Literary Elements and Literary Devices AND ANCHOR VOCABULARY

Literary Elements and Literary Devices AND ANCHOR VOCABULARY

Difference between devices and elements �Literature elements are necessary pieces of a story. Without these elements, the story is disjointed or incomplete. �Literature devices are techniques writers can use to add dimension to a story, but not every story needs every device in order to be understood or of interest.

*Affix �One or more letters attached to the beginning or end of words, creates a suffix or prefix �Example: ly, ed, in �Lovely, walked, insubordinate

Allegory �A story in which characters, settings and events stand for abstract or moral concepts �Example: Let’s talk about the man. The man tries to keep you down. The man is out to get you. The man will steal all you have, then crush you when you are down… �(The man is society)

Alliteration �The Repetition of initial sounds in neighboring words. �Example: Sounds softly sent sing to those who listen.

Allusion �A reference to a statement, person, place or event known from literature, history, religion, myth, politics or another field of knowledge Example: Hamlet describing his father (A 3): the curls of the sun god Hyperion; the forehead of kingly Jove, an eye like that of Mars, a bearing like the herald Mercury.

Analysis �Identifying parts of a whole and their relationship to one another.

*Antonym �A word that is the opposite meaning to another word

*Argument/Position �The position or claim the author establishes. �Should be supported with valid evidence and reasoning. �Balanced by including counterarguments.

Author’s Purpose �The author’s intent either to inform or teach someone about something, to entertain people or to persuade or convince his/her audience to do or not to do something.

Bias �Subtle presence of positive or negative approach towards a topic.

Characterization �Process by which writer reveals the personality of a character Telling the reader directly Describing looks and dress Hear character speak Revealing character’s thoughts

*Types of Characterization �DIRECT: The author tells the reader exactly what a character is like or what they want you to think about a character. �INDIRECT: The author gives hints or clues (through actions or thoughts) that lead you to form opinions about the character.

Static Characters �Does not change in course of story �Opposite: Dynamic characters, who change throughout the course of a story

Round Characters �Have more dimensions to their personalities- complex, solid, and multifaceted �Opposite: flat character-one dimension to personality

Protagonist �The main character, sets plot in motion �Example:

Antagonist �Character or force that opposes/blocks the protagonist (main character) Does not always have to be a character! Example: war, racism, society…

Cultural Significance �The generally accepted importance of a work representing a given culture. �Example: To Kill A Mockingbird increased awareness of bigotry and gender bias in our country.

**Connotation �The range of associations that a word or phrase suggests in addition to its dictionary meaning �Example: Where did he get that car? He stole it, it’s hot.

dialect �A variety of language distinct from the standard variety in pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary. �Example: Y’all want some lemonade? �Yo sho look nice. �Pawk the caw down the street.

Diction �Writer’s/Speaker’s choice of words Influenced by audience Determines effect writer is trying to produce Example: home vs crib, Example: How are you? Vs. Howdy y’all.

Drama �Genre �Works intended for stage �Work to be performed �Radio, television, plays

**Exposition �A narrative device, often used at the beginning of a work that provides necessary background information about the characters and their circumstances

Elements of Fiction �Traits marked by: �Plot, theme, symbols, climax

Elements of Nonfiction �Traits: �Facts, data, charts, graphs

Fiction �Any story that is the product of imagination rather than a documentation of fact. Characters and events in such narratives may be based in real life but their ultimate form and configuration is a creation of the author.

Figurative Language �Words or phrases that describes one thing in terms of another and is not meant to be understood on a literal level. �Most common: simile, metaphor, personification �Example: My mind is racing, everything has become blurred, I feel like I am drowning in my own thoughts.

Point of View �The vantage point from which a writer tells a story. Three types: � Omniscient � First person � Third person

*Omniscient Point of View �The person telling the story knows everything that’s going to happen. �Outside of story �Can tell us what is happening and what characters are feeling

*1 st person narrator �The narrator is a character in the story. �Uses “I” to tell of his experiences �Can only hear and see what narrator sees

*3 rd person narrator �The person telling the story is not a character in the story, but can only tell the story from one character’s point of view. �Uses “he, she, they” etc, throughout the story.

Flashback �Organizational device used to present action that occurred before current time of story.

Foreshadowing �Device used to create expectation or set up an explanation of later developments. �Hints or clues to predict future events

Genre �The category that a work of literature is classified under. 5 Major Categories: 1. fiction 2. nonfiction 3. poetry 4. drama 5. myth

Hyperbole �Uses extreme exaggeration to express a strong sentiment or create comic effect. Example: sweating to death! I’ve told you a million times! If I had a dollar every time you said that, I would be a billionaire.

