Elements of Literature

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Elements of Literature
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Character

• The people (or animals, things, etc. presented
  as people) appearing in a literary work.

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Character

• Protagonist main character who experiences
  conflict Cinderella, Luke Skywalker, Frodo,
  Hamlet

Antagonist character who opposes protagonist
wicked stepmothers, Darth Vader, Morder, Claudius
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Character
Dynamic characters experience change or
development, often because of conflict(s)
Round characters convincing true to life
feature several different and sometimes
contradictory personality traits.
Flat characters stereotyped, shallow, and
sometimes symbolic show only one or two
personality traits.

• Static characters do not change throughout
  the story.

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Characterization

• Direct characterization ? author develops the
  personality of a character by direct statements.

First of all, Betsy Johnson, the vivacious
blonde secretary of the sorority, had told the
five new candidates over sandwiches in the school
cafeteria last Monday, first of all, each of you
has a big sister . . . Initiation by
Sylvia Plath
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Characterization

• Indirect characterization ? a characters
  personality is revealed through
• the characters thoughts, words, and actions
• the comments of other characters
• the characters physical appearance

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Indirect Characterization through THOUGHTS
I floored the Taurus, most unwise, since Id
had one brush with the law already today. I
drove home, three miles under the speed limit (a
first), thanking God I was a free American.
I turned left at the Dunkin Donuts on Route 1
feeling something wasnt quite right. I
stared at the poster of the cholesterol-laden
Dunkin Munchkins nestled cozily in their box as
the unrighteousness of it grew in my soul.
Id been publicly humiliated. Falsely
accused. I have my rights! I rammed
Moms car around and headed back for Mitchell
Gails.
The Truth About Sharks by Joan Bauer
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Indirect Characterization through ACTIONS

• The boy held his breath he wondered whether his
  father would hear his heart beatingThrough a
  crack in the counter he could see where his
  father stood, one hand to his high, stiff
  collar
• I Spy by Graham Greene

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Indirect Characterization through WORDS

• It was Kenny Griffen smiling complacently.
  Miss Bird sent me after you cause you been gone
  six years. Youre in troubleyer constipated!
  Kenny chortled gleefully. Waitll I tell
  Caaathy!
• Hear There Be Tygers by Stephen King

Listen for dialect! Dialect is a representation
of the speech patterns of a particular region or
social group. Naturally, dialect changes from
location to location.
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Indirect Characterization through APPEARANCE

• Miss Kinney was young and blonde and bouncy and
  had a boyfriend who picked her up after school in
  a blue Camaro.
• Hear There Be Tygers by Stephen King

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In much of the best literature and the greatest
stories Character Drives Plot!
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Plot . . .

• . . . describes the structure of a story. It
  shows the arrangement of events and actions
  within a story. Plot must have causality and
  conflict.

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Plot Components
Climax turning point, most intense moment -
either mentally or in the action
Rising Action series of conflicts crises
leading to the climax
Falling Action all of the action following the
climax
Exposition beginning of the story, the situation
before the action starts
Resolution conclusion, the tying together of all
the threads
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Plot

• Plot a series of related events, each connected
  to the next like links in a chain causality ?
  cause effect
• Think of the chain this way
• Once Upon a Time
• Suddenly
• Luckily or Unluckily
• Happily/Unhappily Ever After

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Plot Conflict

• Conflict dramatic struggle between two forces
  in a story. Without conflict no plot.

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Plot Conflict
I have enough conflict with the weather let
another human!
Conflict makes the plot move forward. Many plots
are a series of causes effects causality.
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Conflict
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Types of Conflict

Human vs. Nature
Human vs. Human
Human vs. Society
Human vs. Self
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Setting

• Geographical location (London, Cairo, Wyoming,
  etc.)
• Time period - day, month, season, year, decade,
  century, millenium. (WWII, 1865, Middle Ages,
  today, etc.)
• Socio-economic characteristics of the location
  (wealthy suburbs, depression dustbowl, etc.)
• The specific building, room, and so forth
  (castle, log cabin, bus, mountain top, etc.)

The setting is the place (location) where the
story takes place and the time it occurs.
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Setting

• Atmosphere mood or feeling in the story.
• Verisimilitude the appearance of being true to
  life life-like. (veri truth similtude
  like). Fantasy typically lacks verisimilitude
  and historical fiction tries to achieve
  verisimilitude.

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Setting
Used to tell readers about characters.

