Lit Element Review Continue to the next slide

Purpose The purpose of this review is to give you practice recognizing the lit elements present in a given piece of literature. The questions asked are similar to the ones you will be asked on the upcoming lit elements assessment, except that you will be given a different story to read. If you can independently answer the questions in this review, you should do pretty well on the test. Continue to the next slide.

Directions Before moving from one slide to the next, make sure you take the time to follow the directions. If it asks you to read something, read it. If it asks you to answer the question, answer it. Write your answers down before moving on. You can use your own piece of paper, or you can write your answers onto the “Answer Sheet” Word Document provided on the class website: “Answer Sheet” Please Note: Your answers can sometimes differ from mine, but (as always) you would have to support your opinion with cited examples from the piece of literature. Continue to the next slide.

Read the Narrative Read “Casey at the Bat” at the following link: It’s a narrative poem (a poem that tells a story). Don’t let the fact that it’s a poem throw you off. It’s still just a story. It’s just formatted a little differently. After you have read the poem, continue to the next slide.

Question #1: What is the setting of “Casey at the Bat”? After you have answered the question, continue to the next slide.

Compare Your Answer #1 Setting is the place and time in which a story takes place: Place: It’s set in a fictional town called Mudville, which is mentioned in the first and last stanzas, and the entire narrative takes place at a baseball park, so that might also be an acceptable answer. Time: We aren’t told for sure when it takes place, so we have to make a guess based on the information we get from the poem. We know it’s baseball season obviously, and it seems like a fairly modern setting, since we have baseball games much like this one today. Some of the language, however, seems a bit dated. For example, Flynn is called a “Pudd’n,” which doesn’t seem like something people would say today. A good guess might be somewhere in the early 20 th century. continue to the next slide

Question #2: In which point of view is “Casey at the Bat” told? Explain your answer. After you have answered the question, continue to the next slide.

Compare Your Answer #2 Your basic options are 1 st person point of view or 3 rd person point of view. Since the narrator (the voice telling the story) doesn’t seem to be one of the characters, that draws out 1 st person, so your answer is : 3 rd Person Narrator After you have established that, you should try to decide whether it’s a limited third person narrator or an omniscient third person narrator. If it’s limited, that means that the narrator only has access to one character’s thoughts. Even though that character isn’t telling the story, it is more or less told from his or her perspective. That doesn’t happen in this story. In fact the only thoughts we are given belong to the crowd in the stands: “For they thought: ‘If only Casey would get a whack at that” (line 7). We get more than one person’s thoughts. That makes it: 3 rd Person Omniscient Narrator. continue to the next slide

Question #3: Is Casey a dynamic or static character? Explain. After you have answered the question, continue to the next slide.

Compare Your Answer #3 A dynamic character changes throughout the story. A static character stays the same. Casey is the same arrogant ball player from the beginning of the narrative to the end. We might assume that he is humbled by the experience of striking out, but that would take place after the fact, outside the scope of the story itself. Because of this, your best answer is probably: Static continue to the next slide

Question #4: Is Blake a dynamic or static character? Explain. After you have answered the question, continue to the next slide.

Compare Your Answer #4 All we know about Blake is that he is a teammate of Casey’s. He’s called a “fake” (line 10) and “much- despised,” which probably means that he’s not a great player, and then he tears “the cover off the ball” (line 14) meaning that he manages a good hit, but that wouldn’t be enough to say he grows through the story. He would have to be classified as a Static Character. continue to the next slide

Question #5: Is Casey a complex or a simple character? Explain. After you have answered the question, continue to the next slide.

Compare Your Answer #5 A complex character exhibits many different personality traits. He or she is a more fully developed character. A simple character only exhibits one or two traits. As much as we might want to assume that our protagonists are usually complex characters, that isn’t always the case, especially in a shorter piece like this one. All we really know about Casey is that he is arrogant, and apparently, the fans think he’s great. Casey is a pretty Simple Character. continue to the next slide

Question #6: Why does Casey let the first two pitches go by? After you have answered the question, continue to the next slide.

Compare Your Answer #6 This question is asking you to make an inference. He never says exactly why he doesn’t swing, but we can tell he is driven by overconfidence and the desire to show off when he ignores both pitches and says, “That ain’t my style” (line 32). continue to the next slide

Question #7: Name a character trait we see in Casey and give a specific example from the poem that shows that trait. After you have answered the question, continue to the next slide.

Compare Your Answer #7 Casey is definitely arrogant or cocky. Possible examples of his arrogance: The line about how the pitch isn’t his “style” as he ignores the first pitch is certainly an example of this (32). He watches the first pitch go by in “haughty grandeur” (line 30). Haughty means arrogant. The way he controls the crowd is arrogant. He “still[s] the rising tumult” (quiets them down) with a smile (line 37) and a “scornful look” (line 42). continue to the next slide

Question #8: Who is the protagonist of “Casey at the Bat”? After you have answered the question, continue to the next slide.

