Literary Elements

Types of Characters

•Round: A character that has many facets and well developed by the author.

• Flat: characters who are one-sided and stereotypical.

Types of Characters

•Dynamic: A character who changes in some fundamental way during the course of the story.

•Static: A character who remains the same.

Types of Characters

• Protagonist: the main character in a play, story, or film.

• Antagonist: the person or force in fiction that opposes the protagonist, or main character.

Characterization

• Direct: The author develops the personality of characters by direct statements about who they are and what they are like.

• Indirect: The author reveals a character’s personalities through: Character’s thoughts Comments from other characters The character’s physical appearance

Conflict

• the struggle between characters or forces in a play, novel, short story, narrative poem, or film.

Types of Conflict

• Interpersonal - Man vs. Man (person vs. person)

•One character struggles against another character

Types of Conflict

• Intrapersonal (Internal) - Person vs. Self

•A character battles his own weakness, fears, or faults.

Types of Conflict

•Man vs. Nature: a character is pitted against the forces of nature.

•Man vs. Society: a struggle between the protagonist and the culture in which he/she lives.

Motif

•a word, character, object, image, metaphor or idea that recurs in a work or several works

Examples of Motif

• For example, in Haroun and the Sea of Stories, water is a recurring image prevalent in various parts of the novel.

OR

• In many heroic tales, the hero is a “reluctant hero”. He/She may be apprehensive to begin a journey.

Mood

• The attitude of the author toward the subject.

Mood

• Fantasia frequently uses music and setting to drastically shift the mood from light and playful to dark and foreboding.

Tone

• The reflection of a writer’s attitude, mood, and manner in his or her writing.

• The attitude of the author toward the audience.

Imagery

• “mental pictures” created by the author which would appeal to one or more of our five senses

• It is important to note that imagery does not just describe what someone sees. It goes deeper than that. It can appeal to ALL of the senses.

Symbolism

• In a literary work, something which is itself and represents something else, but it has to be present in the work of literature. It is usually an object, but it can be a person or an action.

• Often drawn from nature. • Example - a sunrise might symbolize hope or a

new beginning.

Symbolism Example

Dumbo’s “magic” feather represents courage and self-confidence. Once he truly believes in himself, he no longer needs it as a psychological crutch.

Theme

•A statement of observation the author makes about society, human nature, or universal truth, which is the central or dominating idea in the literature.

-It is NOT the moral or lesson.

-Think-People often…..

Theme

•Themes are not one-word answers. For example, the theme of Haroun and the Sea of Stories is NOT “storytelling”.

Examples of Theme

• Perseverance usually pays off.

• First impressions are not always accurate.

• Love is often found when one is least expecting it.

• People often overestimate their abilities.

• People often misjudge others before understanding them.

Allegory

• a story with an underlying meaning. Characters, events and details have literal and symbolic meanings.

• For example, the characters and events in Animal Farm (published in 1954) represent people and events of the Russian Revolution of 1917.

Allusion

• An indirect reference to a work of literature or art or to a well-known person, place, or event.

•Example: “It was like all Hades broke loose” -Warriors Don’t Cry

• In The Hunchback of Notre Dame, the gargoyle Laverne tells a flock of pigeons to “Fly my pretties! Fly, Fly!” à la the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz.

•If you were trying to instill confidence in a friend and said, “Use the force,” that would be an allusion to Star Wars.

•The verb form of allusion is to allude.

Elements of Plot

• EXPOSITION: INTRODUCES BACKGROUND INFO ABOUT CHARACTERS, SETTING, OR CONFLICT.

• RISING ACTION: EVENTS THAT DEVELOP THE CONFLICT TO A HIGH POINT OF INTENSITY.

• CLIMAX: HIGHEST POINT OF INTEREST OR SUSPENSE.

Elements of Plot

• FALLING ACTION: ANYTHING THAT LEADS TO THE RESOLUTION.

• RESOLUTION: POINT WHERE CONFLICT IS ENDED/RESOLVED

• DENOUEMENT: LOOSE ENDS ARE TIED UP.

• They all lived happily ever after

Elements of Plot

• A Exposition

• B Rising Action

• C Climax

• D Falling Action

• E Resolution

• F Denouement