Literary Elements Setting, Theme, Plot, Point of View

Standards RL 6.9 I can identify types of genres RL 6.3 I can identify parts of plot RL 6.2 I can identify the theme of a text

Setting The time and place of a story, poem, or play. The setting can help create mood or atmosphere. The setting can also affect the events of the plot.

Setting In some stories, the conflict is provided by the setting. This happens in “The Dog of Pompeii” when the characters’ lives are threatened by a volcano.

Theme A truth about life revealed in a work of literature. A life lesson the author tries to teach through the text. A theme is not the same as a subject. A subject can usually be expressed in a word or two – live, childhood, death. A theme is the idea the author wished to reveal about that subject.

Theme A theme has to be expressed in a full sentence. A work can have more than one theme A theme is not usually stated directly in the work. Instead the reader has to think about the elements of the work and then make an inference about what they all mean.

Theme Think about the story “Charlotte’s Web”. What theme or themes do you think the author is trying to get across to the reader?

Plot The events in the story. Plot tells “what happens” in a short story, novel, play, or narrative poem.

Plot Most plots are built around the following elements: –Exposition (learn characters, setting and conflict) – Rising Action- when the complications (problems ) occur –Climax- gives a hint of how the problem will be solved- the turning point of the story. –Falling Action- the part of the story that follows the climax. –Resolution (characters’ problems are resolved and the story ends)

Point of View The position from which the a story is told. There are two common points of view: –1 st Person POV – the person telling the story I is involved in the story. –3 rd Person POV – the person telling the story is not in the story

Characters People, animals or creatures in a story

Conflict Conflicts are problems that occur in the story.

External vs. Internal External External Conflict takes place outside of the body Internal Internal Conflict takes place inside of the body/mind

Five Types of Conflict Person vs Nature Person vs. Society Person vs SelfPerson vs person Person vs. technology