Compare Your Answer #8 A protagonist is the main character in a story. This is a story about Casey. Even though he might be kind of a jerk in the reader’s eyes, it is still his story. Casey is the protagonist. continue to the next slide

Question #9: Is there an antagonist in this story? After you have answered the question, continue to the next slide.

Compare Your Answer #9 An antagonist is the character who opposes the protagonist. While there is almost always a protagonist, there is really only an antagonist when the story revolves around a conflict between two characters. That isn’t the case in “Casey at the Bat,” so, no, there isn’t really a true antagonist. continue to the next slide

Question #10: Is there an internal conflict in “Casey at the Bat”? Explain. After you have answered the question, continue to the next slide.

Compare Your Answer #10 An internal conflict is a “character vs. self” conflict in which the protagonist is trying to overcome an internal struggle or get past an emotional obstacle. Maybe… You might be able to discuss the fact that Casey’s own arrogance defeats him. continue to the next slide

Question #11: Is there an external conflict? Which kind? Explain. After you have answered the question, continue to the next slide.

Compare Your Answer #11 An external conflict is an conflict involving the main character or characters and an outside force. There is certainly an external conflict here. It’s just a matter of deciding which kind. Character vs. Character is unlikely since the pitcher isn’t much of a character, and Character vs. Society/Nature also doesn’t really fit. Group vs. Group might seem likely for a moment, but the story is really about Casey’s individual failure, so the most likely answer here would be: Character vs. Group. In this case, Character vs. Group could mean Casey vs. the opposing team, but it might also be argued that there is a conflict of interests between Casey and the crowd. As this question illustrates, there can be more than one answer, but you may have to support it with evidence from the text. continue to the next slide

Question #12: What information are we told in the exposition of “Casey at the Bat”? After you have answered the question, continue to the next slide.

Compare Your Answer #12 During the exposition, the audience is introduced to three things: Characters: Flynn and Blake (two lackluster players) Casey (the player the crowd wishes would come up to the plate) The crowd itself might also be looked at as a collective character. Setting: Mudville during a baseball game The Basic Situation: The score is 2-4. It’s the last inning of the game, and the Mudville nine have two outs. These are the things we need to know as the story gets started. continue to the next slide

Question #13: What is the inciting incident in the story? After you have answered the question, continue to the next slide.

Compare Your Answer #13 The inciting incident is the point in the story when the major conflict—the driving force behind the plot— begins. In this case, this is really a story about whether or not Casey will hit the ball and win the game, so the inciting incident would be the point at which Flynn and Blake make it onto the bases, and “Casey, mighty Casey” advances to the bat (line 20). continue to the next slide

Question #14: List two important events in the rising action. After you have answered the question, continue to the next slide.

Compare Your Answer #14 The rising action is the part of the plot that occurs between the inciting incident and the climax. In most stories, it is the bulk of the story. In this case, the most significant events in the rising action would be Casey’s first two strikes or any of the turmoil caused in the crowd by those two strikes. continue to the next slide

Question #15: What is the climax of the story? After you have answered the question, continue to the next slide.

Compare Your Answer #15 The climax is the part of the plot in which the conflict comes to a head. In this case, it’s the moment right before we know whether or not he’s going to hit that last pitch: “And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets it go, and now the air is shattered by the force of Casey’s blow” (lines 47-48). continue to the next slide

Question #16: Name one important event in the falling action. After you have answered the question, continue to the next slide.

Compare Your Answer #16 The falling action is the part of the plot after the climax. The conflict has basically been resolved in some way, and in most stories things are starting to go back to normal. In a short narrative poem like “Casey at the Bat,” the falling action probably consists entirely within the following three lines: “Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright, The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light: And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout” (47-48). continue to the next slide

Question #17: What is the resolution of the story? After you have answered the question, continue to the next slide.

Compare Your Answer #17 The resolution is the part of the plot that ties up all of the loose ends. It answers any unanswered questions. In a short narrative poem like “Casey at the Bat,” the resolution probably consists entirely withiin the last line of the poem, which makes sure that the reader knows that, “Mighty Casey has struck out” (52). continue to the next slide

Question #18: What is a possible theme for “Casey at the Bat”? After you have answered the question, continue to the next slide.

Compare Your Answer #18 A theme is a life lesson the reader can take from a story. This is usually a lesson that the main character learns or should have learned, and the reader can benefit from the same lesson. In this poem, Casey should not have been so cocky and should have taken his first two swings, so the reader might turn that into a theme statement that looks something like this: Take every opportunity that comes along. continue to the next slide