” • “Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Peppers”

How does alliteration add meaning?

• Alliteration draws attention to specific words in a sentence which can help a reading to understand a deeper meaning of a text.

Juxtaposition

• a literary technique in which two or more ideas, places, characters and their actions are placed side by side in a narrative or a poem for the purpose of developing comparisons and contrasts.

• In literature, juxtaposition is a useful device for writers to portray their characters in great detail to create suspense and achieve a rhetorical effect. It is a human quality to comprehend one thing easily by comparing it to another. Therefore, a writer can make readers sense “goodness” in a particular character by placing him or her side by side to a character that is predominantly “evil”. Consequently, goodness in one character is highlighted by evil in the other character.

Figurative Language

“Figuring it Out”

Figurative and Literal Language

Literally : words function exactly as defined

The car is blue.

He caught the football.

Figuratively : figure out what it means

I’ve got your back.

You’re a doll.

^ Figures of Speech

Simile

Comparison of two things using “like” or “as.”

Examples

The metal twisted

like

a ribbon. She is

as

sweet

as

candy.

Important!

Using “like” or “as” doesn’t make a simile.

A comparison must be made.

Not a Simile

: I like pizza.

Simile

: The moon is like a pizza.

Metaphor

Two things are compared

without

using “

like

” or “

as

.”

Examples

All the world

is

a stage.

Her heart is stone.

Onomatopoeia

• A word that “makes” a sound • SPLAT • PING • SLAM • POP • POW

Onomatopoeia

• is a word that imitates the sound it represents. • Onomatopoeia is used to describe words that look like the sound they are describing. This technique brings out the full flavor of words.

Example of a poem using onomatopoeia is as follows: Over boulders as the water rushes past mountains and hills People in the toy train whisper hush, hush, hush feeling a chill.

Gush, gush, gush rushes the milky stream of heaven's elixir Hopping baby frogs loose balance off a bridge falling into the divine river.

Splash, splash, splash, oh, what a swirling fall they've just had Rolling, tumbling, splashing, dashing, wow, quite a band.

Finally upon a white lotus leaf sits the huge frog family Saying "cheese" for a photograph, they catch a bee silly!

Personification

Giving human traits to objects or ideas.

Examples

The sunlight danced.

Water on the lake shivers. The streets are calling me.

A poem using personification: [1] The death by chocolate brownies march in a row for tonight's supper [2] Glowing with butter cream icing, these delights are making my resolution tougher.

[3] Sinful chocolate curls, dark chocolate chips and blushing chocolate balls [4] Have you ever experienced such chocolate heaven ever raining down?

[5] The walls have ears, these windows speak amongst themselves 'hush hush' [6] While Tom chases Jerry, shy strawberry mousse falls in a coffee cup!

The chocolate brownies marching in a row (1).

The chocolate brownies are glowing with icing (2).

Chocolate curls are sinful (3).

Chocolate balls are blushing (4). Chocolate heaven is raining down (5).

The walls have ears (6).

The windows are speaking amongst themselves Strawberry mousse is shy (7).

Hyperbole

Exaggerating to show strong feeling or effect.

Examples

I will love you forever.

My house is a million miles away.

She’d kill me.

Symbolism

• The representation of a feeling/person/thing by using an unrelated object.

Symbolism in Shakespeare

“All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; they have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts,”

• The lines are symbolic of the fact that men and women, in course of their life perform different roles. “A stage” here symbolizes the world and “players” is a symbol for human beings.

Quiz On a separate sheet of paper…

1. I will put an example of figurative language on the board.

2. You will write whether it is an

simile

,

metaphor

,

personification

,

hyperbole

, or onomatopoeia 3. You

can

use your notes.

1

He drew a line as straight as an arrow.

2.

Knowledge is a kingdom and all who learn are kings and queens.

3.

The sun was beating down on me.

4.

A flag wags like a fishhook there in the sky.

5.

Ravenous and savage from its long polar journey, the North Wind is searching for food —

6.

• The clouds smiled down at me.

• SPLAT!

7.

8.

• She is as sweet as candy

9.

• The wheat field was a sea of gold.

10.

• The streets called to him.

• POP!

11.

12.

• She was as white as a ghost.