Plot Development Stages and Characterization Techniques in Literature

1. Mid-Term Exam English I ECHS C. Edge 2007-2008

2. Plot Developmental Stages • STAGE ONE • The Exposition • introduces the story’s characters, setting, and major problems that will eventually be solved. • STAGE TWO • The Rising Action • occurs as complications or twists arise, or when the conflict intensifies. • STAGE THREE • The Climax • the emotional high point of the story.

3. Plot Developmental Stages • STAGE FOUR • The Falling Action • the logical result of the climax. • STAGE FIVE • The Resolution • the final outcome of the story. • STAGE SIX (not present in every story) • The Denouement • the final unraveling of the plot; the solution of a mystery; an explanation or outcome.

4. Plot Diagram 1. Exposition 2. Rising Action 3. Climax 4. Falling Action 5. Resolution 6. Denouement 3. 4. 2. 5. 6. 1.

5. Setting • The time and place of a story’s action. • The setting includes ideas, customs, values, and beliefs that may be associated with the time and place of the action. • Just as real people are often shaped by their environment, characters are often shaped by the setting.

6. idiom • Expression peculiar to a particular language that means something different from the literal meaning of each word. • “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst • Example • “It’s raining cats and dogs.” • “We heard it through the grapevine.” • Now, if you were a non-native English speaker, how odd would these phrases seem?

7. Characters • The actors in a story’s plot. • They can be animals, people, or whatever the writer chooses. • Protagonist • The main character. • Antagonist • Character in conflict with the main character • There may be more than one or there may not be one at all.

8. Characters • Round Character • Shows a variety of traits that may be contradictory. OR Flat Character • Reveals only one character trait. • Stereotype • A flat character of a familiar and often-repeated type.

9. Characters • Dynamic Character • Develops and changes in the course of a literary work. OR Static Character • Remains the same from the beginning to the end.

10. Theme • The central idea or message of a story. • It is often a comment or perception about life or human nature. • Two types of theme: • Stated • Is directly presented or discussed in the story. 2. Implied • Must be inferred by considering all the elements of a story and asking what message about life is conveyed.

11. Point of View • The relationship of the narrator, or storyteller, to the story. • Three points of view: • First Person Point of View • Third Person Limited Point of View • Third Person Omniscient Point of View

12. First Person Point of View • The narrator of the story is a character in the story. • The narrator uses the pronoun “I” when referring to the main character.

13. Third Person Limited Point of View • The narrator is an observer only. • The narrator reveals the thoughts of only one character. • The narrator uses the pronoun “he” or “she” when referring to the main character.

14. Third Person Omniscient Point of View • The narrator is an observer only. • God-like narrator—the narrator knows all and sees all and is able to reveal the thoughts of all the characters.

15. 13. sensory detail • Images that appeal to our senses of sight, taste, smell, hearing, and touch. • “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst • Example: • The crackle of the fire. • The smell of burning cedar. • The sight of the trees swaying in the breeze.

16. 14. symbolism • the use of symbols • Symbols can be a person, place, thing, or event that stands for itself and for something beyond itself as well. • “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst • Example • Crown = king • Pocket protector = nerd • Rolls Royce = wealth and sophistication

17. Characterization • The process of revealing the personality of a character in a story.

18. 16. Methods of characterization • Three methods of characterization: • What the writer says about the character. • What the character says, does, or feels. • What other characters say or think about the character.

19. 17. “The Sniper” by Liam O’Connell • Setting • Dublin, Ireland during the Irish Civil War, around 1920. The sniper is on a rooftop at midnight in June. • point of view • Third person limited—an observer only, but only knows the thoughts of one character, the sniper. • plot summary • Republican sniper is on his very first mission. He is nervous and inexperienced. He is under fire from across the street from another sniper. He shoots a woman and a man in an armored car, then gets shot in his arm. He lures the other sniper out of his hiding place by playing dead and shoots him. He goes down to see who the other man was and finds out that he has killed his own brother. • Theme • War is full of terrible consequences.

20. 18. “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst • Setting • The setting is the American South during the time of World War I. • point of view • The narrator is a first person narrator. • plot summary • The narrator wanted someone who he could box with, climb trees with, and run around with, but Doodle was physically handicapped. He tries to teach Doodle to walk and run, but the strain is too much for Doodle’s weak heart. Doodle dies trying to keep up with his older brother. • Theme • Life is fragile and should be appreciated for the short time it is lived. • symbolism of the bird’s early death? • The bird symbolizes Doodle and his early death. • symbolism of the storm? • The storm symbolizes the storm of emotions inside the narrator as he pushes Doodle to be “normal” and the inevitable doom of Doodle.

21. Imagery • Imagery contributes to a poem’s forcefulness. • Imagery helps readers see things freshly like the poet sees them. • Imagery is part of poet’s individual personal style. • Imagery that is fresh and powerful helps to create a strong emotional reaction.

22. 20. Exaggeration • stretching the truth, usually for comedic effect. • “The Talk” by Gary Soto

23. 21. biography • Biography—the story of someone’s life written by someone else

24. 22. autobiography • Autobiography—the written story the writer’s own life • “The Struggle to Be an All-American Girl” by Elizabeth Wong • “When I Lay My Burden Down” by Maya Angelou

25. 23. Subjectivity • objectivity – judgment based on observable phenomena and uninfluenced by emotions or personal prejudices  • we want a biography to be objective • this requires research • we do not want the author’s prejudices to distort the selection • subjectivity – judgment based on individual personal impressions and feelings and opinions rather than external facts  • we want the writer to get personal and emotional • the writer’s prejudice will be evident • Is this selection more objective or subjective? Why? • Obviously, this selection is more subjective since she is telling about her feelings about the events in her life.

