Literary Elements

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Literary Elements

• What parts make up a story?

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Story Grammar

• Setting
• Characters
• Plot
• Climax
• Theme
• Resolution
• Denouement

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The time and place of the story is the setting
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Setting
Time and place are where the action occurs

• Details that describe
• Furniture
• Scenery
• Customs
• Transportation
• Clothing
• Dialects
• Weather
• Time of day
• Time of year

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Elements of a Setting
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The Functions of a Setting

• We left the home place behind, mile by slow
  mile, heading for the mountains, across the
  prairie where the wind blew forever.
• At first there were four of us with one
  horse wagon and its skimpy load. Pa and I
  walked, because I was a big boy of eleven. My
  two little sisters romped and trotted until they
  got tired and had to be boosted up to the wagon
  bed.
• That was no covered Conestoga, like Pas folks
  came West in, but just an old farm wagon, drawn
  by one weary horse, creaking and rumbling
  westward to the mountains, toward the little
  woods town where Pa thought he had an old uncle
  who owned a little two-bit sawmill.

• To create a mood or atmosphere
• To show a reader a different way of life
• To make action seem more real
• To be the source of conflict or struggle
• To symbolize an idea

Taken from The Day the Sun Came Out by D.
Johnson
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Every story needs characters

• People

Animals
Or Creatures
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The protagonist is the good guy
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The antagonist is the bad guy or force
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Types of Characters

• People or animals
• Major characters
• Minor characters
• Round characters
• Flat characters

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Characterization

• A writer reveals what a character is like and how
  the character changes throughout the story.
• Two primary methods of characterization
• Direct- writer tells what the character is like
• Indirect- writer shows what a character is like
  by describing what the character looks like, by
  telling what the character says and does, and by
  what other characters say about and do in
  response to the character.

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Direct Characterization
And I dont play the dozens or believe in
standing around with somebody in my face doing a
lot of talking. I much rather just knock you down
and take my chances even if Im a little girl
with skinny arms and a squeaky voice, which is
how I got the name Squeaky. From Raymonds
Run by T. Bambara
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Indirect Characterization
The old man bowed to all of us in the room.
Then he removed his hat and gloves, slowly and
carefully. Chaplin once did that in a picture,
in a bank--he was the janitor. From Gentleman
of Rio en Medio by J. Sedillo
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Elements of Character
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Factors in Analyzing Characters

• Physical appearance of character
• Personality
• Background/personal history
• Motivation
• Relationships
• Conflict
• Does character change?

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Plot

• Plot is what happens and how it happens in a
  narrative. A narrative is any work that tells a
  story, such as a short story, a novel, a drama,
  or a narrative poem.

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Parts of a Plot

• Inciting incident event that gives rise to
  conflict (opening situation)
• Development- events that occur as result of
  central conflict (rising action)
• Climax- highest point of interest or suspense of
  story
• Resolution- when conflict ends
• Denouement- when characters go back to their life
  before the conflict

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The climax is the most exciting part!!
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Diagram of Plot
Climax
Resolution
Development/Rising Action
Introduction
Denouement
Inciting incident/Opening situation
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Special Techniques of Plot

• Suspense- excitement or tension
• Foreshadowing- hint or clue about what will
  happen in story
• Flashback- interrupts the normal sequence of
  events to tell about something that happened in
  the past
• Surprise Ending- conclusion that reader does not
  expect

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A hint about what will happen next is called
foreshadowing
For example, if you hear this
Then you know someones about to get eaten!
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Great stories have a conflict
Man vs. Man
Man vs. Nature
Man vs. Machine
Man vs. Society
Man vs. Himself
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Conflict

• Conflict is a struggle between opposing forces
• Every plot must contain some kind of conflict
• Stories can have more than one conflict
• Conflicts can be external or internal
• External conflict- outside force may be person,
  group, animal, nature, or a nonhuman obstacle
• Internal conflict- takes place in a characters
  mind

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Theme

• A central message, concern, or insight into life
  expressed through a literary work
• Can be expressed by one or two sentence statement
  about human beings or about life
• May be stated directly or implied
• Interpretation uncovers the theme

