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Literary Elements

Explore the essential parts that make up a story, from setting to characters, plot, narrative techniques, conflict, and theme. Learn how each element contributes to creating a compelling narrative and engaging readers.

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Literary Elements

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  1. Literary Elements What parts make up a story? http://members.tripod.com/dscorpio/images/literary_elements.ppt

  2. Details that describe: Furniture Scenery Customs/culture Tradition Religion Transportation Dialects Weather Time of day and year Setting Time and place are where the action occurs

  3. To create a mood or atmosphere To create suspense To foreshadow To make action seem more real To be the source of conflict or struggle To symbolize an idea 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 Pa’s 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. The Functions of a Setting Taken from “The Day the Sun Came Out” by D. Johnson

  4. Characters • Protagonist: main character • Antagonist: a villain, anything that stands in opposition to the protagonist • Round character: multidimensional, revealing complexity of human nature • Flat character: a stereotype, one kind of personality trait • Dynamic character: one who changes over time • Static character: one who does not change over time.

  5. When you hear the terms “round character” vs. “flat character,” what do you think of?

  6. Here are definitions of round vs.flat characters:

  7. Which characters here are round or flat? Why do you think so?

  8. Parts of a Plot • Exposition – basic characters and plot elements such as setting and conflict are revealed • Rising Action- events begin to get complicated; and excitement, tension and crisis are encountered. • Climax- highest point of interest or suspense of story, the protagonist's most difficult challenge or bleakest moment • Falling Action: results of actions/decision presented, whether good or bad for the character. 

  9. Continued… • Resolution: the main conflicted is resolved • Denouement:  loose ends are tied up, conflicts are concluded, outcomes are revealed

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

  11. Narrative Techniques • Suspense- tension that creates discomfort about the unknown • Foreshadowing- hint or clue about what will happen in story • Flashback- interruptions about past events to provide background or context to the current events • Figurative Language: Simile, Metaphor, Personification, Onomatopoeia, Hyperbole

  12. Conflict • Conflict is a struggle between opposing forces • Conflicts can be external or internal • External conflict- protagonist deals with outside forces • Man vs. Man • Man vs. Nature • Man vs. Society • Man vs. Nonhuman object • Internal conflict- takes place in a character’s mind - Man vs. Self

  13. Point of View: the way the author allows the readers to “see” and “hear” what’s going on in the storyEach viewpoint allows certain freedoms in narration while limiting or denying others • First person point of view: the narrator tells his/her own story • Third person objective POV: The narrator does not get involved in the story and tells only what he/she observes

  14. Point of View continued… 3. Third person limited POV: The narrator focuses on the thoughts and feelings of only one character. 4. Third person omniscient POV: all-knowing narrator. S/he knows each character’s thoughts and feelings.

  15. Theme • A central message or insight into life expressed through a literary work • Expressed in a statement about human beings or about life • May be stated directly or implied • Interpretation uncovers the theme a. character traits or motivation b. conflict c. resolution of the conflict

  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

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