Forms and Elements of Literature

Intro to Literature

Novels and Novellas are long works of prose fiction that tell a story about imaginary people or animals called characters who live in a made-up world.

A novella is briefer than a novelEach has a plot, a theme, and sometimes a

subplot

Novel and Novella

A short story is a brief work of prose fictionTells a story about imaginary people or

animals called charactersPlot is short and focused

Short Story

Nonfiction tells the story of a person’s life, narrates a series of true events, describes a real scene, or presents information

Nonfiction

 Literature created from the imagination, not presented as fact, though it may be based on a true story or situation. Types of literature in the fiction genre include the novel, short story, and novella.

The word is from the Latin fictiō, “the act of making, fashioning, or molding.”

Fiction

Poetry is literature that appears in verse formMany poems have a regular rhythm and

possibly a rhyme schemeMost poems use highly concise, musical, and

powerful language to tell a story or to convey a single image or idea

Poetry

Science fiction is a genre of fiction in which the stories often tell about science and technology of the future. It is important to note that science fiction has a relationship with the principles of science—these stories involve partially true-partially fictitious laws or theories of science. It should not be completely unbelievable, because it then ventures into the genre fantasy.

Science fiction texts are often set in the future, in space, on a different world, or in a different universe or dimension.

Science Fiction

Drama can be written in prose or poetryIt tells a story through the words and actions

of actors who impersonate charactersThe text of a drama contains the characters’

spoken words, or dialogue, and calls for stage directions, telling actors how to speak and move

Most dramas are meant to be performed

Drama

The plot of a story is a sequence of actionsA typical plot, diagrammed below, involves:

Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, and Resolution

Plot

Imaginary people or animals that take part in the action of the story

Authors use Characterization to bring these characters to life

Characterization is the development of the characters in a story. Usually the author reveals things about the characters in the story (traits, thoughts, actions or reactions) that tell you about them

Characters

POV is the vantage point from which the story is told

First person: narrator is involved in the action, refers to himself or herself as “I”

Third person: narrator is outside of action. Narrator is referred to as “she” or “he”

Omniscient third person: The narrator knows all of the characters’ thoughts

Point of View

Setting is the story’s worldIt includes not only the time and place of the

story’s action, but also the customs and beliefs of that time and place

Setting

The Theme of a story is an insight into life that it offers directly or indirectly

Certain recurring themes appear in many stories because they are important. Example: Good vs. Evil

Theme

A struggle or problem a character must overcome

This exists on the “Plot Diagram”

Conflict

The author’s voice or attitude about what he or she writes

Tone

The feeling a reader gets from a story

Mood

Now, let’s read!

The End