The Vocabulary of \Literature

Leonard M. Miller Adjunct Professor of English

Lake Sumter State College Leesburg, Florida

FROM THE START….

…we need to get it right:

Authors write fiction and nonfiction.

Playwrights write drama.

Poets create poetry.

( NEVER should they referred to by first name only in academic writing!)

FICTION: A BROAD CATEGORY

Types of Fiction:

• Tale/Tall tale

• Legend

• Fable

• Allegory

• Novel/Novella

• Short stories • Genres—mystery, science fiction,

fantasy, historical, romance, action,etc.

(children’s literature, young adult,

advanced reading ability)

PLOT: THE DEFINITION AND “TRIANGLE”

The sequence of events in a work of literature.

ELEMENTS OF PLOT

Exposition: Reveals or “exposes” the

“backstory,” background information,

setting, and initial characters.

Rising Action: Leads to the story’s “turning

point,” where complications to the plot or

conflicts, either internal or external, can

initiate within a character or characters

ELEMENTS OF PLOT

Climax or “Turning Point”: Here a conflict may come to an explosive “head” or a character may come to have a greater awareness of himself or his situation (epiphany).

Falling Action: Until there is a resolution or conclusion, all segments of the plot will lead to the story’s denouement.

Resolution: The story ends with settlement of conflict(s) or characters’ greater understanding of a universal truth.

PLOT STRUCTURE IN REVIEW

An author develops character in several ways:

by revealing what the character says;

by showing what the character does;

by sharing what the character thinks;

by describing the character’s appearance;

by including what other characters think about this character or showing how they react to the character.

TYPES OF CHARACTER

Protagonist

Antagonist

Foil/Antithesis

Flat/Round

Static/Dynamic

Comic relief

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

SETTING

Setting is more than only time and place.

Setting may also create:

mood and atmosphere;

conflict;

another character

When looking at Point of View consider:

Who is telling or narrating the story?

What is stream of consciousness?

From what perspective is the story given?

Why is recognizing Point of View important?

POINT OF VIEW: IT’S ALL ABOUT CHOICE

First Person (I, me, we, us,)

*major

*minor

Third Person (he, she, they,)

* fully omniscient (“God-like”)

*limited omniscient

* “familiar” observer

* “objective” observer

POINT OF VIEW: HOW IT ALL FITS TOGETHER

THEME: IT’S ALL ABOUT MEANING.

THEME: LITERAL AND FIGURATIVE MEANINGS

The literal meaning in a literary work rests in

the understanding of the story’s plot.

The figurative meaning in a literary work depends

upon the reader’s interpretation of the author’s

subtle, and sometimes not so subtle, uses of

language, character, and symbol.

LITERARY TECHNIQUE AND STYLE

An author/playwright’s literary style makes up his/her style.

It is his/her literary “fingerprint.” Although not always cast into stone, it is an evolving piece of artistry.

LITERARY TECHNIQUE AND STYLE

Components of Style include (but are not limited to):

*Plot choices-flashback, foreshadowing, plot twists, etc.

*Point of view choices *Mood/Tone

*Setting choices *Theme

*Characterization *Diction and Syntax

LITERARY TECHNIQUE AND STYLE

Artistic Devices: Literary “tools” available to writers for the creation

of their particular literary publication. These “tools” include, but are not

limited to:

sensory detail,

figurative language,

symbolism,

satire and/or humor,

irony, etc.

LITERARY TECHNIQUE: USE OF LANGUAGE

* Sensory Detail: Descriptive language utilizes reader’s awareness of the

senses: *sight, *sound, *touch, *smell, *taste

Examples:

“The water lapped at my waist as I looked out over the moon- burnished ripples, the mats of algae that clung to the surface like scabs.”--“Greasy Lake” T. C. Boyle

“Because the nights were cold, and because the monsoons were wet, each carried a green plastic poncho that could be used as a raincoat or groundsheet or makeshift tent.”

“The Things They Carried” Tim O’Brien

LITERARY TECHNIQUE: USE OF LANGUAGE

Figurative Language: A writer can utilize any of the following whether

in narrative, poetic, or dramatic forms:

*simile, *metaphor, *personification, *onomatopoeia,

*alliteration, *hyperbole, *understatement, *oxymoron, etc.

Examples:

“We looked at her like zombies, like war veterans, like deaf-and- dumb pencil peddlers.” —”Greasy Lake” T. C. Boyle

“Behind the rotunda the slender trees with yellow leaves down

drooping, and through them just a line of sea, and beyond the blue sky with gold-veined clouds.

“Tum-tum-tum tiddle-um! Tiddle-um tum tiddley-um tum ta! blew the band.” --”Miss Brill” Katharine Mansfield

LITERARY TECHNIQUE: USE OF SYMBOLISM

Symbolism: A person, place, or thing in a narrative, poetic, or

dramatic form that suggests meanings beyond its literal sense.

Example:

“A hungry fox saw some fine bunches of grapes hanging from a vine that was trained along a high trellis, and did his best to reach them as high as he could into the air. But it was all in vain, for they were just out of reach: so he gave up trying, and walked away with an air of dignity and unconcern, remarking, ‘I thought those grapes were ripe, but I see now they are quite sour.” --”The Fox and the Grapes” Aesop

LITERARY TECHNIQUE: USE OF SATIRE

Satire: A literary composition, in verse or prose, where human folly and vice are

held up to scorn, derision, or ridicule. Satire may be based in either humor or in

more serious sarcasm.

Examples: (novels)

Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Fahrenheit 451 by Kurt Vonnegut

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

LITERARY TECHNIQUE: USE OF IRONY

Irony: Writers use irony to “mask” meaning beneath the “surface” of

the language. Types of Irony

• Verbal—This is the difference between what is said and what is meant.

• Dramatic—This is where the reader/audience knows something about the story and/or character that character(s) does/do not know.

• Situational—This is a discrepancy between what is expected to happen and what actually happens in the story or the drama.

Cosmic or Irony of Fate—A type of situational irony, this is the discrepancy between actions and their results upon a character; between what characters “deserve” and what they get.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER…

Literature is more than the black and white words on the

page. Much more. It is the combination of very carefully

arranged choices reflecting the writer’s style.

Choices in:

Plot

Character

Setting

Point of View

Theme

Literary Technique