Literary Elements

English 10

Terms to Know

• Point of View• Narrator• Conflict• Allusion

Point of View• The perspective from which

the story is told.• Influences the reader to view

a character or event a certain way

• Subjective narrator – can offer only one perspective on the action being described.

• Objective narrator – can offer multiple perspectives on the action being described

Types of POV

First person • Narrator is also a

participant in the story• Uses personal pronouns

such as “I,” “me,” or “my” • Narration is subjective;

events are seen only through the narrator’s eyes

Types of POV

Second person• Immerses the reader fully

into the story• Uses “you” and directs the

narration at the reader• Used mostly for “Choose Your

Own Adventure” type books, and sometimes used within larger works of fiction for dramatic effect

Types of POVThird person• Uses names of characters and

third-person pronouns: he, she, they, etc.

• Narration is objective and can offer multiple perspectives on events and characters.

• Third-person omniscient: narrator is all-knowing; tells reader the thoughts and feelings of all characters.

• Third-person limited: narrator closely follows only one character and tells reader the thoughts and feelings of only that character.

First Person POVI turned my head sharply

away from him, clenching my jaw against all the wild accusations I wanted to throw at him. I gathered my books together, then stood and walked to the door. I meant to sweep dramatically out of the room, but of course I caught the toe of my boot on the doorjamb and dropped my books. From Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Second Person POVYou decide you’d like to

spend some time researching the home of Henry Marsden. You, Ricardo, and Lisa head to your mom’s office, which has two computers, and set to work.

You find an architect named Henry Marsden who worked around the turn of the last century. He was famous for his modern houses. Weird.

From Choose Your Own Adventure #6: House of Danger by R. A. Montgomery

Third Person Omniscient POV“Well, have a good weekend,”

Blair said with a stiff smile, as if they’d only just met. As if they hadn’t known each other all their lives. She dropped twenty dollars on the table for their drinks. “Excuse me,” she told the three tall boys who were blocking her path. “Can I get by?”

Serena twirled her drink straw around in her glass and sipped the dregs of her drink, watching Blair leave. The drink tasted salty now, because she was about to cry again.

From Gossip Girl by Cicely Von Ziegesar

Third Person Limited POVAs the party drew close,

she recognized Shay’s pigtails bobbing under one of the hats and waved frantically. Tally had planned to take the note literally and wait on the hilltop, but at the sight of her friend, she grabbed her board and dashed down to meet them.

Infiltrator or not, Tally couldn’t wait to see Shay.

From Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Effects of POV Choice

• Author can manipulate the reader to identify or sympathize with one particular character

• Author can withhold information about events in the story in order to mislead the reader or cause them to draw erroneous conclusions

Conflict

• In literature, conflict is the struggle between opposing forces upon which a story is based.

• Conflict drives the plot. Without it, the events of the story would not happen.

• Conflict can be internal or external.

Types of conflict - Internal

• Individual vs. Self – when a character struggles with some part of their personality, morals, or emotions.

Types of Conflict - External• Individual vs. Individual – conflict

between two like beings.• Individual vs. Nature – conflict

between a character and the natural world.

• Individual vs. Society – conflict between a character and the expectations of the world he lives in.

• Individual vs. Supernatural – conflict between a character and unnatural beings or forces.

• Individual vs. Technology – conflict between a character and robotic forces, often artificial intelligence.

Individual vs. Self

• Victoria finds a wallet on the street. It contains $100. Now she has to decide: does she try to locate the owner and return the wallet? Keep the wallet? Leave the wallet where she found it? Keep the money and leave the wallet?

Individual vs. Individual

• Jack just wants to be a normal teenager. He wants to hang out with friends, get a job, and learn to drive. His mother, however, doesn’t think he’s ready for the freedom and responsibility that his friends have.

Individual vs. Nature

• Sally and Tim are hiking in the woods. They’re having a great time – until their GPS runs out of batteries. Now it’s getting dark and cold, and they must find their way back to their car without getting hurt by the bears and mountain lions that make their homes in the woods.

Individual vs. Society

• All Rachel wants is to get into Harvard. Her mother helps her get into an exclusive boarding school that will certainly help her fulfill her dream. Rachel, from a small town in Tennessee, is unprepared for the scrutiny she comes under from the rich girls who also attend this school.

Individual vs. Supernatural• Ben and his family have just

moved to the small town of Riverside, OH. He likes it there, but something seems off. He hears strange howling sounds around every full moon, and there are rumors of people disappearing, only to be found drained of all their blood. He thinks it’s kind of strange and wants to know what’s going on so he can keep his family safe.

Individual vs. Technology• Bobby loves to write computer

programs. His latest program is one that can carry on conversations on almost any topic. It seems harmless – until the day the computer starts talking about world domination. Only Bobby didn’t program it to talk about world domination. Now he has to keep it from detonating a nuclear bomb and killing everyone in the country.

Allusion

• A figure of speech that references a well-known person, place, historical event, work of art, or literary work.

Allusion– The cinnamon rolls were huge

and golden brown, reminiscent of the twisted buns on the sides of Princess Leia's head.

– I was looking forward to tonight. I was supposed to go out on a date, but I couldn’t. All my siblings were gone, but I had to stay home slaving like Cinderella, scrubbing the floors on my hand and knees, washing clothes and dishes and making everyone’s beds.

Review - Classwork• What are the four types of

point of view?• Write one example for three

of the six types of conflict.• Write two sentences that each

contain an allusion to a person, place, or literary work.

• Which book did you choose for your summer reading project? In which point of view was it written?