Elements of Fiction and Literary Terms

Elements of Fiction and Literary Terms Write in note form.

Plot • The sequence of events that make up a story

Plot structure Climax Falling Action Rising Action Conclusion Introduction

Introduction • Setting • Main characters • Conflict

Setting • Where and when the story takes place (why the author chose that setting, how it adds to the mood)

Protagonist • Pro means good, so the protagonist is usually the good guy but the actions always centers around this character • This character is DYNAMIC. In other words, he/she CHANGES or LEARNS something (theme).

Antagonist • When you antagonize someone you annoy them, so the antagonist annoys the protagonist or causes conflict

Other character types • FOIL – metal placed on jewelry to increase its brilliance. In literature, a FOIL is a character who is so different than another (Barney Fife), that he enhances that character’s traits (Andy Griffith). • Ethel is a foil to Lucy • is a foil to

Stock Characters • Also called STEROTYPE characters. These characters stereotypically represent TYPES of people. The typical worrisome mother Joey on Friends and Sean on Boy Meets World Are the typical “beauty but no brains.”

FLAT CHARACTERS • These characters don’t change and are usually in the story just to move the action along. • For instance, a pizza delivery person. Later the main characters fight over a piece of pizza.

Conflict • Man vs. Man • Man vs. Self (internal) • Man vs. Nature • Man vs. Society • Man vs. Supernatural

Climax • The climax is the highest point of interest or suspense in the story. • Most important is that it is the turning point. Things change

Resolution/Conclusion/Denouement • The resolution or solution to the conflict occurs at the conclusion of the story. • Loose ends are tied up and the story ends.

THEME • Message or insight into life • Truth about life • What the character learns • Must be expressed in a complete sentence For instance, “War” is not a theme; it’s a topic. “War affects everyone” is a theme.

Irony • When what is said (verbal irony) or happens (situational irony) is the opposite of what is expected. • “like rain on your wedding day, like a free ride, when you’ve already paid, like good advise that you just didn’t take, and who would have thought, it figures. Isn’t it ironic?”

Dramatic Irony • The reader knows what’s going on, but the characters don’t. • We know that Juliet isn’t dead, but Romeo doesn’t.

POINT OF VIEW – Who’s telling the story? • First Person – story is told by a character IN the story.

Advantages of First Person • Eyewitness account gives immediacy, realism • Author can create dramatic irony • Disadvantages of First Person • No direct interpretation by the author • Bias or limited knowledge of narrator

Advantages of Limited Omniscient Realistic, we see world through one person Ready-made unifying element Useful characterization of point-of-view character Disadvantages of Limited Omniscient Limited field of observation Difficulty having character aware of all important events • Third Person Limited – story is told by an outside narrator who knows the THOUGHTS of ONE or two characters. • In third limited point of view, the narrator stands by the elbow of this character and we experience the story as this person does.

Advantages of Omniscient • God-like narrator gives thoughts of character, dimension to story • Most flexible; author can control omniscience • Disadvantages of Omniscient • Author can come between reader and story • Shifting from character to character may destroy unity • Third Person Omniscient - story is told by an outside narrator who knows the THOUGHTS of MANY characters

Feelings and attitudes • TONE –the author’s attitude toward his subject (use DIDLS) • Diction • Images • Details • Language • Syntax (sentence structure)

MOOD – the feeling created in thereader

More • Foreshadowing – gives you a hint (fore, before) of things to come later in the story • Flashback – refers to an earlier event, zips back in time

Symbolism • When something small stands for something large, suggests more that its literal meaning

Synonyms Synonyms are words that have the same, or almost the same meaning. Examples: rocks mean almost the same as stones large means almost the same as big

Antonyms Antonyms are words with opposite meanings. Examples: Big is the opposite of small Rich is the opposite of poor

Homonyms A word that is pronounced the same way as another but has a different meaning. (Usually spelled the same) LIE - to tell something that is not true or to be in a horizontal position. They look and sound the same, but are different verbs as can be seen from their forms: Lie-lied-lied (to tell something untrue) Lie-lay-lain (to be in a horizontal position)

More Principle Principal Founder – when a ship sinks or a person who “starts” something like a company or country

Alliteration Repetition of the same sound at the beginning of words. Ex: She sells sea shells by the sea shore. (It doesn’t have to be this severe.) Her hair held up well compared to Myrtie Mae’s.

