The Elements of Literature

Characters

1) Types of Characters:

● Protagonist (hero): the central figure with whom we usually sympathize or identify

● Antagonist (villain): the figure who opposes the protagonist and creates the conflict

● Foil Character: the figure whose personality traits are the opposite of the main character’s. This
is a supporting character and usually made to shine on the protagonist.

- Protagonist: Christopher. He is the narrator and protagonist of the book.

- Antagonist: Ed, Christopher 's father. (también puede ser su mama pero no estoy segura ahre)
- Foil character: Siobhan, Christopher’s best friend. (la rata ?) nono es una chica son compas de
la escuela jajajaja

2) The ways characters are portrayed:

● Flat Characters (stock, static characters or stereotypes): they have no depth and no change;
we only see one side or aspect of them. Most supporting characters are portrayed in this way,
for example, a strict teacher, a helpful policeman, and an evil stepmother.
● Round Characters (dynamic character): they have more fully developed personalities. We
expect the protagonists and antagonists to be rounded individuals who express a range of
emotion and change throughout the narrative, usually toward greater maturity.

3) The ways characters are revealed:

● What the narrator says about the character

● What the other characters say about the character
● What the character says about himself or herself
● What the character actually does

On several occasions, Christopher is the one who describes the characters. So we only see his POV
as regards the people surrounding him. (Algunos ejemplos jajaja)
- Christopher: He describes himself as someone who is smart, divides his life experiences into
likes and dislikes, what makes him feel comfortable and what not, and tends to follow a logic and
order to do things.
- Siobhan: He describes her as a long, blond hair girl who wears glasses. She inspired him to write
the novel and also supports his ideas throughout the novel.
- Mr. Jeavons: He is Christopher’s psychologist. He describes him as someone who smells like
soup and wears brown shoes.
- Judy Boone: He describes his mother as a tiny, active and healthy type of person. She was very
young when she passed away, so he doesn’t understand why she died so young at 38.
 Setting

1) The setting refers to the time, the geographical locations, and the general environment and
circumstances that prevail in a narrative. The setting helps to establish the mood of a story.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time mostly takes place in Swindon, a real-life suburb of
England, in the late 1990s.

England’s economy experienced an upswing after one of the longest economic recessions since the
Great Depression. Swindon’s local economy was (and still is) largely composed of automotive
manufacturing plants, and Christopher’s father works a similarly blue-collar job.

Christopher and his father are middle-class, owning enough property to tend a small garden, which is
of great importance to Christopher.

2) Two types of setting:

● Integral Setting: the setting is fully described in both time and place, usually found in historical
fiction.
● Backdrop Setting: the setting is vague and general, which helps to convey a universal, timeless
tale. This type of setting is often found in folktales and simply sets the stage and the mood. For
example, "long ago in a cottage in the deep woods" and "once upon a time there was a great
land that had an Emperor."

The novel is set in a “Backdrop Setting”.

Narrative Point of View

● Internal Narrator (First-person Narrator; the narrator uses "I" to refer to himself/herself): the
narrator is a character in the story, often, but not necessarily, the protagonist. This narrative
point of view allows for a very personal touch in the story telling.
● Omniscient Narrator (multiple points of view; the narrator is "all-knowing"): the narrator is not
a character in the story but knows everything about the story. The omniscient narrator can
show the thoughts and experiences of any character in the story. It permits the writer the
broadest scope.
● Limited Narrator (External Subjective Narrator; the 3rd person point of view): the narrator is
not a character in the story but looks at things only through the eyes of a single character.
This type of narrative permits the narrator to quickly build a close bond between the protagonist
and the reader, without being confined by the protagonist’s educational or language
restrictions.
 Plot

1) The plot of a story is a series of interconnected events in which every occurrence has a
specific purpose. A plot is all about establishing connections, suggesting causes, and
showing relationships.

2) Four types of plot structure:

● A Dramatic or Progressive Plot: This is a chronological structure which first establishes the
setting and conflict, then follows the rising action through to a climax (the peak of the action
and turning point), and concludes with a denouement (a wrapping up of loose ends).

Setting: The story begins when Christopher discovers his neighbor Mrs. Shears’ dog Wellington has
been stabbed to death with a garden fork.

Conflict: Christopher’s father not letting him do the investigation about who murdered the dog.

Rising action: Christopher doing the investigation behind his father’s back and then finding clues that
were interfering with his investigation and started to get involved with his parent’s relationship.

Climax: Christohper’s father admitting to Christopher that he killed Wellington because of jealousy and
revenge because his mother was cheating on him with Mr Shears. Christopher ran away to live with his
mother because of the confession, he was scared of him, because he thought his father might kill him
too.

