2. Literary Elements Because your understanding of these elements is necessary for you to further build your reading and literary interpretation skills, you will be assessed frequently on their application.

3. Literary Elements Setting Characterization Plot (Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, Resolution) Conflict Point of View Mood

4. Setting Lord of the Flies: deserted island, the future. Setting is the time (year, season, era) and the place (general or main location even though other sites may enter the story briefly). The Catcher in the Rye: New York, 1940s The Bean Trees: Kentucky/Arizona/ Oklahoma, 1980s

5. “…it was so quiet and lonesome out, even though it was Saturday night. I didn’t see hardly anybody on the street. Now and then you just saw a man and a girl crossing the street with their arms around each other’s waists and all, or a bunch of hoodlumy-looking guys and their dates, all of them laughing like hyenas at something you could bet wasn’t funny. New York’s terrible when somebody laughs on the street very late at night. You can hear it for miles. It makes you feel so lonesome and depressed.” The Catcher in the Rye Setting can help in the portrayal of a character.

6. Action is so closely related to setting that in some works of fiction, the plot is directed by it. “The new man stands, looking a minute, to get the set-up of the day room. One side of the room younger patients, known as Acutes because the doctors figure them still sick enough to be fixed, practice arm wrestling and card tricks…Across the room from the Acutes are the culls of the Combine’s product, the Chronics. Not in the hospital, these to get fixed, but just to keep them from walking around the street giving the product a bad name.” One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Nurse Ratchet

7. Setting can establish the atmosphere of a work. “During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country.” “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe

8. A setting may be one of two types: 1. backdrop – not essential to plot 2. integral – essential to plot

9. Writing Connection Select a story idea from your Writing Notebook. Decide on a backdrop or an integral setting. Justify your choice.

10. SETTING QUIZ

11. Identify the setting in the following passage. “Crime and despair stalked the streets of east St. Louis, Illinois, one of the most impoverished cities in the United States. But when Jacqueline Joyner was born, her grandmother insisted that she be named after Jacqueline Kennedy, America’s glamorous First Lady.” ~ Jackie Joyner-Kersee Olympic Athlete

12. “Crime and despair stalked the streets of east St. Louis, Illinois, one of the most impoverished cities in the United States. But when Jacqueline Joyner was born, Her grandmother insisted that she be Named after Jacqueline Kennedy, America’s glamorous First Lady.” ~ Jackie Joyner-Kersee Olympic Athlete

13. Characterization Methods an Author May Use 1.By directly stating that the character “was an old man…” 2.By using the character’s own words and actions 3.By the reaction of other characters to a character 4.By the character’s physical appearance 5.By the character’s own thoughts

14. Character The people (or animals, things, etc. presented as people) appearing in a literary work. Types of Characters: Round convincing, true to life. Dynamic undergoes some type of change in story. Flat stereotyped, shallow, often symbolic. Static does not change in the course of the story

15. Dimensions of Character Character is the identity of an individual. The total character has three areas: 1.Outer Person 2.Social Person 3.Inner Person

16. Outer Person These are the physical characteristics. This is how the character looks, his age, sex, weight, height, clothing, posture, etc.

17. Social Person The social aspects of the character are the general and personal relationships the character has with other characters. This may include things like family structure, friendships, enemies, occupation, financial standing, and community reputation.

18. Inner Person The inner person reveals the emotional and moral composition of the character. Inner Characteristics include being honest, happy, quick-tempered, or wise.

19. Writing Connection Brainstorm several characters for your story (the one for which you have already chosen a setting). Brainstorm the outer, social, and inner person characteristics for each of your characters.