26. 24. “The Struggle To Be An All-American Girl” by Elizabeth Wong • selection summary • The speaker tells about being made by her mother to attend Chinese school while growing up in America. She and her brother would rather absorb American culture and leave behind their native culture. In the end, the speaker reveals her regret at losing her native culture. • main idea • Culture is lost if it is not embraced. • supporting details • She hates going to Chinese school, dislikes the way her mother and grandmother speak their native language, but in the end she expresses regret at not knowing about her own native culture. • Conflict • Native cultures vs. novel cultures • Audience • Americans

27. 25. “When I Lay My Burden Down” by Maya Angelou • selection summary • Maya’s grandmother raises her in the segregated South where blacks are not treated equal to whites. She faces the mistreatment of dirty white girls who insult her. Grandmother refuses to respond to their taunts. • main idea • Maintain your dignity even in the sight of adversity. • supporting details • Grandmother teaches her grandchildren to respect themselves and others by keeping themselves clean and calling people by their respectful names. • Grandmother doesn’t stoop down to the level of the ‘powhitetrash’ girls. • Conflict • Black vs. white • Dignity vs. indecency • Imagery • Sounds of their voices compared to “cigar-box guitars”

28. 26. “The Talk” by Gary Soto • selection summary • Two best friends look longingly at a pretty girl and ridicule themselves because they are not attractive. • main idea • We are our own worst critic. • There is someone for everyone. • supporting details • Even though they think they are doomed to not find someone because they are not attractive, they still dream of what their lives will be like when they are married to someone. • Conflict • Superficial vs. genuine • exaggerations • Arms that reach past his knees. • Eyes that are the size of pencil dots.

29. Rhyme Scheme • DEFINITION—the pattern of the end rhymes • May be designated by assigning a different letter of the alphabet to each new rhyme. • EXAMPLE: Ro-ses are red. A Vio-lets are blue. B You look like a mon-key C and you smell like one, too. B

30. 38. slant rhymes • Rhymes that do not rhyme exactly. • “good” and “food”

31. 39. Onomatopoeia • Words that the definition mimics the actual sound the word makes when spoken.

32. Imagery • DEFINITION—descriptive language that appeals to the senses—sight, sound, touch, taste, or smell. • Some images appeal to more than one sense. • EXAMPLE: The whistle of a boat Calls and cries unendingly (this image appeals to what sense?)

33. 41.simile • Simile—a figure of speech using a word such as like or as to directly compare seemingly unlike things • Example: He ran as fast as a cat.

34. 43. metaphor • Metaphor—a figure of speech that compares or equates seemingly unlike things, but does so indirectly • Example: His speed was almost feline.

35. 44. direct metaphor • A metaphor that compares two dissimilar things directly by saying that one thing is another. • “He is a lion on the battlefield.”

36. Personification • DEFINITION—attributing human characteristics to an animal, object, or idea • EXAMPLE: The trees danced in the moonlight…

37. Rhythm • DEFINITION—the pattern of sound created by the arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line. • Can be regular or irregular • EXAMPLE: Ro-ses are red. (4 beats) Vio-lets are blue. (4 beats) You look like a mon-key (6 beats) and you smell like one, too. (6 beats)

38. Meter • DEFINITION—a regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables, which sets the overall rhythm of certain poems • Stressed syllables are marked ( ’ ) and unstressed syllables are marked (~) • EXAMPLE: ‘ ~ ~ ‘ Ro-ses are red. ‘ ~ ~ ‘ Vio-lets are blue. ~ ‘ ~ ~ ‘ ~ You look like a mon-key ~ ‘ ~ ~ ‘ ~ and you smell like one, too.

39. Alliteration • DEFINITION—the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginnings of words • EXAMPLE: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. How many pecks of pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick?

40. Cliché • DEFINITION—an expression so often used that its freshness and clarity have worn off • A cliché is a word that has been “played out.”

41. Scene • DEFINITION—The location of the events of the poem. • Poets use images to establish scene. • A scene can be an external physical setting • A hillside, a city, a pond, a room, etc. • A scene can be internalized • Inside the speaker’s mind

42. Allusion • DEFINITION—a figure of speech that makes brief reference to a historical or literary figure, event, or object • Example from music: • Led Zeppelin’s “Battle of Evermore” has references to Lord of the Rings.

43. “A Narrow Fellow in the Grass,” by Emily Dickinson • This poem presents a speaker who fears snakes even though he loves nature and its creatures. • The speaker doesn’t have to be the poet!!!

44. “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer,” by Walt Whitman • The speaker is in a lecture hall listening to an astronomer describe how to plot and measure the distances of the stars in the night sky. Bored, the speaker (both in his mind and physically) rises up and wanders off into the mystical night sky to enjoy the visual beauty of the stars rather than the mathematical beauty.

45. Sandburg “Fog” • Speaker compares a gray cat to morning fog in the way that it moves and sneaks up on the city. The speaker uses an extended image to display this metaphor.

46. “in Just-“ E. E. Cummings • The seemingly innocent balloonman ushers in Springtime by warming the air and leading the children out to play with his whimsical whistling. The poet uses fresh words and images to usher in the freshness of Spring.

47. THE NOVELTo Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee • 52. ________________________ is the narrator of this story. • Scout

48. 53. Scout’s real name is ________________________. • Jean Louise Finch

49. 54. The story is set in ________________________. • Maycomb, Alabama during the years of 1933-1935.

50. 55. ________________________ is Atticus Finch’s cook. • Calpurnia