Literary Elements

What parts make up a a story?

 Story Elements
Setting
Characters
Plot
Climax
Theme
Resolution
Conclusion
 Setting
Time and place are where the action
occurs
Details that describe:
Furniture
Scenery
Customs
Transportation
Clothing
Dialects
Weather
Time of day
Time of year
 Elements of a Setting
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 The Functions of a Setting
 To create a mood or We left the home place behind, mile
by slow mile, heading for the mountains,
atmosphere across the prairie where the wind blew
 To show a reader a forever.
At first there were four of us with
different way of life one horse wagon and its skimpy load. Pa
 To make action seem and I walked, because I was a big boy of
eleven. My two little sisters romped and
more real trotted until they got tired and had to be
 To be the source of boosted up to the wagon bed.
That was no covered Conestoga, like
conflict or struggle Pa’s folks came West in, but just an old
 To symbolize an idea farm wagon, drawn by one weary horse,
creaking and rumbling westward to the
mountains, toward the little woods town
where Pa thought he had an old uncle who
owned a little two-bit sawmill.
Taken from “The Day the Sun Came Out” by D. Johnson
 Types of Characters
People or animals
Major characters
Minor characters
Round characters
Flat characters
 Characterization
A writer reveals what a character is like and
how the character changes throughout the
story.
Two primary methods of characterization:
Direct- writer tells what the character is like
Indirect- writer shows what a character is like
by describing what the character looks like, by
telling what the character says and does, and by
what other characters say about and do in
response to the character.
 Direct Characterization
…And I don’t play the dozens or believe
in standing around with somebody in my face
doing a lot of talking. I much rather just
knock you down and take my chances even if
I’m a little girl with skinny arms and a
squeaky voice, which is how I got the name
Squeaky.
From “Raymond’s Run” by T. Bambara
 Indirect Characterization

The old man bowed to all of us

in the room. Then he removed his
hat and gloves, slowly and carefully.
Chaplin once did that in a picture,
in a bank--he was the janitor.

From “Gentleman of Rio en Medio” by J. Sedillo

 Elements of Character
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 Factors in Analyzing
Characters
Physical appearance of character
Personality
Background/personal history
Motivation
Relationships
Conflict
Does character change?
 Plot
Plot is what happens and how
it happens in a narrative. A
narrative is any work that tells
a story, such as a short story, a
novel, a drama, or a narrative
poem.
 Parts of a Plot
Inciting incident – event that gives rise to
conflict (opening situation)
Development- events that occur as result of
central conflict (rising action)
Climax- highest point of interest or
suspense of story
Resolution- when conflict ends
Denouement- when characters go back to
their life before the conflict
 Diagram of Plot
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Introduction Denouement

Inciting incident/
Opening situation
 Special Techniques of Plot
Suspense- excitement or tension
Foreshadowing- hint or clue about what
will happen in story
Flashback- interrupts the normal sequence
of events to tell about something that
happened in the past
Surprise Ending- conclusion that reader
does not expect
 Conflict
Conflict is a struggle between opposing forces
Every plot must contain some kind of conflict
Stories can have more than one conflict
Conflicts can be external or internal
External conflict- outside force may be person,
group, animal, nature, or a nonhuman obstacle
Internal conflict- takes place in a character’s mind
 Theme
A central message, concern, or insight
into life expressed through a literary
work
Can be expressed by one or two
sentence statement about human beings
or about life
May be stated directly or implied
Interpretation uncovers the theme
 Example of Theme
“Every man needs to feel allegiance to
his native country, whether he always
appreciates that country or not.”

From “A Man Without a Country” by Edward Hale

pg. 185 in Prentice Hall Literature book