20. CHARACTERIZATION QUIZ

21. Identify each of the following characteristics as Outer, Social, or Inner. 1.Tall 7. Generous 2.Wise 8. Bald 3.Middle child of three 9. Student 4.Spoiled 10. Red hair 5.Stout 11. Wealthy 6.Mother 12. Jealous

22. Key 1.Outer7. Inner 2.Inner8. Outer 3.Social9. Social 4.Inner 10. Outer 5.Outer 11. Social 6.Social 12. Inner

23. Plot The plot is the plan of the events in a story, or the sum of all the action in a story.

24. A plot's structure is the way in which the story elements are arranged. Writers vary structure depending on the needs of the story. It shows the causal arrangement of events and actions within a story. Plot Structure

25. Plot Components Exposition: the start of the story, the situation before the action starts Rising Action: the series of conflicts and crises in the story that lead to the climax Climax: the turning point, the most intense moment—either mentally or in action Falling Action: all of the action which follows the climax Resolution: the conclusion, the tying together of all of the threads

26. Types of Linear Plots Plots can be told in Ab ovo – from the egg or ab initio (from the beginning or in chronological order) Analepsis (Flashback - an interjected scene that takes the reader back in time) In medias res or medias in res (into the middle of things) when the story starts in the middle of the action without exposition

27. Writing Connection It’s a piece of cake!

28. Brainstorm a plot using a plot line for the setting and characters you have previously brainstormed.

29. PLOT QUIZ

30. Label the plot line.

31. Conflict Conflict is the dramatic struggle between two forces in a story. Without conflict, there is no plot. (A story may have both internal and external conflict.

32. Person vs. Person (External) This is a conflict or contest between the protagonist and one or more other people.

33. Person vs. Nature (External) This is a contest between the protagonist and the environment.

34. Person vs. Society (External) This is a struggle involving social issues such as class, race, or social order.

35. Person vs. Self This is a conflict that centers around an inner struggle between the protagonist and his or her feelings. (Internal)

36. Writing Connection Brainstorm the conflict or conflicts that your characters may face.

37. CONFLICT QUIZ

38. Identify the conflict(s) in the following excerpt. Explain your choice. Chandra shares a bedroom with her older sister Thuma who has hung a gauzy red curtain from the middle of the ceiling to divide the room into two sides. Whenever Chandra wants to see herself, she has to push through that thin curtain and cross into her sister’s territory.

39. Point of View: Who is telling the story?

40. First Person The story is told from the point of view of one of the characters. “I have been afraid of putting air in a tire ever since I saw a tractor tire blow up and throw Newt Hardbine’s father over the top of the Standard Oil sign. I’m not lying. He got stuck up there. About nineteen people congregated during the time it took for Norman Strick to walk up to the Courthouse and blow the whistle for the volunteer fire department.” The Bean Trees - Barbara Kingsolver

41. Second Person Second person refers to the person spoken to directly and is recognized by the singular and plural you. It directly addresses the reader. Examples of 2 nd person writing would be “choose your own adventure” books, many computer games, cook books, and how-to manuals.

42. Third Person In third person both the speaker and the person spoken to are unidentified. Third person is recognized by the use of such indefinite singular pronouns as it, he, she, her, his, and him, and indefinite plural pronouns like they, them, and their. Third person may be limited or omniscient.

43. Third Person Omniscient The author (or narrator) is telling the story. “The boy with fair hair lowered himself down the last few feet of rock and began to pick his way toward the lagoon. Though he had taken off his school sweater and trailed it now from one hand, his grey shirt stuck to him and his hair was plastered to his forehead. All around him the long scar smashed into the jungle was a bath of heat.” The Lord of the Flies - William Golding

44. “In his black suit he stood in the dark glass where the lilies leaned so palely from their waisted cutglass vase. He looked down at the guttered candlestub. He pressed his thumbprint in the warm wax pooled on the oak veneer. Lastly he looked at the face so caved and drawn among the folds of funeral cloth, the yellowed moustache, the eyelids paper thin. That was not sleeping. That was not sleeping. All the Pretty Horses - Cormac McCarthy Third Person Limited A character in the story is telling the story.

45. Scene: A person “cuts” into a long line of waiting people. As the author, how would you express the character’s feelings in third person omniscient point of view?

46. Writing Connection Choose a point of view and write a first paragraph for your story. Explain why you chose that point of view.

