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.