LITERARY ELEMENTS

Report of: Myca Galvan

LITERARY ELEMENTS
PLOT (dramatic & narrative structure): action; what happens

SETTING: where; when

CHARACTERIZATION: who is in the story

THEME: meaning
NARRATION: who tells the story

POINT OF VIEW: omniscient; limited

STYLE (diction & syntax): authors choice and use of words

PLOT: DRAMATIC STRUCTURE

(building of tension)
climax: moment of greatest tension rising action: tension increases

complication: conflict

falling action: tension released

exposition: description of situation at beginning

dnouement or resolution: situation at end

Different Plot arrangements:

Linear: action or events arranged
chronologically.

Circular: combines linear with flashback

and the opening scene will be repeated in series towards or at the end.

En medias res : the story begins in the

middle part of the action or the story.

Types of Conflict
Man Against Nature This type of conflict pits a story's main character or characters against a natural force such as a flood, predatory animal or disease epidemic. Man Against Self Some literary conflicts take the form of a character struggling to overcome fear, addiction, emotional damage or other crippling personal issue. This type of conflict can be largely internalized or symbolized by another character or event.

Man Against Man The most straightforward type of conflict pits the protagonist directly against another character with apparently opposing aims. Man Against Society In many stories, the protagonist battles an unjust element of government or culture, as in George Orwell's "1984. Man Against Alien Force This type of conflict finds the main character or characters battling a supernatural entity, deity, rogue machine or other outside force not found in the natural or physical world. It is generally used in such genres as science fiction, fantasy and horror.

PLOT: NARRATIVE STRUCTURE

(order of events)

reference to past event

flashback

foreshadowing

hint of future event

PLOT: QUESTIONS

(1)

What is the dramatic structure of this particular plot?

- Is it a traditional or modern structure?

- Are the events fast-moving or slow? - Is the readers interest engaged at the very beginning of the

story or only later on?

- Can the action be seen on more than one level? In what ways is the dramatic structure of the plot effective? What is the central conflict in the story? - Is it an internal or external conflict or both? How is suspense or tension created by the plot?

PLOT: QUESTIONS

(2)

How important is the plot to the story?

- Does it play a central role or a minor one? - How is it interwoven with the characterization or setting?

- What effect does the plot have on the main theme of the
story? What is the climax of the story? Is the ending effective/suitable? In what order do the events unfold in the story? Are they presented chronologically or non-chronologically?

SETTING
(time and place)
General setting: epoch, historical period, continent, etc. Specific setting: exactly where and when the story takes place

External setting: outside a person Internal setting: inside the head of a character
Settings often create mood (feeling, emotion connected with a scene) and atmosphere (general emotional tone of a work).

SETTING: QUESTIONS
Does the setting have a historical or geographical significance? How important is the setting in the story? (major or minor) How does the setting affect other aspects of the story, such as

plot, characterization and theme?

How does the setting influence the mood and atmosphere of the story? Is the setting believable to the reader? - Does it assist in establishing credibility? Does the setting symbolize something? Is the setting suggestive about the culture, the philosophy or

the spirit of the times?

CHARACTERIZATION
(Characters: people in story)
Protagonist: main character Round or dynamic character: evolves, changes during story Antagonist: person in conflict with main character Flat character or static character: does not evolve Stereotype: flat predictable character, such as a typical hero: kind, blond, blue-eyed, handsome
Characters are depicted through description, dialogue and actions.

CHARACTERIZATION: QUESTIONS

Who is the protagonist in the story?

What are the main actions of the protagonist and antagonist? What are their character traits or personalities? What methods does the writer use to depict characters? Are the characters round or flat? Who are the secondary characters? What is their importance or relevance to the story?

Are the characters interesting and credible?

How do the setting and plot influence the characters?

THEME
(meaning)
Theme: underlying message or meaning

The theme of a piece is a value statement, such as Love is wonderful, Growing old is difficult, etc. In other words, it is the expression of an opinion or a point of view.
(not to be confused with the subject of a work: a general topic, such as Love, Growing old, etc., in which no opinion is implied or expressed)

THEME: QUESTIONS
What is the work about? What are the ideas and values demonstrated in the work? - Are these implied or explicitly stated?

Do all the other elements convey the same ideas and values?
(Look at what the characters say and think.) Do the other elements (such as characters or setting) symbolize an idea? Are the ideas and values universal? Does the work contain any secondary themes? In what ways do the secondary themes relate to the main

theme?

NARRATION AND POINT OF VIEW (how the story is told)

(1)

Narrator: person or voice telling the story

Point of view: perspective from which the story is told

First person: The narrator may be the protagonist, an observer, a minor character or the writer himself.

NARRATION AND POINT OF VIEW (how the story is told)

(2)

Omniscient: delves into the minds of the characters at any pint of the story.
- Objective: narrator reports only the facts - Intrusive: narrator offers opinions and judgments Limited point of view: narrator can only give incomplete information Multiple narrators: story told from several points of view

Narration and point of view often affect how close the reader feels to the people and events in the story.

NARRATION AND POINT OF VIEW: QUESTIONS

Who is the narrator of the story? - Is there only one narrator or are there multiple narrators? Is the narrator credible or reliable as an interpreter of the action? How does the narrator have access to the information in the story?

Does the narrator have a positive or negative opinion of the

characters? What is the point of view of the work? Is the story told from only one point of view or many points of view? How does the point of view affect the readers sense of involvement in the story?

Tone, Image , and Symbols:

Tone: is the Authors attitude towards what she is writing/ artist craft if is it joyful or melancholy ,fatalistic, angry, or peaceful? Images: are usually characterized by concrete qualities rather than abstract meanings. These appeal to the sense of taste, smell, touch, hearing, or sense of sight. Symbols: stands for something other than themselves. They bring to mind not their own concrete qualities, but the idea or abstraction that associated with them.

STYLE

(1)

(techniques of language usage)

Diction: a writers (or a speakers) choice and use of words and the words characteristics
Denotation: literal or dictionary meaning Connotation: associated or suggested meaning

Level of concreteness: perceptible by the senses

Level of abstractness: not perceptible by the senses but only by the mind Figures of speech: expressions used in a nonliteral way to create special effect or extend meaning Simile: comparison of two things using like or as Metaphor: implied comparison of two things without using like or as Personification: giving human qualities to inanimate or abstract objects

STYLE

(2)

Diction (contd) Imagery: descriptive word pictures appealing to one of the senses Irony: the opposite of what is intended, expected or expressed

Rhythm: sound patterns

Alliteration: repetition of the initial letter or sound in words Assonance: repetition of identical vowel sounds

Consonance: repetition of identical consonant sounds

Repetition of other sentence elements such as words and structure Level of language: language for a specific social setting Formal speech: conventional language that respects the rules Informal speech: everyday, unofficial language Slang: casual speech Use of dialogue: conversation between two characters

STYLE

(3)

(techniques of language usage)

SYNTAX: the way in which the words, phrases and sentences are arranged

Sentence length: long, short

Word order: subject, verb, complement Sentence types: simple, compound, complex

Diction and syntax contribute to tone or mood.

STYLE: QUESTIONS
What type of diction is found throughout the work? Consider the
meaning of words in terms of their denotation and connotation. Are the words concrete or abstract? Is the language formal or informal? Slang or dialect? What are the figurative devices such as similes, metaphors, etc.? How does the writer use imagery? Is there a particular sound to the language, accomplished by the

use of repetition, alliteration, assonance or consonance?

What types of sentences are found in the work?
- What is their length? Does the sentence structure vary or is it always the same? What is the overall tone or atmosphere of the work? How is this tone or atmosphere created?

THE END

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