Warm Up

• Looking back on writing your first paper for English 8, what did you appreciate about the process? What do you need to be more successful as a writer? What do you wish you had done differently? What were you most proud of?

• Respond in at least 5 sentences in your journal.

9/20/10 Agenda

• What makes literature literature?Due: :)To Do: Warm up

Literary Elements/ Short Story Notes

HW: No HW. I will be out of the building at a training this week on Tues, Wed, and Thurs. Mrs. Mann will be in for me.

The Literary Elements

CharacterThere are 4 ways to describe a

character:Round: These are characters that we

know a lot about and are developed through detail.

Flat: Readers do not know a lot about these characters.

Static: Characters that do not change or grow throughout the story.

Dynamic: Characters that change, grow, and learn throughout the story.

Protagonist

• Is the hero or the good guy in the story. This character is the central person in a story.

Antagonist

• Is the person or force that opposes the protagonist.

• It can be a person, but it can also be some other force.

• It can also be the protagonist him/herself.

Setting

Time• When a story

takes place

Place• Where a story

takes place

Mood or AtmosphereWhat is the feeling of the story?

Conflict

• A conflict is a struggle between opposing forces.

• There are two main kinds of conflict in stories:

External: A conflict between two things or forces.

Internal: A conflict within one’s self

5 Types of External Conflict

• Person vs Person: A conflict between two or more people.

• Person vs Nature: A conflict between a person and a force of nature.

• Person vs Society: A conflict between a person and a group of people.

5 Types of External Conflict

• Person vs Machine: A conflict between a machine and a person.

• Person vs. Fate: A conflict between an uncontrollable force and a person

1 type of internal conflict• Person vs. Self: A conflict

between a person and him/her self.

Plot• Plot is the series of events that take

place in the story.

• All stories, no matter how long or short, follow the same plot line.

The Plot LineAll stories follow this plot line.

Exposition

Rising Action

Climax

Falling Action

Resolution

Exposition

• The exposition is the beginning of the story where the reader learns the setting of the story and any background information that may be important. It is where the story begins

Rising Action

• The rising action is where the conflict(s) are introduced and the story starts to get interesting. The action begins.

Climax

• The climax is the most exciting part of the story. It is what has been building up throughout the story.

Falling Action

• The falling action is where the conflicts begin to be resolved and the story begins to end. The falling action and the resolution can be 1 or 2 sentences at the end of a story.

Resolution

• The resolution is the end of the story. Conflicts and questions are answered and the story ends.

Irony

Irony: the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning.

• In other words, it is when the opposite of what you think is going to happen happens.

Types of Irony• Verbal Irony-Verbal irony occurs when an author or

character says one thing but means something else.Example:  When it is a dark, gloomy, rainy, day and someone says, "Wow, what a gorgeous day!”

• Situational Irony-Situational irony is an inconsistency between what the audience or reader expects, and what actually happens.Example:  When you have stayed up all night cramming for a test the next day, and the test is actually not until the next week.

• Dramatic Irony-Dramatic irony occurs when an audience or reader knows something that a character does not know.Example:  On a TV talk show, a guest thinks she is there to have a makeover, but the audience knows that she will soon be confronted by her cheating husband and his girlfriend.

Theme

• Theme is what the author is trying to teach you or the message in the story.

Foreshadowing

• Foreshadowing is the use of hints or clues to suggest what is to come in literature.

Allusion

• Allusion is a literary device in which the writer or speaker refers either directly or indirectly to a person, event, or thing in history or to a work of art or literature.– "Christy didn't like to spend money. She

was no Scrooge, but she seldom purchased anything except the bare necessities".

Pun• The humorous use of a word or phrase

so as to emphasize or suggest its different meanings or applications, or the use of words that are alike or nearly alike in sound but different in meaning; a play on words.– I was against the construction of tennis

courts in the park as I thought they would cause too much racket.

Allegory

• The representation of abstract ideas or principles by characters, figures, or events in narrative, dramatic, or pictorial form.– Fables are often examples of allegory

Prejudice and Bias in Literature

• A judgement is made or conclusion reached before you know the facts, unfair.– This can be a reader’s prejudice or it can

be an author’s prejudice

• A slanted opinion[unfair for or against someone]

Satire

• Sarcasm, wit or irony used to poke fun at or ridicule something [not a pleasant form of humor]– type of genre– The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The

Onion News are examples http://www.theonion.com/content/index

Methods of Characterization

• Direct Characterization–  Writer tells the reader what kind of person the

character is 

• Indirect Characterization        –   Writer gives clues to the reader about what kind of

person the character is–  Uses four methods

• Through the character’s appearance•   Through the character’s words• Through the characters actions• Through the reaction of the other characters to the

character

How did the short story genre

develop?•Developed in the United States after the American Revolution as a way to relax and be entertained when there was not a lot of time.

•Edgar Allen Poe is regarded as the “Father of the Short Story” because he established the criteria

•Fiction

•Brevity (being short)

•Unity of Impression (ties everything into one main idea)

Short Story vs. Novel

• Short stories contain fewer characters

• Writers choose to limit larger conflicts between and among characters through a compressed time span– Intensifies the characters’ emotions – Maintains reader interest