Literary Elements

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Literary Elements

• The foundations of literature

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Literary elements Diction and Dialect

• Dialect is variation of a given language spoken
  in a particular place or by a particular group of
  people. A dialect is distinguished by its
  vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation.
• If were only talking about pronunciation, we
  usually use the term accent.
• Dilalect is applied most often to regional speech
  patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by
  other factors, such as social class.
• Diction involves a writers selection of
  language.
• Diction may be described as formal or informal,
  abstract or concrete, figurative or literal.

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Literary elements Symbolism and setting

• Setting particular time, environment, and place
  in which events occur.
• Symbols used in literature are objects used to
  represent other things or ideas. Setting often
  serves as a symbol.
• Authors include symbolism in their stories to
  give the stories deeper meaning objects, people,
  places, or events that stand for something
  broader than themselves, such as an idea or
  emotion.
• Symbols are all around us
• Hearts symbolize love, caring.
• The American flag symbolizes the United States of
  America.
• The Trojan Head downstairs symbolizes pride and
  strength.

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Literary elements Irony

• Irony is the contrast between what is expected
  and what actually exists or happens. Three types
  of irony include
• Situational irony the contrast between what a
  character or the reader expects to happen and
  what actually happens.
• Verbal irony occurs when someone says one thing
  but means another (a common form is sarcasm).
• Dramatic irony the contrast between what a
  character knows and what the reader or audience
  knows.

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Literary elements Irony

• Verbal irony
• In The Lottery Old Man Warner says, The next
  thing you know people will want to go back to
  living in caves.
• The irony in that statement is that Warner thinks
  without the lottery, people will become primitive
  even though the lottery is as primitive of a
  ritual as there is.
• Situational irony
• The lottery is conducted on a bright, sunny day
  by a man named Summers. However, this
  effervescent setting belies the dark task of the
  day and the dark side of human nature.
• Dramatic irony
• The characters know that the winner of the
  lottery is actually the loser. The reader doesnt
  know this until the first stone is thrown.

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Literary elements Theme

• Theme is what is revealed about human life or
  human nature. It reveals something that we can
  often relate to.
• Although it is usually unstated, it gives a story
  meaning.
• Theme can reveal an authors whole view of life.
• Theme is not a storys plot or the storys
  subject It is an idea.
• It gives us insight into some aspect of life we
  have never really thought about before, or it may
  make us understand on an emotional level.

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Literary elements Theme

• General guidelines for discovering theme
• We must use at least one complete sentence to
  state a theme, rather than just a phrase, such as
  the joy of childhood.
• A theme is not the same as a moral. So ask
  yourself, What does this story reveal? rather
  than What does this story teach?
• One way to determine a theme is to ask how the
  main character (protagonist) changes during the
  story.
• Also, consider the storys title. It often will
  hint at the meaning of the story.
• A theme should not refer to specific characters
  or events in a story. It should be something
  about life or human nature that is general enough
  for the reader to relate to.
• Theme should explain the whole story, not just a
  part of it.

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Literary elements

• Suspense
• The element of plot that makes the reader want
  to read on to find out what happens. The reader
  usually experiences suspense when he or she is
  worried about whether a character will succeed in
  overcoming conflict. Setting often helps
  establish suspense.

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Literary elements

• Tone
• The attitude the writer takes toward the
  subject he or she is writing about. Just as we
  reveal our attitude by our tone of voice when we
  are speaking, so writers show their attitude
  (tone) by their writing style. A tone can be
  pessimistic, optimistic, earnest, serious,
  bitter, humorous, joyful, melancholy, nostalgic,
  etc.

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Literary elements

• Tone can often help determine mood
• Mood is the climate of  feeling in a literary
  work. The choice of setting, objects, details,
  images, and words all contribute toward creating
  a specific mood. For example, the moods evoked by
  the more popular short stories of Edgar Allen Poe
  tend to be gloomy, horrific, and desperate.
• An author may create a mood of mystery around a
  character or setting but may treat that character
  or setting in an ironic, serious, or humorous
  tone.

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Literary Elements Foreshadowing

• Foreshadowing employs hints given by the writer
  about something that will happen later in the
  story.
• Foreshadowing increases the readers feeling of
  suspense the excitement or tension that readers
  feel as they get involved in a story and become
  eager to know the outcome.

