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Definitions and Examples
Literary Elements Definitions and Examples
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Key difference between short stories and novels:
Novels usually contain more characters (longer time and space to develop) Novels contain several sub-plots, while short stories usually focus on one plot line.
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Characterization Process by which writer reveals the personality of a character Telling the reader directly Describing looks and dress Hear character speak Revealing character’s thoughts
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Types of Characterization
DIRECT: The author tells the reader exactly what a character is like or what they want you to think about a character. INDIRECT: The author gives hints or clues (through actions or thoughts) that lead you to form opinions about the character.
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Dynamic Characters Changes in some way as a result of the story’s action
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Static Characters Does not change in course of story
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Flat Characters A character with only 1 or 2 personality traits
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Round Characters Have more dimensions to their personalities-complex, solid, and multifaceted
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Protagonist The main character, sets plot in motion Example:
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Antagonist Character or force that opposes/blocks the protagonist (main character) Does not always have to be a character! Example: war, racism, society…
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Point of View The vantage point from which a writer tells a story.
Three types: Omniscient First person Third person
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Omniscient Point of View
The person telling the story knows everything that’s going to happen. Outside of story Can tell us what is happening and what characters are feeling
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1st person narrator The narrator is a character in the story.
Uses “I” to tell of his experiences Can only hear and see what narrator sees
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3rd person narrator The person telling the story is not a character in the story, but can only tell the story from one character’s point of view. Uses “he, she, they” etc, throughout the story.
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Plot: Rising Action All action leading up to the climax of the story.
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Climax Point of greatest emotional intensity, or suspense in a plot when the outcome of the conflict becomes known
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Falling Action Action following the climax
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Resolution When all the problems, mysteries and conflicts unravel and are explained
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Themes Central idea or insight of a work of literature
Not the subject of the work Sometimes a lesson Can be reoccurring
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Mood A story’s atmosphere or the feeling it evokes
Usually created through diction, dialogue and setting *wild forest, at night, with wolves howling (terror) *cozy cottage in a garden full of sunlight (peace)
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Setting Time and place of a story Often linked to mood
Often changes throughout story Time refers to period, year, time of day, etc. Usually established in beginning of story
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Irony A contrast between: what is said and what is meant
what is expected and what really happens what appears to be true and what really is true
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Verbal Irony Says one thing, means another
Often in the form of wit or sarcasm Example: calling a clumsy basketball player the new Lebron James
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Situational Irony Contrast between what would seem appropriate and what really happens. Contradiction between what we expect to happen and what really takes place.
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Dramatic Irony Occurs when the audience or reader knows something important that a character in the play/story does not know.
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Diction Writer’s/Speaker’s choice of words Influenced by audience
Determines effect writer is trying to produce Example: home vs crib, Example: How are you? Vs. Howdy y’all.
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Imagery Language that appeals to the senses:
Sight, touch, taste, smell, hearing Example: Then a mile of warm sea-scented beach; Three fields to cross till a farm appears; A tap at the pane, the quick sharp scratch And blue spurt of a lighted match Robert Browning, “Meeting at Night”
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Allegory A story in which characters, settings and events stand for abstract or moral concepts Example: Let’s talk about the man. The man tries to keep you down. The man is out to get you. The man will steal all you have, then crush you when you are down… (The man is society)
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Symbolism The use of symbols to suggest ideas, emotions, moods and meaning Common Symbols: heart (love), dove (peace), skull and cross bones (danger) Can be story specific
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Allusion A reference to a statement person, place or event known from literature, history, religion, myth, politics or another field of knowledge Example: Hamlet describing his father (A3): the curls of the sun god Hyperion; the forehead of kingly Jove, an eye like that of Mars, a bearing like the herald Mercury.
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Motif A word, character, object, image, metaphor, or idea that recurs in a work, or several works.
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Hyperbole Uses extreme exaggeration to express a strong sentiment or create comic effect. Example: sweating to death! I’ve told you a million times! If I had a dollar every time you said that, I would be a billionaire.
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Conflict: Internal Struggle or clash between opposing ideas.
Takes place entirely within a character’s own mind. Struggle between opposing needs or desires.
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Conflict: External Struggle or clash between opposing characters or forces. Can be against another character or society as a whole, or force of nature
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Genre The category that a work of literature is classified under.
5 Major Categories: 1. fiction 2. nonfiction 3. poetry 4. drama 5. myth
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Archetype An original model or pattern from which other later copies are made, especially a character, an action, or situation that seems to represent common patterns of human life. Often, archetypes include a symbol, a theme, a setting, or a character that some critics think have a common meaning in an entire culture, or even the entire human race.
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Style The particular way in which a writer uses language
Created through diction, sentence patterns, and use of figurative language
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Figurative Language Words or phrases that describes one thing in terms of another and is not meant to be understood on a literal level. Most common: simile, metaphor, personification Example: My mind is racing, everything has become blurred, I feel like I am drowning in my own thoughts.
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Ambiguity An element of uncertainty in a text, in which something can be interpreted in a number of different ways. Can you trust the narrator’s opinion as valid?
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Tone Attitude a writer takes toward a subject, character or the audience. Conveyed through the writer’s choice of words and details. Affection, nostalgic, humorous, mocking…
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