Transcript Literary Elements Notes

Literary Elements Notes
English I
Plot
• The sequence of events of a story,
usually related to the solution of a
problem or conflict.
• What is it about the stories that we
crave? Millions of people everywhere
love to see heroes struggle to overcome
obstacles. Nobody wants to read a story
where the hero achieves his goal in the
first scene.
Terms associated with plot
• Conflict: A struggle between opposing
forces, often in the form of
complications/obstacles that stand
between the hero (protagonist) and
his/her goal
• Types of Conflict: Man vs. Man, Man
vs. Nature, Man vs. Self, Man vs.
Society, Man vs. Beliefs
•Exposition: The introduction of a
story where the author gives any
background information, a major
character, and/or the setting.
Terms associated with plot (cont.)
• Inciting moment: The point at which the
reader is first made aware of the central
conflict (Rising Action begins here)
• Climax: The point at which the central
conflict of a story is resolved
– The hero either wins or loses.
• Denouement (pronounced: day-new-ma): when
the author ties up the loose ends at the end
of the story
Plot diagrams
• A “plot teepee” is a good way to map
the events of the story.
Plot: Devices used by authors
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Suspense: a feeling of anxious uncertainty
created by raising questions in the reader’s
mind
Foreshadowing: hints of what’s to come
Flashback: break from current action to
past events
Surprise ending: an unexpected outcome
–
cliffhanger
Theme
• An idea or insight into life revealed
within a story
– “Man without laws is an animal.”
– “Coming of age is never easy.”
– “Life is a journey toward self-discovery.”
Symbol
• An object, person, or event that
represents something else that is
usually abstract
– The American flag
Types of Symbols
• metaphor: A comparison between two
objects using “is”
– “The media center is an oasis of calm and quiet.”
• simile: A comparison between two objects
using “like” or “as”
– “My love is like a red, red rose.”
• Literary Symbols:
– The cat in “The Black Cat” may represent the
narrator’s conscience, despair, or alcoholism.
Tone
• The author’s attitude toward the
characters, situation, and the reader
– respectful, sympathetic, challenging,
sarcastic, formal, informal, etc.
Imagery
• Mental pictures that the author creates with
words by describing setting, characters’
actions, and other details from a text
Mood
• The atmosphere of the story, usually
stemming from the details of the setting
– dark, depressing, uplifting, joyous, stark,
etc.
Characterization
• The process by which an author
introduces and describes the characters
in a story
Methods of Characterization
• An author may develop a character by
giving
• physical description
• relating the inner thoughts and feelings
of a character
• using dialogue
• giving the opinions of other characters
within the story
Types of Characters
•
Flat characters: Characters we don’t get
to know very well.
–
•
minor characters
Round characters: Characters we get to
know well.
–
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We know their fears, fantasies, history, etc.
Static characters: Characters who do not
change within the context of the story
Dynamic characters: Characters who
change, grow, or develop within the context
of the story
Point of View
• The perspective from which the story is
told
• First Person = When a story is told from
the perspective of one of the characters
in the story
– Uses the pronoun “I.”
Third Person
• When a story is told from the
perspective of someone outside the
story looking in.
– Third person limited: perspective is
limited to what one character does,
observes, or thinks.
– Third person omniscient: the story is
told from the perspective of someone who
knows and sees all
Dramatic point of view
• Objective
• Story is not told by anyone other than
the author.
• Reader is responsible for interpreting
what actions of characters and events
of story mean.
Unreliable narrator
• A narrator whose perspective may or
may not be trustworthy for any reason
(maybe the narrator is crazy).
– Poe’s narrators are often “insane.” Can we
trust them as witnesses?
Setting
• Where and when a story takes place.
• Sometimes, we must guess the location
or time period of a story from
contextual clues, because the author
does not tell us.
– anachronism: a detail of a story that
does not fit the setting
• A computer in a Shakespearean tragedy would
be out of place.
Irony
• A general name given to literary
techniques that involve surprising,
interesting, or amusing contradictions
• 3 Types of Irony
– Verbal irony: words are used to suggest
the opposite of their usual meaning
Ex: Sara gets a horrendous haircut and
Jason tells her, “Your hair looks GREAT!”
Types of Irony (cont.)
• Dramatic irony: a contradiction between
what a character thinks and what the
audience knows to be true
Ex: Readers know main characters die in
Romeo & Juliet.
• Situational Irony: when an event occurs
that directly contradicts the expectations of
the reader.
Ex: Olympic swimmer drowns in bathtub.
What is Suspense?
• The tension and nervous uncertainty that
some stories generate
• Keeps you guessing and turning pages
wondering about the outcome
• Writers create suspense by withholding key
details or hinting at events to come
(foreshadowing)
• Can also create suspense by using vivid
details to draw you into the tension of the
moment