• She showed me the creek and we spent most
  of our summers there, wading in the current,
  catching crawdads and minnows with my parents
  abducted spaghetti colander, building dams and
  then pushing out the one stone that would send
  the water flooding through. We dug up creek clay
  and made pots, and painted ourselves wildly with
  its blue streaks, pretending to be Indians,
  Aztecs, or Mayas. I remember her standing in the
  algae-green water that first summer, her long,
  tanned legs half wet and shiny, half dry with the
  cracking clay stripes and dots of an Aztec king.

And Summer Is Gone by Susie Kretschmer
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Setting . . .
. . . can be used to set the mood or atmosphere
for the story. Setting may become another
character.

• When I think of the hometown of my youth, all
  I seem to remember is dust the brown, crumbly
  dust of late summer arid, sterile dust that
  gets into the eyes and makes them water, gets
  into the throat and between the toes of bare
  brown feet. I dont know why I should remember
  only the dust. And one other thing I remember,
  another incongruency of memory a brilliant
  splash of sunny yellow against the dust Miss
  Lotties marigolds.

Marigolds by Eugenia Collier
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Theme

• Theme central idea or central message of the
  story. Themes usually contain insight into the
  human condition telling something about humans
  and what it means to be human.

Themes can be stated directly or implied by the
characters, events, and actions in the story.
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Vanitas
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Theme

• Remember theme is not the subject!
• The subject can be stated in one or two words.
  For example love
• Theme is the central idea and it makes a
  revelation about the subject. It must be a
  statement. For example Love is a powerful and
  motivating force when it is first experienced.
• When stating a theme avoid using clichés!

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Secrets to Finding the Theme

• Check out the title, it may provide clues or
  information about the theme.
• Notice repeating patterns or symbols.
• Look for allusions.
• Remember that the theme is not usually stated in
  the story.

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Point of View

• The perspective from which the story is told.

• Who is telling the story? For example, is it a
  player on the home team, an opposing player, or
  someone watching the game?
• How do we know what is happening? For example,
  does a character tell us? Someone else?

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POV - 3rd Person Omniscient

• The author is telling the story directly.
• The narrator is all knowing.

But just then, from somewhere far off, Millicent
was sure of it, there came a melodic fluting,
quite wild and sweet, and she knew it must be the
song of the heather birds as they went wheeling
and gliding against the wide blue horizons
through vast spaces of air, their wings flashing
quick and purple in the bright sun.
Initiation by Sylvia Plath
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POV - 3rd Person Limited

• Third person, told from the viewpoint of a
  character in the story.

They all laughed, and while they were laughing,
the quiet boy moved his bare foot on the sidewalk
and merely touched, brushed against a number of
red ants that were scurrying about on the
sidewalk. Secretly, his eyes shining, while his
parents chatted with the old man, he saw the ants
hesitate, quiver, and lie still on the cement.
He sensed they were cold now.
Fever Dream by Ray Bradbury
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POV - 1st Person Limited

• Told from the viewpoint of one of the
  characters, using the first person pronoun I.

The thousands of injuries of Fortunato I had
borne as best I could, but when he ventured upon
insult I vowed revenge. You, who so well know
the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however,
that I give utterance to a threat. The Cask of
Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe
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Symbolism

• A symbol represents an idea, quality, or
  concept larger than itself.

A journey can symbolize life.
Water can represent rebirth (baptism).
A lion can represent courage.
A red rose can symbolize love.
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Irony

• A contrast or discrepancy between one thing
  and another.

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Irony

• Dramatic Irony When the reader knows something
  that the character does not know.
• Situational Irony The contrast between what
  happens and what was expected (or what would seem
  appropriate). 
• Verbal Irony A contrast between what is said and
  what is meant.

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Sarcasm

• The act of making fun of a person to hurt his
  feelings harsh or bitter irony.
• A sneering or cutting remark ironical taunt.
• So, when someone say they are sarcastic, are
  they really? Or are they just ironic?

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Satire

• The art of ridiculing a person, place, or
  thing for the purposes of entertainment,
  awareness, and / or reform.

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Language and Style

• Connotation The shade or tone of a word's
  meaning that the word suggests. A word such as
  brawny has a positive or favorable connotation
  fat, however, has an unfavorable or negative
  connotation.
• Denotation The dictionary definition of the word.

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Figurative Language

• Language that is not intended to be
  interpreted in a literal sense. Figurative
  language always makes use of a comparison between
  different things. By appealing to the
  imagination, figurative language provides new
  ways of looking at the world.