Literary+Elements


 * ==STORY STRUCTURE==

PLOT: The action of the story. This action is usually made up of a series of events called the plot line.

__PLOT LINE:__ Shows the action or events in a story. It has five parts: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.

(1) Exposition: The part of the story (usually at the beginning) which explains the background and setting of the story. The characters are often introduced in the exposition. Tells us what happened before the story opened. (2) Rising Action: The cental part of the story during which various problems arise, leading up to the climax. I like to call this stage complication because this is where the conflicts are revealed. (3) Climax: The highest point (turning point) in the action of the story. The moment of greatest tension at which the outcome is be decided. (4) Falling Action: That part of the story which follows the climax or turning point; it contains the action or dialogue necessary to lead the story a resolution or ending. (5) Resolution: Also called denouement. The satisfying end of a story–the part n which the problems are solved.

SPECIAL TECHNIQUES OF PLOT 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

Setting
By this term we mean the story’s time and place. But, often in an effective short story, setting may figure as more than mere background or underpinning. It can make things happen. It can prompt characters to act, brig them to realizations, or cause them to reveal their inmost natures.

__Components of Setting__
 * *Location:Physical environment of a story: a house a street, a city, a landscape, a region. A place can profoundly affect the character who grew up in it; after all, we are partially a product of our environment.


 * *Time: hour, year, or century story takes place. This along with location helps set up the customs and attitudes we expect from the characters


 * *Weather: The weather in some stories may be crucial to the plot.

In some stories, a writer will seem to draw a setting mainly to evoke atmosphere. In such a story, setting starts us feeling whatever the storyteller would have us feel. But, you will meet stories in which setting really doesn’t matter.

Details that describe: Furniture Scenery Customs Transportation Clothing Dialects Weather Time of day Time of year


 * Character:** A person in the story


 * Characterization:** The author’s special way of explaining the people in his story-telling us about their personalities and motives.

__Ways to learn about character:__
 * His Words
 * His Actions
 * His Appearance
 * Opinions from other characters
 * His Feelings

__Types of Characters__


 * *Stock Characters: Stereotyped characters. They are often known by some outstanding trait or traits: the Prince //Charming// of fairy tales, the //mad// scientist of horror movies, the //fearlessly reckless// police detective of urban action films, the //greedy// explorer of Tarzan films, //brilliant but alcoholic// brain surgeon of medical thrillers on tv.


 * *Flat Character: A character that has only one outstanding trait or feature, or at most a few distinguishing marks. Sometimes a stock character, but flat characters need not be stock characters. For example there is probably only one Tiny Tim, though his functions in A Christmas Carol are mainly to invoke blessings and to remind others of their Christian duties.


 * *Round Characters: These characters present us with more facets–that is, their authors portray them in greater depth and in more generous detail. Such a round character may appear to us only as he appears to the other characters in the story. If their views of him differ, we will see him from more than one side. In other stories we enter a character’s mind and come to know him through his own thoughts, feelings, and perceptions.


 * *Static Characters: A character which stays the same through the story.


 * *Dynamic Characters: These characters change throughout the story. They learn or become enlightened, grow, or deteriorate.


 * *Antagonist: the character who strives against another main character. This character opposes the hero or protagonist in drama. The term is also used to describe one who contends with or opposes another in a fight, conflict, or battle of wills. In literature, this is the principal opponent or foil of the main character and is considered the villain unless the protagonist is a villain; in that case, the antagonist is the hero.


 * *Protagonist: the leading character of a drama, novel, etc. This is not always the hero, but is always the principal and central character whose rival is the antagonist.


 * *Foil: A character who is meant to represent characteristics, values, ideas, etc. which are directly and diametrically opposed to those of another character, usually the protagonist.

THEME

 * Short Definition:** A central message, concern, or insight into life expressed through a literary work.


 * Definition:** The theme of a story is whatever general idea or insight the entire story reveals. In some stories the theme is unmistakable, as it is explicitly stated. However, in literary fiction a theme is seldom so obvious. That is, a theme need not be a moral or message; it may be what the happenings add up to, what the story is about. To construct meaning in a story, you often have to look at other elements in the story besides just what happens in it.

In many short stories, theme is the center, the moving force, the principle of unity. To say James Joyce’s “Araby” is about a boy who goes to a bazaar to buy a gift for a young women, only to arrive too late, is to summarize plot, not theme. (The theme might be: the illusions of a romantic child are vulnerable).

To find the theme look for whatever truth or insight you think the writer of a story reveals. Try to sum it up in a sentence.

__**Ways to discover the theme:**__


 * Choices characters make.
 * Conflict
 * Characters struggle.
 * Resolution.

Point of View
Who is the Narrator : The Person telling the Story

In the __Adventures of Huckleberry Finn__ Huck is the narrator. Not every narrator in fiction is a main character. Some narrators only play minor parts in the stories they tell; others take no active part at all. These narrators is not a character in the story but ne who stands at some distance from the action recording what the main characters say and do; recording also, at times, what they think, feel, or desire.


 * What is Point of View:** The angle from which the story is told

A way the events of a story are conveyed to the reader, it is the “vantage point” from which the narrative is passed from author to the reader. The point of view can vary from work to work. For example, in the Book of Genesis the objective third person point of view is presented, where a “nonparticipant” serves as the narrator and has no insight into the characters' minds. The narrator presents the events using the pronouns he, it, they, and reveals no inner thoughts of the characters. In Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Cask of Amontillado” the first person point of view is exhibited.

__**Types of Point of View**__

1st Person—Uses the word “I.” The narrator may be part of the action or an observer–share limitations of narrator 2nd person–Uses the word “You.” The narrator speaks directly to reader. 3rd person– Uses he, she etc. Character telling story or nonparticipant.
 * Person:**

Limited Omniscient Narrator–Does not know everything. Restricted to one central character or limited physical area Omniscient Narrator-- know all see all. Can get into people’s minds and know what they are thinking. Stream of consciousness technique–Recreates interior of characters mind (know what think and feel)
 * Types:**

Conflict
WITHOUT conflict there is no story.


 * Definition:** Conflict is the problem in a story which triggers the action. Most stories have ONE central conflict, but all stories have more than one conflict.

__**Types of Conflict**__


 * Person versus Person---Conflict that pits one person against another. One character has a problem with another character or character(s)in the story.
 * Person versus Nature--- A run-in with the forces of nature. On the one hand, it expresses the insignificance of a single human life in the cosmic scheme of things. On the other hand, it tests the limits of a person’s strength and will to live.
 * Person versus Society--- A character has a problem th society–the law, school, or tradition etc. The values and customs by which everyone else lives are being challenged. The character may come to an untimely end as a result of his or her own convictions. The character may, on the other hand, bring others around to a sympathetic point of view, or it may be decided that society was right after all.
 * Person versus Self--- Internal conflict. Not all conflict involves other people. Sometimes people are their own worst enemies. An internal conflict is a good test of a character’s values. Does he give in to temptation or rise above it? Does he demand the most from himself or settle for something less? Does he even bother to struggle? The internal conflicts of a character and how they are resolved are good clues to the character’s inner strength.
 * Person versus Fate--- A character has to battle what seems to be an uncontrollable problem.

Style, Tone, and Mood

 * Style:** Artistic decisions in language and narrative techniques.

Informal–Everyday Conversation Formal–Use of common words and long sentences Ornamented–Formal or informal that depend on special techniques


 * Mood:** The feelings a reader gets from a story: happy, sad, peaceful. Setting plays a big role in creating the overall mood or atmosphere of the story.


 * Tone:** The author’s attitude or feeling about a piece of writing. The author’s tone may be serious, humorous etc.