Assonance Assonance is the repetition of a vowel sound within words. Example: free and easy make the grade

Onomatopoeia Words that imitate natural sounds. Examples: buzz or hiss

Personification Giving human qualities to nonhuman things such as animals or trees. Example: The picture hung proudly on the wall. The cat yelled at the dog.

Similes A simile is a comparison between two different things using words such as “like” or “as.” Examples: as sly as a fox red like a rose

Metaphors A metaphor is an expression used to compare two unlike things WITHOUT using “like” or “as” Examples: When Fred laughed, you thought you were in an earthquake. Rick's honesty is a breath of fresh air.

Extended Metaphor (Conceit) • The metaphor goes throughout the piece or at least beyond a line or two. In other words, the comparison is used more than once. • In “Mother to Son,” the entire poem compares life and it’s hardships to stairs. • The winds were ocean waves, thrashing against the trees' limbs. The gales remained thereafter, only ceasing when the sun went down. Their waves clashed brilliantly with the water beneath, bringing foam and dying leaves to the shore.'"' • Mixed Metaphor - • combination of two or more metaphors that together produce a ridiculous effect • The negotiator played his cards to the hilt. • “to take arms against a sea of troubles."

MetononymyUsing a part to talk about the wholeUsing an object to substitute for something closely related to it Referring to the government as the “white House”Saying the “Crown” will be meeting with Parliament when you mean the Queen.

Cliche • A cliché is a phrase that is used excessively and has become a bit meaningless and even irritating. • Examples: • Live and learn • What goes around comes around • Don't worry, be happy!

Hyperbole Hyperbole is overstatement or exaggeration that distorts facts by making them much bigger than they are if looked at objectively. EX. An apparently unfair boxing decision was described as the “crime of the century” by one newspaper which seems excessive when compared to murder). I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.

ANAPHORA Repetition of a word or words at the beginning of a line. (Usually found in poetry.) “I have a dream.”

Stichomythia • A form of REPARTEE in drama. It’s like a line-for-line verbal fencing match. • Each character speaks one line back and forth. It goes fast. • No, I didn’t. • Yes, you did. • No, I didn’t. • Yes, you did.

Oxymoron • A combination of words that contradict. • Oxy means sharp, and moron means dull, so oxymoron is an oxymoron. • Jumbo Shrimp, love/hate relationship, feather of lead, small crowd, deafening silence, Microsoft Works, soft rock, pretty ugly, Civil War, “Now, then…” Modern history, fish farm, industrial park, rolling stop, act naturally, guest host, almost exactly, old news, same difference, virtual reality

Paradox • An oxymoron where both sides are true. • Deep down, he’s really shallow. • They have ears but don’t hear. • Less is more. • Jumbo shrimp????

Jargon • Words used in a specific group • Baseball jargon – flied out, slider, double header • Computer jargon – hard drive, ram, mother board

Idiom • Words or phrases in our society that do not reflect their literal meaning. • Hit the road, He was sawing logs last night. We’re going to chill. That’s kid’s stuff. I was blown away.

Parallelism • “beside one another” • When sentences or parts of a sentence have similar structure • Yesterday, I went to see a movie, eating with friends, and take a nap. NOT parallel • Yesterday I went to see a movie, ate with friends, and took a nap. • “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…”

Allegory • When the character and/or the story elements represent something beyond its literal meaning. • ANIMAL FARM is an allegory for Soviettotalitarianism. Orwell based the book on events up to and during Joseph Stalin's regime. • THE CRUCIBLE is an allegory for the Red Scare.

Parody • A work that closely imitates the style or content of another work and tries to make fun of it. • A literary or artistic work that imitates the characteristic style of an author or a work for comic effect or ridicule

rhetoric • “Orator” the art of writing effectively, eloquently, and persuasively • A rhetorical question is not meant to be answered. It is meant to make you think. • Exposition – to explain • Argumentation – to prove a point or idea by sound, logical reasoning • Description – to recreate and visually represent with words • Narration – to tell a story

Litotes • To say something positive by using a negative • NO arrow ever flew so high. Euphemism • Making something negative seem positive • It’s not a used car; it’s a certified previously owned vehicle. • It’s not a war; it’s a military action. • The tree isn’t short; it’s vertically challenged.

That will do it for now.

Elements of Fiction and Literary Terms