Transcript A Little Too Late by Jo Jo

The Curious Incident of the
Dog in the Nighttime
by Mark Haddon
Elements of Fiction
 Static
Characters
Character: one who does not
change much in the course of a story
 Dynamic Character: changes as a
result of the story’s events
 Flat Character: has only one or two
traits and no depth
 Round Character: is like a real
person, has many different character
traits, which sometimes contradict
one another.
With Your Partner
 List
the characters you meet in The
Curious Incident
 Are
they a static or dynamic
character?
 Are they a round or flat character?
 Be prepared to prove your point by
having one quote per character.
Characterization
Indirect Characterization- the reader
has to use his/her own judgment to
decide what a character is like, based on
the evidence given to you by the writer
 Direct Characterization- the reader is
told directly what the character is like by
the writer

With Your Partner
Give an example of direct
characterization for Christopher. Find
the quote to prove your point.
 What is an example of indirect
characterization for Christopher? Find a
quote that shows this.

Setting
The
setting of a story is the
time and place in which the
action occurs.
– Past, Present, or Future
–Day or Night
–Place may be Real or Imaginary
Etc.
With Your Partner
- List the settings Christopher
journeys to.
- What time period does this story
take place in?
- How do you know?
 Struggle
Conflict
or clash between opposing
characters or opposing forces.
– External Conflict: a character
struggles against an outside force
(another character/ society/ nature)
– Internal Conflict: takes place entirely
within the character’s mind. It’s a
struggle between opposing needs or
desires or emotions within a single
person.
Theme
Is
the message of the
story the writer presents
through the characters
and the plot. The
theme is not usually
stated.
Plot
Is the series of events in a story
 Often follows a pattern of development
made up of as many as five specific
stages.

– Exposition
– Rising Action
– Climax
– Falling Action
– Resolution
Exposition
 It
is at the beginning of a story. It
gives background information that
the reader needs to know.
 It introduces the setting, the
characters, and the conflict.
 Sometimes it tells what happened
in the past.
Exposition
 Ask
yourself:
–Who are the characters?
–What is the setting?
–What is the conflict?
Rising Action
During
this part of the story,
the conflict is obvious.
Complications arise and
suspense begins to build as
the main characters struggle
to resolve their problems.
Rising Action
 Ask
yourself:
–What makes the conflict
obvious?
Climax
It
is the turning point of the
story, that point at which
the conflict is resolved.
Moment of great emotional
intensity or suspense in the
plot.
Climax
 Ask
yourself:
–How was the conflict resolved?
Falling Action
The
effects of the climax
are shown. The suspense is
over, but the results of the
decision or action that
caused the climax are
worked out.
Falling Action
 Ask
yourself:
–How are the effects of the
climax shown?
Resolution
The
resolution tells how
the struggle ends. It ties
up any loose ends of the
plot.
Resolution
 Ask
yourself:
–How does the story end?
–How does it tie up loose ends?
Genres
 Mystery:
involves several predictable
elements – a “closed setting”
(isolated place), a corpse, a small
circle of people who are all subjects,
an investigating detective with
extraordinary reasoning powers.
– How is The Curious Incident a
mystery?
 Bildungsroman:
A novel
chronicling the intellectual,
spiritual, or moral development of
a young protagonist.
–How is The Curious Incident
a bildungsroman?
Literary Devices
 Protagonist:
The central or main
character in a story around whom
the plot centers.
is the protagonist of The
Curious Incident?
 Who
Point of View
Omniscient
Point of
View: The person telling
the story knows everything
there is to know about the
characters and their
problems.
First
Person Point of View:
One of the characters is
actually the narrator telling
the story, using the pronoun
I.
 Third
Person Limited Point of
View: The narrator, who plays no
part in the story, zooms in on the
thoughts and feelings of just one
character.
point of view The
Curious Incident told in?
 What
Character
motivation: The
fears or conflicts or needs
that drive a character’s
actions.
What
is Christopher’s
motivation?
Foreshadowing:
The use of
hints or clues in a story to
suggest what action is to
come.
Give
an example of
foreshadowing in The
Curious Incident.
 Tone:
Attitude a writer takes
toward the audience, a subject, or
a character. Tone is conveyed
through the writer’s choice of
words and details.
is the tone of The
Curious Incident?
 What
Symbol-
A concrete object,
person, or place that has a
meaning in itself and also
stands for something larger
than itself.
Give
an example of a
symbol in The Curious
Incident.

Irony: Contrast between
– What is said and what is really meant
(Verbal Irony)
– What is expected to happen and what
really happens (Situational Irony)
– What appears to be true and what is
really true [the audience know but the
character doesn’t] (Dramatic Irony)
– What is ironic about The Curious
Incident?
– What type of irony is it?