Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Setting
The setting is the place where the story takes place. Setting includes the following:
The geographical location
For example: London, Cairo, Halifax, Vancouver
Setting
Setting
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, though a singularly dreary tract of country.
The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe
The people (or animals, things, etc. presented as people) appearing in a literary work. Round Characters are convincing, true to life. Have many different and sometimes even contradictory personality traits. Dynamic Characters undergo some type of change or development in story, often because of something that happens to them Flat Characters are stereotyped, shallow, and often symbolic. Have only one or two personality traits Static Characters do not change in the course of the story
Characters
Characters
Protagonist: The main character in a literary work (for instance, Charles in Here There Be Tygers or Cinderella or Snow White in the fairy tales named for their characters) Antagonist: The character who opposes the protagonist (for instance, Miss Bird in Here There Be Tygers or the wicked stepmothers in the fairy tales)
Methods of Characterization
Direct Characterization: The author develops the personality of a character by direct statements.
Jack had been in basic training in Florida and Dottie was there on vacation with her parents. Theyd met on the beach and struck up a conversation. Dottie was the talker, the outgoing one the extrovert. Jack was too shy around girls to say much at all.
Furlough 1944 by Harry Mazer
Methods of Characterization
Indirect Characterization: Revealing a characters personality through: The characters thoughts, words, and actions The comments of other characters The characters physical appearance
Plot
Plot is how the author arranges events to develop his/her basic idea. It is the sequence of events in a story or play. The plot is a planned, logical series of events having a beginning, middle and end.
Plot Components
Introduction: The start of the story, the situation before the action starts Rising Action: The series of conflicts and crisis in the story that lead to the climax Climax / Turning Point: The most intense moment either mentally or in action the reader wonders what will happen next; will the conflict be resolved or not? Falling Action: The events and complications begin to resolve themselves. (The events between the climax and the resolution) Resolution: The conclusion, the untangling of events in the story
Plot: Conflict
Conflict is the dramatic struggle between two forces in a story. Without conflict there is no plot.
Point of View
The angle or perspective from which the story is told Who is telling the story?
For instance, is it a player on the home team or someone watching the game?
Innocent Eye: The story is told through the eyes of a child (his/her judgment being different from that of an adult).
Stream of Consciousness: The story is told so that the reader feels as if they are inside the head of one character and knows all their thoughts and reactions.
Theme
Theme is the central idea or central message of the story. It usually contains some insight into the human condition telling something about humans and life. The theme can be stated directly or implied by the events and actions in the story.
Types of Irony
Verbal Irony: This is the contrast between what is said and what is meant. In other words: sarcasm. Dramatic Irony: This is the contrast between what the character thinks to be true and what we (the reader) know to be true. Sometimes as we read we are placed in the position of knowing more than what one character knows. Because we know something the character does not, we read to discover how the character will react when he or she learns the truth of the situation. Situational Irony: This is the most common in literature. It is the contrast between what happens and what was expected (or what would seem appropriate). Because it emerges from the events and circumstances of a story it is often more subtle and effective than verbal or dramatic irony.
A symbol represents an idea, quality, or concept larger than itself. A journey can A lion can be symbolize life a symbol of courage. Water may represent cleanliness and renewal A red rose can represent love.
Symbolism
Flashback
This is a writers technique in which the author interrupts the plot of the story to recreate an incident of an earlier time (goes back in time; like giving the reader a memory). This device is often used to provide additional information to the reader.
Foreshadowing
This is a writers technique in which the author provides clues or hints as to what is going to happen later in the story. Its like the music in a scary movie when we know that something bad is about to happen.