Literary Elements

1. Literary Elements What parts make up a story?

2. Story Grammar • Plot • Exposition • Rising Action • Climax • Falling Action • Resolution • Characters • Setting • Theme

3. 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.

4. Parts of a Plot • Exposition– event that gives rise to conflict (opening situation) and setting up of the story • Rising Action (development)- events that occur as result of central conflict and lead to the climax • Climax- highest point of interest or suspense of story; turning point of the story • Falling Action – The situation begins to be resolved • Resolution (denoument)- when conflict ends and characters go back to their life before the conflict

5. Diagram of Plot Climax Falling Action Development/Rising Action Resolution/Denouement Exposition Inciting incident/Opening situation

6. 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

7. Types of Characters • Antagonist • Protagonist • Archetype

8. 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.

9. Direct Characterization …And I don’t 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 I’m a little girl with skinny arms and a squeaky voice, which is how I got the name Squeaky. From “Raymond’s Run” by T. Bambara

10. 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

11. Setting Time and place are where the action occurs Details that describe: • Location • Scenery • Customs • Transportation • Clothing • Dialects • Weather • Time of day • Time of year

12. The Functions of a Setting • 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 Taken from “The Day the Sun Came Out” by D. Johnson

13. 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 character’s mind

14. Main Types of Conflict • Person vs. Person • Person vs. Self • Person vs. Nature • Person vs. Society

15. 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

16. 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