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Literary elements Flashback

• A flashback is an account of a conversation,
  episode, or event that happened before the
  beginning of a story.
• It often interrupts the chronological flow of a
  story to give information that can help readers
  understand a characters present situation.

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Literary elements Characterization

• Characters The people (or animals) who take part
  in the action of a story.
• Characterization The ways a writer develops the
  characters means of demonstrating who the
  character is.

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Literary elements Characterization

• In order to have a full understanding of the
  characters in a story, we may need a variety of
  information
• Physical descriptions
• Past history or experiences
• Interactions with other people
• Personality traits

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Literary elements Characterization

• This information can be provided in two ways
• 1. Directly The author tells what the character
  is like, usually through description and simple
  statements.
• 2. Indirectly The author shows what the
  character is like implies facts about the
  character through showing the character in his or
  her surroundings, allowing the character to
  demonstrate his or her characteristics.

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Literary elements Characterization

• In the indirect method, some devices include
• Other characters comments and reactions to the
  main character
• The main characters actions
• Dialogue with other characters
• Interaction with other characters
• The main characters reaction to events and
  surroundings
• Often, a combination of direct and indirect
  methods is used.

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Literary elements Characterization

• Whether characters in a story are real or
  imagined, they should possess certain basic
  qualities that make them believable and
  interesting.
• Characters are not all good or all bad.
• Characters are consistent in their actions.
• Characters are clearly motivated, with
  understandable reasoning.
• If there is a change in their actions, there is a
  reason behind it.

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Literary elements Characterization

• Characters that change
• Generally, one or more of a storys characters
  change as a result of the events of the story.
• A character who grows emotionally, learns a
  lesson, or alters his or her behavior is called a
  dynamic character. This fully developed character
  is a round character Jerry from Through The
  Tunnel
• A character who is simple, who remains unchanged
  throughout a story, is known as a static
  character, or flat character Lennie from Of
  Mice and Men.

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Literary elements Elements of storytelling

• Plot the sequence of events in a story.
• Conflict struggles between opposing forces.
• Setting particular time, environment, and place
  in which events occur.
• Point of view the vantage point from which a
  story is told. The two basic points of view are
  first-person and third-person.

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Literary elements Plot

• Plot is the chain of related events that take
  place in a story. A plot is almost always built
  around conflict. Most plots include these stages
  of development
• Exposition includes background about characters,
  conflict, and setting.
• Rising action suspense builds because
  complications arise that make the conflict more
  difficult for the main character(s) to resolve.
• Climax the turning point of the action, when the
  readers interest reaches its highest point.
• Falling action and resolution The conflict ends
  and loose ends are tied up.

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Literary elements Conflict

• Most stories are built around a central conflict
  or struggle between opposing forces.
• The five basic forms of conflict are person
  versus person person versus self person versus
  nature person versus society person versus a
  supernatural force.

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Literary Elements Conflict

• Conflict is also seen as
• Internal occurs inside the character (fear,
  doubt, confusion, guilt)
• External the character is pitted against another
  character, outside force (such as nature) a
  physical obstacle, even a supernatural force
• Usually, there is one central conflict in a
  story, but many stories have more than one
  struggle.

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Literary element Point of View

• The vantage point from which a story is told.
• First person told by one of the characters in
  his or her own words.
• Third person told by someone not in the story. A
  narrator who is not a character describes the
  events and characters. One version of third
  person is called third-person omniscient the
  narrator is all-knowing and can see into the
  minds of all the characters, providing the most
  information possible.

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Literary Element Point of View

• Effects of using different points of view
• First person more limited (only view of one
  character) more subjective (told as one person
  sees it, which may not be as it really is) more
  personal (goes deeper into the mind and emotions
  of one specific character).
• Third person more complete (can look into any
  characters thoughts, views, emotions) told from
  a variety of perspectives (truer picture) less
  development on one specific character
  (development of many characters)

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Literary elements Extended metaphor

• Review MetaphorA figure of speech which
  involves an implied comparison between two
  relatively unlike things. The comparison is not
  announced by like or as.
• An extended metaphor carries the comparison
  another step and extends it through your writing.
  It often includes metaphors and similes.