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Example of Theme
Every man needs to feel allegiance to his native
country, whether he always appreciates that
country or not. From A Man Without a Country
by Edward Hale pg. 185 in Prentice Hall
Literature book
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The point of view is the perspective of the story
I was framed! I just wanted to borrow a cup of
sugar!
That rotten wolf tried to eat us!!!!
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Whether youre the reader, or the writer, a great
story includes all these literary elements!!!
setting
theme
plot
foreshadowing
climax
conflict
protagonist
characters
resolution
antagonist
point of view
denouement
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Writing A Literary Analysis Essay

• How to Determine a Thesis

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The Goal of Analysis

• To demonstrate some new understanding of the
  literary work
• State this new understanding in the form of an
  assertion
• Support your analysis with evidence and
  commentary.

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Whats an Assertion

• An assertion is an opinion about a general
  subject, like life, relationships, gender or
  class that you think the author is making through
  some element (character, theme, symbol) of the
  novel

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Think aloud Finding an assertion

• I noticed that in Stargirl the main character
  Stargirl changes
• Stargirl changes twice during the novel first
  she is an eccentric, free-spirit, later she tries
  to conform to the behaviors of her peers, but
  finally she returns to her true individualistic
  self

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Whats Next?

• Now make an assertion based on this analysis of
  Stargirl
• Ask What new understanding about life,
  relationships, gender or class does this present?
• Answer Stargirl doesnt like this societyshe
  finds it shallow and phonyso she quits it.

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Formula to make an assertion

• (authors name) is making a point about (general
  subject) the specific point s/he is making is
  that _____________________.
• Example In Stargirl, author Jerry Spinelli
  makes a point about the superficial nature of
  modern society the specific point he is making
  is that society is shallow and does not value
  individuality and it therefore should be
  rejected.

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From Formula to Thesis

• Revise your assertion statement adding that the
  author is using the character(s) to make that
  specific point
• Example Jerry Spinelli, author of Stargirl,
  uses the protagonist Stargirl to argue that
  modern society is superficial and incapable of
  valuing individuality and should be rejected.
• This then becomes the preliminary thesis.

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Lets try another one

• I noticed that in The Pearl, the main character,
  Kino, changes.
• Kino changes during the course of the novel.
  First he is a young father and husband who is
  poor but content. However, after he finds a great
  pearl, he changes into a ruthless murderer.

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Whats next?

• Now make an assertion based on this analysis of
  Kino.
• What new understanding about life, relationships,
  gender or class does this present? (In other
  words, why does he change? this is your
  analysis.)
• Answer Kino changes because of his greed. He
  finds out that greed is a destructive force that
  can ruin ones life.

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Formula to make an assertion

• (authors name) is making a point about (general
  subject) the specific point s/he is making is
  that _____________________.
• Example Author John Steinbeck makes a point
  about the destructive nature of greed in man the
  specific point he is making is that placing ones
  greedy needs over the more important intangible
  needs of family can destroy a mans life.

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From Formula to Thesis

• Revise your assertion statement adding that the
  author is using the character(s) to make that
  specific point.
• Example Through Kinos struggles with the pearl,
  Steinbeck demonstrates that placing ones greedy
  needs over the more important intangible needs of
  family can destroy a mans life.

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Think Aloud

• Character compare/contrast
• I noticed that Arthur, in Button, Button and
  Chris in Hundred Bucks of Happy are similar in
  that both decide to do the right thing. Both
  characters are tempted by wealth, but choose to
  make good, selfless decisions

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A Formula To Use To Make an Assertion

• Use the formula
• Richard Matheson, author of Button, Button and
  Susan Beth Pfeffer, author of A Hundred Bucks of
  Happy are making a point about self-sacrifice
  the specific point they are making is that good
  people think of others before themselves.

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Now turn this into a thesis.

• Revise your assertion statement adding that the
  author is using the character to make that
  specific point.
• The authors Matheson and Pfeffer are using their
  characters of Arthur and Chris to illustrate that
  to be a good person, one must put the welfare of
  others above ones own desires.