47. POINT OF VIEW QUIZ

48. Using the numbers 1, 2, and 3, assign person to each of the following: a.____ yourselfj. ____ their b.____ shek. ____ mine c.____ Il. ____ you’re d.____ theym. ____ his e.____ youn. ____ ours f.____ hero. ____ himself g.____ wep. ____ they h.____ themselvesq. ____ ourselves i.____myselfr. ____ he

49. Scene One: A car runs out of gas on a lonely road. Scene Two: There is a 75% off sale at Best Buy. As the author, how would you express the character’s feelings in 1st Person and 3rd person omniscient?

50. KEY a.2 j.3 b.3k.1 c.1l.2 d.3m.3 e.2n.1 f.3o.3 g.1p.3 h.3q.1 i.1 r.3

51. Mood Mood is the emotional feeling in a piece of writing.

52. Animals are another common tool used by authors to set the mood for an entire scene. (Ex. The cow stood quietly and chewed its cud.)

53. Remember the little train who said: “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!” According to the story, the little train believed he could and because of his determined “mood,” he was successful. I can!

54. To indicate mood, writers sometimes give the readers clues in the types of words used or the character’s actions. In the story about the little train, the author used dialogue (what the train said) to indicate the character’s mood.

55. Frequently, the mood of an entire event will be more important than the mood of a single character. In this case, you will need another type of clue to find the mood. Weather is often a favorite device of authors to indicate mood. (Ex. It was a dark and stormy night.)

56. Even when you cannot give it an exact name, remember that awareness of mood is more important than what it is called. The author is obligated to establish the mood, while the reader is obliged to recognize the significant effect that mood has on understanding the author’s intent.

57. Writing Connections Imagine you are the author. What could you have each character do to illustrate the indicated mood? To indicate a content (happy) mood: A 3-year-old boy might ____________________ An adolescent girl might____________________ A grandparent might_______________________

58. MOOD QUIZ

59. Nick snuggled under the blanket, holding sleep at bay so his thoughts could go back through their first week in the new town. The moving men had been still unloading the van when their neighbor came across the yard with his arms full of puppies. Just like that, Nick had a new wiggly brown puppy named buster and a brand new best friend living right next door named Brian. Tomorrow……………. Buster’s stubby tail beat a steady tattoo on Nick’s pillows as slumber seeped in and dreams replaced memories. Mood: __________________________

60. The sneer is gone from Casey’s lips His teeth are clenched in hate He pounds with cruel vengeance His bat upon the plate. - from “Casey At the Bat” by Ernest Lawrence Thayer Mood: _________________________

61. As an author, what could you have each character do to illustrate the indicated mood? 1.Mood: Impatient or Worried Four-year-old girl__________________________ Father___________________________________ Mother __________________________________ 2.Mood: Afraid or Scared Five-year-old ____________________________ Grandparent _____________________________ Adolescent boy___________________________

62. Theme A theme is an idea or message about life, society, or human nature, and it is often the hardest element to identify in a book. The writer may express insight about humanity or a world view. In most short stories, the theme can be expressed in a single sentence. In longer works of fiction, the central theme is often accompanied by a number of lesser, related themes, or there may be two or more central themes.

63. Identifying Theme To identify the theme of a work of literature, you need to look under the surface of the narrative. The author reveals his or her ideas about the world through subtext (dialogue and action between characters), subtle details, and events not spoken about openly.

64. Themes are usually stated as generalizations. It’s important to ask yourself what the author is trying to prove. You do not need to agree with the author!

65. Theme in Shrek Don’t judge a book by its cover? Love and accept yourself for who you are? Accept and embrace others for who they are? ???

66. Symbolism A symbol represents an idea, quality, or concept larger than itself. A journey can symbolize life. Darkness can represent evil or death. Water may represent a new beginning. A lion could be a symbol of courage.

67. Other Fiction Elements Allusion: A reference to a person, place or literary, a historical, artistic, mythological source or event. “It was in St. Louis, Missouri, where they have that giant McDonald’s thing towering over the city…” (Bean Trees 15) Antagonist: The character who opposes the protagonist.

68. Other Elements Continued Foreshadowing: early clues about what will happen later in a piece of fiction. Irony: a difference between what is expected and reality. Style: a writer’s individual and distinct way of writing. The total of the qualities that distinguish one author’s writing from another’s.