Denouement: Christohper seeing his mother’s lifestyle not suiting with his, and also realizing he didn’t
had a good relationship with Mr. Shears.

End: He talks with his father again and they decide to live together again.

● An Episodic Plot: This is also a chronological structure, but it consists of a series of loosely
related incidents, usually of chapter length, tied together by a common theme and/or
characters. Episodic plots work best when the writer wishes to explore the personalities of the
characters, the nature of their existence, and the flavor of an era.
 ● A Parallel Plot: The writer weaves two or more dramatic plots that are usually linked by a
common character and a similar theme.
● A Flashback: This structure conveys information about events that occurred earlier. It permits
authors to begin the story in the midst of the action but later fill in the background for full
understanding of the present events. Flashbacks can occur more than once and in different
parts of a story.

Conflict

1) Common types of conflicts:

● The Protagonist against Another

● The Protagonist against Society
● The Protagonist against Nature
● The Protagonist against Self

2) A single story may contain more than one type of conflict, although one often predominates.
The conflict provides the excitement and makes possible the growth and development of the
protagonist’s character.

Theme

1) The theme is the main, underlying idea of a piece of literature. It is woven subtly into the
 fabric of the story rather than being lectured or preached by the author.

2) Among the frequently found thematic issues in children’s literature are the problems of
growing up and maturing, such as adjustment to society, love and friendship, achieving one’s
identity, and finding one's place in the world.

Style

1) Word Choice

2) Sentence Length and Construction

● Short sentences best convey suspense, tension, and swift action.

● Longer sentences work best when explanations and descriptions are needed. ● Prose has
rhythm just as poetry does. Its rhythm can be produced by the juxtaposition of sounds, the use of
repetition with a slight variation of patterns, and the varied length of sentences.

3) Exposition: the narrator’s passages that provide background information and/or introduce
characters to help readers understand the events of a story. Children prefer a balance
between exposition and dialogue.

4) Dialogue: the words spoken by the characters, usually to each other, not to the reader.
Children especially enjoy dialogue as a realistic and convincing way of defining character.

Tone

1) Tone refers to the author’s mood and manner of expression in a work of literature. The tone
can be serious, didactic, humorous, satirical, caustic/sarcastic, passionate, sensitive,
sentimental, zealous, indifferent, poignant, warm, agitated, and so on.

2) Humor:

● Incongruity is the foundation of humor. We laugh at the tension resulting from something out of
the ordinary.
● Humor is elusive.
● Humor tends to be age specific.
● Humor can be either sympathetic or negative. One prerequisite is that the victim must seem to
deserve the fate or the harm must not be critical.
 Ten Types of humor most common in children’s books (Kappas, 1967):

● Exaggeration
● Incongruity
● Surprise
● Slapstick
● Absurdity
● Situational humor
● Ridicule/satire
● Defiance
● Violence
● Verbal Humor: word play, name-calling, jokes and puns, malapropisms (the unintentional misuse
of language), or the misinterpretation of language.

3) Parody:

● A parody is a literary imitation of another piece of literature, usually using exaggeration for
comic purpose.
● A parody implies a degree of sophistication that deconstructs the original story and depicts
the characters from a different perspective.
● Parodies can demonstrate the vitality of literature and can suggest new ways of interpreting
old tales.

4) Condescending tones:

● Condescending tones are inappropriate for children's stories, placing the adult narrator in a
superior position.
● For example, a moralizing, didactic, sentimental, or cynical tone is not appreciated in children's
literature nowadays.

GLOSSARY

AB

characters People, animals, or imaginary creatures that take part in the action of the story

main characters The character that the story centers around

minor characters Characters that interact with the main character and one another

protagonist The main character in the story, often a good or heroic type
 antagonist The force that works against the hero of the story; if a person, often a villain type

setting The time and place of the action of the story

plot The sequence of events in a story, built around a conflict

conflict A problem or struggle involving two or more opposing forces

exposition The part of the story, usually near the beginning, in which the characters are introduced,
the background
is explained, and the setting is described

rising action The central part of the story during which various problems arise and suspense
builds

climax The point of greatest interest or suspense in the action of the story, the turning point

falling action The action and dialogue following the climax that lead the reader into the story’s
end

resolution The part of the story in which loose ends are tied up, and the action comes to a
satisfying end

theme The main message in a story; the lesson

point of view The angle from which a story is told

narrator The person who tells the story

first person POV When a character in the story is the narrator

second person POV When the narrator of the story directly addresses the reader

third person POV When someone from outside of the story is the narrator
main idea What the story is mostly about