Imagery �Language that appeals to the senses: Sight, touch, taste, smell, hearing Example: Then a mile of warm sea-scented beach; Three fields to cross till a farm appears; A tap at the pane, the quick sharp scratch And blue spurt of a lighted match Robert Browning, “Meeting at Night”

Implicit �Though unexpressed in the actual text, meaning that may be understood by the reader; implied.

Inference �A judgement based on reasoning rather than on a direct or explicit statement. A conclusion based on facts or circumstances; understanding gained by “reading between the lines. ”

Interpret �To give reasons through an explanation to convey and represent the meaning or understanding of a text.

Irony �A contrast between: what is said and what is meant what is expected and what really happens what appears to be true and what really is true

Verbal Irony �Says one thing, means another �Often in the form of wit or sarcasm �Example: calling a clumsy basketball player the new Lebron James

Situational Irony �Contrast between what would seem appropriate and what really happens. �Contradiction between what we expect to happen and what really takes place.

Dramatic Irony �Occurs when the audience or reader knows something important that a character in the play/story does not know.

Literary Device �Tool used to provide voice to text.

Literary Element �ESSENTIAL technique used in literature �Can you have a story with no plot? Can you have a story with no symbols?

Literary Form �Overall structure or shape of a work that frequently follows an established design. �Novel: chapters �Poem: Haiku �Short Story: one plot line

Literary Nonfiction �Text uses literary elements and devices usually associated with fiction to report on actual persons, places, or events. Examples include nature and travel text, biography, memoir and the essay.

Monologue �An extended speech spoken by one speaker, either to others or as if alone.

Mood �A story’s atmosphere or the feeling it evokes Usually created through diction, dialogue and setting *wild forest, at night, with wolves howling (terror) *cozy cottage in a garden full of sunlight (peace)

Motif �A word, character, object, image, metaphor, or idea that recurs in a work, or several works.

Narrative �A story (fictional or real)

Personification �An object or abstract idea given human qualities or human form. �Ex: flowers danced in the wind � The dog cried all night.

Poetry �Text that aims to present ideas and evoke emotional experience in the reader through the use of poetic devices/elements: meter, imagery, rhyme etc. �Relies on words and expressions that have several layers of meaning

Propaganda �Information aimed at positively or negatively influencing the opinions or behaviors of large numbers of people.

Propaganda Techniques �Tactics used to influence people. Examples: �Name-calling: attack �Bandwagon: persuade as everyone is doing it �Red Herring: distract readers with irrelevant details �Emotional appeal: �Testimonial: famous person used to endorse �Repetition: �Sweeping generalization: stereotyping �Circular Argument: uses conclusion to support argument �Appeal to numbers, facts or statistics

Plot: Rising Action �All action leading up to the climax of the story.

Climax �Point of greatest emotional intensity, or suspense in a plot when the outcome of the conflict becomes known

Falling Action �Action following the climax

Resolution �When all the problems, mysteries and conflicts unravel and are explained

Satire �Literary approach that ridicules or examines human vice or weakness

Soliloquy �A dramatic speech, revealing inner thoughts and feelings, spoken aloud by one character while alone on the stage.

Stage Directions �A playwright’s written instructions provided in the text of a play about the setting or how the actors are to move and behave in a play.

Style �The particular way in which a writer uses language �Created through diction, sentence patterns, and use of figurative language

Symbol/Symbolism �The use of symbols to suggest ideas, emotions, moods and meaning �Common Symbols: heart (love), dove (peace), skull and cross bones (danger) �Can be story specific

Syntax �The ordering of words into meaningful verbal patterns such as phrases, clauses and sentences.

Themes �Central idea or insight of a work of literature Not the subject of the work Sometimes a lesson Can be reoccurring

Tone �Attitude a writer takes toward a subject, character or the audience. �Conveyed through the writer’s choice of words and details. �Affection, nostalgic, humorous, mocking…

Universal Character �A character that symbolically embodies well-known meanings and basic human experiences, regardless of when or where he/she lives �Hero, villain, intellectual, dreamer

Universal Significance �Generally accepted importance or value of a work to represent human experience regardless of culture or time period.

Voice �Fluency, rhythm and liveliness in a text that makes it unique to an author.

*Conflict: Internal �Struggle or clash between opposing ideas. �Takes place entirely within a character’s own mind. �Struggle between opposing needs or desires.

*Conflict: External �Struggle or clash between opposing characters or forces. �Can be against another character or society as a whole, or force of nature

*Archetype �An original model or pattern from which other later copies are made, especially a character, an action, or situation that seems to represent common patterns of human life. Often, archetypes include a symbol, a theme, a setting, or a character that some critics think have a common meaning in an entire culture, or even the entire human race.

*Ambiguity �An element of uncertainty in a text, in which something can be interpreted in a number of different ways. �Can you trust the narrator’s opinion as valid?