Post on 04-Nov-2019
Story Elements 9th Grade
Literature and Language Arts
Plot Triangle
Exposition (Basic Situation)
Climax
Rising Action (Development) Falling Action
Resolution (Denouement)
Inciting Incident – Introduces the Central Conflict
Exposi;on
Includes: • Plot
• Setting
Characteriza;on
• Direct Characterization
• Indirect Characterization
Characters
• Round
• Flat
• Static
• Dynamic
Rising Ac;on
• Plot Triangle
Character roles: Protagonist – the main character in a literary work Antagonist- A character or force in conflict with a main character,
or protagonist.
Rising Action (Development)
Rising Action (Development)
Point of View
• First person – a character in the story who speaks directly to us and uses “I”
• How can you know if a narrator is credible? Unreliable? Give examples of each.
Point of View
• Third person Omniscient – “all knowing”; the narrator is not a character in the story, but is able to tell us everything about every character
• Third person Limited – the speaker focuses on just one character using “he” or “she”
VOICE
• Voice – the writer’s use of language and overall style..distinctive “sound” or way of “speaking” on the page.
• Diction – word choice
• Tone – the attitude the speaker or writer takes toward the subject, a character, or the audience (Examples: formal or informal, serious or playful, angry or ironic.)
THEME
• Theme – the central idea or insight about life that the story reveals – A generalization about life
or human nature – Universal themes
• (good vs. evil, life vs. death, love vs. loss)
• Subject matter, character, conflict, and title may all contribute to the theme of a story.
IRONY • Irony – the difference between what we expect and what actually occurs
– Verbal irony – when someone says one thing and means the opposite – Situational irony – an event that is the opposite to what was expected – Dramatic irony – we know information that the characters do not know
• Ambiguity – unclear; open to several meanings; more than one possible outcome
symbolism!
• Symbol – an ordinary object, event, person, or animal to which we have attached additional meaning and significance
Allegory
• Allegory – a story with two or more levels of meaning – a literal level and one or more symbolic levels. The events, setting, and characters in an allegory are symbols for ideas and qualities.
FOIL
• Character Foil – A character who provides contrast to another character.
• For example, in Romeo and Juliet, the fiery temper of Tybalt serves as a foil to the good nature of Benvolio.
GENRE
Ò A genre is a category or type of literature.
Ò There are 3 main genres: É Poetry: Lyric Poetry, Concrete Poetry, Drama;c Poetry, Narra;ve Poetry, and Epic Poetry.
É Prose: Fic;on (Novels, Short Stories,) and Nonfic;on (Biography, Autobiography, LeUers, Essays, Reports.)
É Drama: Serious Drama and Tragedy, Comic Drama and Comedy, Melodrama, and Farce.
First Semester Review: Do You Remember These?
• Characters – Antagonist – A character or force in conflict with a main
character, or protagonist. – Protagonist – The main character in a literary work.
• Types of Characters – A round character shows many different traits; a flat
character shows only one trait. – A dynamic character develops and grows during the course
of the story; a static character does not change.
First Semester Review: Do You Remember These?
• Characterization – Direct Characterization – the author directly
states a character’s traits. – Indirect Characterization – the author provides
clues about a character by describing what a character looks like, does, and days, as well as how other characters react to him or her. The reader must draw conclusions about the character based on this indirect information. (Shows, rather than tells.)
Conflict (Struggle between opposing forces.)
– Internal Conflict– A character experiences conflict with himself or herself. Examples: making a difficult decision, guilt, conscience.
– Man vs. Himself
– External Conflict– A character struggles against an outside force.
– Man vs. Man – Man vs. Nature – Man vs. Society
• Setting – the time and place of the action. – Mood/Atmosphere – the feeling created in a work or
passage. The mood is often suggested by descriptive details.
• Imagery – Descriptive or figurative language used in
literature to create word pictures for the reader. (Sight, sound, taste, touch, smell, or movement.)
• Special Techniques – Flashback – The author presents information that
occurred earlier than the present tense of the narrative. – Foreshadowing – When clues suggest events that are yet
to occur. Foreshadowing creates suspense.