Elements of Literature and Short Stories

Narrator: The person telling the story

Characters: People or animals who take part in a story’s action. Characters are directed by motivation.

Motivations: – the reason or reasons that explain why characters act as they do * Intellectual (thinking), emotional (feelings), physical (health)

Character Traits: traits or qualities that help the reader understand the character and their actions. Traits may include: intelligence, stubbornness, or dependability etc…

Characterization: the way a writer reveals a character’s personality and qualities.

· Direct characterization: The writer describes the character

· Indirect characterization: The writer reveals the character’s qualities and personality through speech and actions.

· Dynamic character: The character changes throughout the story.

· Flat/Static character: The character(s) do not change throughout the story.

Theme: General idea, message, or insight about life that a work of literature reveals.

· Implied theme: suggested or hinted at through what is happening with the characters.

· Stated theme: expressed directly by the author

Setting: Time and place of a story. Can include year, time of day, weather. It serves as the background for the plot and creates a feeling or atmosphere.

Protagonist: A main character in a story.

Antagonist: A character that opposes the protagonist.

Point of View: The vantage point from which a story is told.

· First Person – a character in a story is telling the story and the reader experiences the story through that character. (I, me, my)

· Second Person – The author is talking directly to the reader (you)

· Third Person – The story is told by an outside person and not a character in a story.

o Limited – The reader knows the thoughts and feelings of one character.

o Omniscient – The reader knows the thoughts and feelings of more than one character in the story.

o Objective – No thoughts or feelings are revealed.

Mood: The feeling the author creates for the reader with choice of words or diction.

Tone: The attitude the writer takes toward his or her subject, characters, and audience.

Conflict: Struggle between opposing forces or characters

· Internal conflict: Conflict inside a character – feelings, emotions.

o Man vs. self

· External conflict: Conflict outside a character.

o Man vs. man

o Man vs. society

o Man vs. nature

Plot: Sequence of events that make up a story. Usually, there are 5 parts.

1. Exposition: Introduces the setting, characters, and situation.

2. Rising Action: Introduces the conflict, or problem. With each “rise” in the conflict, the action increases.

3. Climax: The turning point of a story. Usually the point of highest tension in the story.

4. Falling Action or Denouement: The part of the story after the conflict that lessens the conflict.

5. Resolution: The story’s conclusion.

Literary Devices: Tools used to enhance writing.

Foreshadowing: The use of clues of events before they occur.

Flashback: The placement of a scene within a story that reveals past events.

Irony: Contrast between expectation and reality.

· Verbal Irony: contrast between what is said or written and what is meant.

· Situational Irony: What happens is very different from what the reader or audience expects to happen.

· Dramatic Irony: The reader or audience knows something that the character does not.

Dialect: Form of language spoken by people in a particular region or group.