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Literary elements Extended metaphor

• Lets think of one comparing writing to playing
  basketball. Start by listing all the basketball
  words you can think of to see how they could be
  used in a comparison
• dribble jump shot three-pointer
• foul free throw time out
• referee camping in the lane net
• shoot bounce pass half-time
• warm-ups equipment rebound
• defense offense assist
• goal tending slam dunk swish
• pick technical steal

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Literary elements Extended metaphor

• Then write
• For me, writing is like playing basketball. As
  I prepare for practice, I gather my equipment a
  pencil, pad of paper, a dictionary, and a Diet
  Coke. My warm-ups include doodling on the edge of
  the paper while I contemplate what to write. When
  my mind is sufficiently stretched, I begin
  writing.

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Literary elements Extended metaphor

• The words start in my head and dribble down my
  arm, through my pencil, and onto the page. It
  isnt always smooth Sometimes, I get a fast
  break, and the words come faster than I can write
  them down. Other times, I throw the ball away,
  writing in a direction that doesnt match my
  topic. Then I take a time-out and drink my Diet
  Coke.

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Literary elements Allusion

• Review
• An allusion is a brief reference to a person,
  event, place, or phrase outside of a story that
  the writer assumes the reader will recognize.
• An allusive reference can be real or fictional.
• A literary allusion refers to another written
  work, art piece, book, etc.

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Literary elements Allusion

• Two Kinds
• Shirley Temple
• Cinderella
• Readers Digest Ripleys Believe It Or Not
• Jehosaphat
• Grieg, Beethoven, Schumann
• Hula-Hoop
• Madame Butterfly
• Alakazam!
• Stanford
• The Ed Sullivan Show

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Literary elements

• Consider this passage from The Most Dangerous
  Game
• It was General Zaroff. He made his way along
  with his eyes fixed in utmost concentration on
  the ground before him. He paused, almost beneath
  the tree, dropped to his knees, and studied the
  ground. Rainsfords impulse was to hurl himself
  down like a panther, but he saw that the
  generals right hand held something metallic a
  small, automatic pistol (70).

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Literary elements Review

• Diction involves a writers selection of
  language.
• Diction may be described as formal or informal,
  abstract or concrete, figurative or literal.
• Irony is the contrast between what is expected
  and what actually exists or happens. Three types
  of irony include
• Situational irony the contrast between what a
  character or the reader expects to happen and
  what actually happens.
• Verbal irony occurs when someone says one thing
  but means another (a common form is sarcasm).
• Dramatic irony contrast between what a character
  knows and what reader or audience knows.

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Personification

• For each of the following objects, give a human
  characteristic or action that could be applied to
  it in description
• An old car
• A rocking chair
• A turtle
• A trampoline
• For each of the objects listed below, write a
  sentence in which the object is personified
• A drawer
• A blender
• A tree

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Literary elements Figurative language

• Whenever you describe something by comparing it
  with something else, you are using figurative
  language. Any language that goes beyond the
  literal meaning of words in order to furnish new
  effects or fresh insights into an idea or a
  subject. Three common figures of speech are
  personification, simile, and metaphor.

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Literary Elements Figurative language

• SimileA figure of speech which involves a direct
  comparison between two unlike things, usually
  with the words like or as.
• Example He threw baseballs as if they were
  bullets.
• The wheat field lies like liquid gold.
• MetaphorA figure of speech which involves an
  implied comparison between two relatively unlike
  things. The comparison is not announced by like
  or as.
• Example The road was a ribbon of moonlight.

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Literary elements Figurative language

• PersonificationA figure of speech which gives
  the qualities of a person to an animal, an
  object, or an idea. It is a comparison which the
  author uses to show something in an entirely new
  light, to communicate a certain feeling or
  attitude towards it and to control the way a
  reader perceives it.
• Example The brave, handsome brute fell with a
  creaking rending cry (the author is giving a tree
  human qualities).

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Literary Elements Satire

• A text or performance that uses irony, derision,
  or wit to expose or attack human vice,
  foolishness, or stupidity.

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Literary elements Allegory

• Allegory an extended metaphor, especially a
  story in which fictional characters and actions
  are used to understand and express aspects of
  concepts relating to human existence.
• It is a figurative representation conveying a
  meaning other than, and in addition to, the
  literal meaning.

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Literary Elements Review for quiz

• Plot Allusion
• Setting Theme
• Foreshadowing Conflict
• Flashback Characterization
• Symbolism Point of view
• Metaphor Simile
• Personification Protagonist
• Antagonist