1. Literary Elements
What parts make up a a story?
http://members.tripod.com/dscorpio/images/literary_elements.ppt

2. Story Grammar
Setting
Characters
Plot
Climax
Theme
Resolution
Denouement

3. Setting
Time and place are where the action
occurs
Details that describe:
 Furniture
 Scenery
 Customs
 Transportation
 Clothing
 Dialects
 Weather
 Time of day
 Time of year

4. Elements of a Setting
Location Life Era
Place Time
Physical Setting History
Atmosphere Day
Mood Feelings
Word
Choice
Use as activator to activate prior knowledge. Write
Weather the web on the board or overhead and students
create one at their seats. Then as class share and fill
in.

5. The Functions of a Setting
 To create a mood or We left the home place behind, mile
by slow mile, heading for the mountains,
atmosphere across the prairie where the wind blew
forever.
 To show a reader a
At first there were four of us with
different way of life one horse wagon and its skimpy load. Pa
 To make action seem and I walked, because I was a big boy of
eleven. My two little sisters romped and
more real trotted until they got tired and had to be
boosted up to the wagon bed.
 To be the source of
That was no covered Conestoga, like
conflict or struggle Pa’s folks came West in, but just an old
 To symbolize an idea farm wagon, drawn by one weary horse,
creaking and rumbling westward to the
mountains, toward the little woods town
where Pa thought he had an old uncle who
owned a little two-bit sawmill.
Taken from “The Day the Sun Came Out” by D. Johnson

6. Types of Characters
People or animals
Major characters
Minor characters
Round characters
Flat characters

7. Characterization
A writer reveals what a character is like and
how the character changes throughout the
story.
Two primary methods of characterization:
Direct- writer tells what the character is like
Indirect- writer shows what a character is like
by describing what the character looks like, by
telling what the character says and does, and by
what other characters say about and do in
response to the character.

8. Direct Characterization
…And I don’t play the dozens or believe
in standing around with somebody in my face
doing a lot of talking. I much rather just
knock you down and take my chances even if
I’m a little girl with skinny arms and a
squeaky voice, which is how I got the name
Squeaky.
From “Raymond’s Run” by T. Bambara

9. Indirect Characterization
The old man bowed to all of us
in the room. Then he removed his
hat and gloves, slowly and carefully.
Chaplin once did that in a picture,
in a bank--he was the janitor.
From “Gentleman of Rio en Medio” by J. Sedillo

10. Elements of Character
Fully
Relatives Friends
Developed
Main Minor
Not Fully
Protagonist Character Developed
Flat Co-Main Antagonist
Enemy

11. Factors in Analyzing
Characters
Physical appearance of character
Personality
Background/personal history
Motivation
Relationships
Conflict
Does character change?

12. Plot
Plot is what happens and how
it happens in a narrative. A
narrative is any work that tells
a story, such as a short story, a
novel, a drama, or a narrative
poem.

13. Parts of a Plot
Inciting incident – event that gives rise to
conflict (opening situation)
Development- events that occur as result of
central conflict (rising action)
Climax- highest point of interest or
suspense of story
Resolution- when conflict ends
Denouement- when characters go back to
their life before the conflict

14. Diagram of Plot
Climax
Re s
Ac nt/
ol u
n
in g me
tio
tion
Ris velop
De
Introduction Denouement
Inciting incident/
Opening situation

15. Special Techniques of Plot
Suspense- excitement or tension
Foreshadowing- hint or clue about what
will happen in story
Flashback- interrupts the normal sequence
of events to tell about something that
happened in the past
Surprise Ending- conclusion that reader
does not expect

16. Conflict
Conflict is a struggle between opposing forces
Every plot must contain some kind of conflict
Stories can have more than one conflict
Conflicts can be external or internal
External conflict- outside force may be person,
group, animal, nature, or a nonhuman obstacle
Internal conflict- takes place in a character’s mind

17. Theme
A central message, concern, or insight
into life expressed through a literary
work
Can be expressed by one or two
sentence statement about human beings
or about life
May be stated directly or implied
Interpretation uncovers the theme

18. Example of Theme
“Every man needs to feel allegiance to
his native country, whether he always
appreciates that country or not.”
From “A Man Without a Country” by Edward Hale
pg. 185 in Prentice Hall Literature book