Literary Elements Part 1

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Literary ElementsPart 1

• Conflict, Plot, Antagonist,
• and Protagonist,

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Conflict

• The problem or struggle in a story that triggers
  the action.
• There are 5 basic types of conflict.

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Types of Conflict
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Internal Conflict

• Any struggle or problem that is going on within
  the character.
• Man v. Self

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External Conflict

• Any struggle or problem that involves the
  character and any other person, thing or unknown
  force.
• Man v. Man
• Man v. Nature
• Man v. Society
• Man v. God (Fate)

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Plot

• The action or sequence of events in a story.
• It is usually a series of related events that
  build up on one another as the story develops.

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Plot Line
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• Exposition The background or situation
  surrounding the story.
• Rising action - the series of struggles that
  builds a story toward a climax.
• Climax the most intense point in a story.
• Falling action part of the story that works out
  decisions reached during the climax.
• Resolution is part of the story in which the
  problem is solved.

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Antagonist and Protagonist

• Protagonist - Main character
• Antagonist - The person or thing working against
  the protagonist

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Antagonist
Protagonist
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Literary DevicesPart 2

• Theme, Irony, Suspense, Allusion
  Characterization, etc.

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Theme

• The statement about life the author is trying to
  get across in a story.
• In most cases the theme will be implied rather
  than directly told.
• In The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell,
  the theme was the hunter becomes the hunted.

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Allusion

• A reference to a literary, mythological, or
  historical person, place, or thing.
• -- Martin Luther King Jr. alluded to the
  Gettysburg address in starting his I have a
  dream speech by saying Five score years ago.
• --This referenced Abraham Lincolns Four score
  and seven years ago. (Gettysburg address.)

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Foreshadowing

• The use in a literary work of clues that suggest
  events that will happen later in a story.
• --In Romeo and Juliet, both main characters state
  early on that they would rather die than live
  apart.

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Epiphany

• An event in which the essential nature of
  something-a person, situation, object- is
  suddenly understood in a new way.
• --Think of an ah ha! moment, or visually, a
  light bulb going above your head going on.

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Detail

• Facts revealed by the author or that support the
  attitude or tone of the work.
• --A detail gives more information. For example, a
  detail about Killeen is that it is the location
  of Fort Hood.

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Archetype

• A type of character, action, or situation that
  occurs over and over in literature.
• --An archetype can at times be considered a
  generalization or stereotype. The princess must
  always be rescued by a prince.

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Motif

• A main idea in a literary work. A pattern or
  strand of imagery or symbolism in literature.
• --A motif is different from a theme in that it
  happens over and over in a story.

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Imagery

• The words used to represent persons, objects,
  feelings, by appealing to the five senses.
• --Ex. Her face is a garden.
• --He laughed like a hyena.

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Point of view

• The view or perspective from which a story is
  told.
• The author is not the one telling the story, but
  the narrator. This can be 1st, 2nd, 3rd person
  point of view.

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Setting

• The time and place of the story.
• --The setting of Batman is Gotham City in the
  future.
• --The setting can change throughout the story.

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Irony

• Is using a word or phrase to mean the exact
  opposite of its literal or normal meaning.
• There are three kinds of irony

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• Dramatic irony, in which the reader or the
  audience sees a characters mistakes, but the
  character does not.
• Verbal irony, in which the writer says one thing
  and means another The best substitute for
  experience is being thirteen
• Situational irony, in which there is a great
  difference between the purpose of an action and
  the result.

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Suspense

• The uncertainty or anxiety we feel about what is
  going to happen next in a story.

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The Grip of Suspense

• When we feel suspense, we feel as if we are
  hanging in midair, like those characters in a
  movie who cling by their fingertips to cliffs,
  their feet kicking out into space. Thats
  suspense and thats why stories like The
  Interlopers by Saki are called cliffhangers.

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Characterization

• Is the method an author uses to reveal characters
  and their personalities.
• There are two types of characterization

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• Direct Characterization In which a writer tells
  us directly what a character is like or what
  their motives are.
• Indirect Characterization In which a writer
  shows us a character but allows us to interpret
  for ourselves the kind of person we are meeting.
• Speech
• Appearance
• Private thoughts
• Actions and
• How others in the story feel about them.

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Symbolism, Tone, and Mood
Literary ElementsPart 3
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Symbolism

• Person, place, thing, or event that stands both
  for itself and for something beyond itself.
• A form of figurative language that is identified
  with something else
• Public symbols are symbols that are widely
  recognized and accepted

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Universal Examples
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Symbolism, A long history
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Symbolism, Literary Example
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Symbolism

• Why would the eagle be chosen as a symbol of the
  United States?
• What metaphors exist within the symbol of the
  eagle when comparing it to a nation?

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Symbolism

• Strength of an eagles wings
• Sharp eyes
• Largeness of the bird
• Why do you think our forefathers chose the eagle
  over Benjamin Franklins proposed turkey?

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Tone

• Tone is the attitude that an author takes toward
  the audience, the subject, or the character. Tone
  is conveyed through the author's words and
  details.

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Mood

• Mood is the emotions that you feel while you are
  reading. Some literature makes you feel sad,
  others joyful, still others, angry.
• How does the following passage from O. Henry's
  short story, After Twenty Years, make you feel?

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• Literary Elements Part 4
• Figures of speech

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Simile

• A comparison of two different things or ideas
  through the use of the words LIKE or AS.
• --He was as tall as a tree.
• --She was sick like a dog.

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Metaphor

• A comparison of two unlike things NOT using like
  or as.
• -- This homework is a breeze.
• --He showered her with gifts.

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Personification

• A personification is when non-human objects are
  given human characteristics.
• --The sun winked at me.

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Pun

• A play on words that are identical or similar in
  sound but mean two completely different things.
• Shakespeare used puns often in his work.
• Mercutio Nay, gentle Romeo, we must have you
  dance.
• Romeo Not I, believe me. You have dancing
  shoes with nimble soles I have a soul of lead so
  stakes me to the ground I cannot move.

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More examples of puns

• Every oven in the restaurant was broken. The
  patrons got a raw deal.
• Did you hear about the guy whose whole left side
  was cut off? He's all right now.

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Paradox

• When two elements of a statement contradict one
  another. It seems impossible, but may show hidden
  truths.
• A teenager told me, All teenagers are liars.

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Oxymoron

• A form of paradox that combines a pair of
  opposite terms into one single unusual
  expression.
• ---Pretty ugly.
• ----Freezer burn.
• ----Great depression.

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Idiom

• A phrase or expression that has a different
  meaning that its literal meaning.
• -- Call it a day stop work for the day.
• "It's late and you've accomplished a lot. Why
  don't you call it a day?

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Hyperbole

• An outrageous exaggeration.
• ---This is the best day ever!!!
• ---My sister wears so much makeup, she weighs 50
  pounds more after she puts it on.
• --- My teacher is so old, she taught cave men how
  to start a fire.

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The End