LITERARY TERMS Literary Terms Literary terms refer to

LITERARY TERMS

Literary Terms ◦ Literary terms refer to the typical structures used by writers in their works to convey his or her messages in a simple manner to the readers. When employed properly, the different literary devices help readers appreciate, interpret, and analyze a literary work. ◦ Examples: character, setting, plot, theme, tone and mood, foreshadowing and flashback, figurative language, point of view

Character ◦ Character: a person or other figure that is part of a story. ◦ We usually like a book, story, a movie, or a television show because we can relate to an interesting character in it. ◦ Interesting characters with strong motivation create action and get other characters moving and reacting. ◦ Characterization: refers to the way a character is portrayed. ◦ ◦ Direct Characterization: the author comes right out and tells the reader what the character looks like, says, does, thinks, and feels. ◦ ◦ Indirect Characterization: the reader learns about a character by how he or she interacts with others and by what others say about him.

◦ Ask yourself these questions as you read stories and watch movies: ◦ What seems real and true to me about the characters in the story? ◦ How are the characters like those in other books I’ve read? ◦ How are they like me and people I know? ◦ What strategies does the author use to help me understand the characters and care about them? Who are your favorite characters?

Setting ◦ Setting: the time and place in which story events occur. Setting Examples Time present day; right now 100 years in the future yesterday the age of the dinosaurs the middle of the night a season of the year Place the moon a shopping mall deep in the woods a school in a car a deserted house

Why is setting important? ◦ Setting provides a backdrop for the action. Think about setting not just as factual information but as an important part of a story's mood and emotional impact. ◦ Setting allows the reader to better understand imagine the story and relate it to their own lives. ◦ Setting allows the reader to reflect upon the importance of time and place in one’s own life and understand how it contributes to your character development.

◦ The Lion King (setting): Africa; present day ◦ Finding Nemo (setting): Great Barrier Reef (Australia); present day ◦ Elf (setting): North Pole and New York City; present day ◦ Cinderella (setting): Far away kingdom; past

Plot ◦ Plot: the series of related events that make up a story. ◦ Most plots involve resolving some kind of conflict, and proceed in this way: 1. The introduction tells who the main character or characters are and what the conflict or the problem is. 2. Complications develop as the characters struggle with different possible solutions. 3. In the climax, the main character or characters make a final decision that the conflict. settles 3. The story ends with the resolution: the writer suggests what the characters feel or do, now that the conflict is over.

Why is plot important? ◦ Plot is important because without a plot there is no story, merely a random series of events, at best loosely associated by the fact that most of them involve the main character. What is the plot of Cinderella?

◦ Internal Conflict: A conflict that a character may be wrestling with himself or herself ◦ External Conflict: A conflict(s) between a character and some outside person or force. What is the internal and external conflict in The Lion King? ◦ Internal Conflict- Simba feels responsible for his father’s death ◦ External Conflict- Simba has to fight Scar to get his land back

Theme ◦ Theme: is the major idea or lesson that a story conveys about life. ◦ Theme is the major idea of a story. But here are the wonderful catches: ◦ Though there are expectations, authors seldom state their intended theme in so many words. So… ◦ It’s usually up to the readers to discover theme for themselves. But keep in mind that… ◦ Some stories may have more than one theme, and… ◦ Different readers may find different themes in the same story. In addition… ◦ Very occasionally, readers may find writing themes that even the authors themselves were not conscious of while writing.

**Brain. Pop- Theme What is theme of The Lion King? family, good vs. evil, manipulation, morals What is theme of Cinderella? wealth, supernatural, good vs. evil

Tone and Mood ◦ Tone is the attitude or style of expression used to write. ◦ Mood, or atmosphere, is the general feeling in a story. It refers to the emotion or emotions a writer makes a reader feel. Writers create atmosphere or mood by using imagery and vivid descriptions. ◦ Tone and mood are dependent upon appropriate word choice, imagery, and vivid descriptions. Point out the words and descriptions in the examples that help create the tone and mood of the sentences.

◦ “You don’t know what you’re talking about, ” she snapped. “I’m the expert in these matters!” (Tone: brusque, impolite, rude, self-important) ◦ Freezing cold and exhausted, they hunkered down in the deserted cabin, free for a while from the binding snow. (Mood: threatening, suspenseful, frightening) ◦ “Don’t worry, ” said Dad. “I’m right here beside you and nothing awful is going to happen. Just keep walking along. ” (Tone: reassuring, comforting) ◦ When Jeff fell of the porch, we thought he had done it on purpose. So, not to be outdone, we all began falling of the porch. Then we noticed that Jeff was looking at us like we’d lost our minds. (Mood: fun, amusing. Tone: lighthearted)

**Brain. Pop- Tone and Mood

Foreshadowing and Flashback ◦ Foreshadowing means suggesting beforehand what is going to happen later in the story. ◦ A flashback occurs when the author tells about an event that happened before the time of the story.

**Read the following paragraphs. Determine if the underlined segments are flashbacks or foreshadowings and explain how you know. 1. All of a sudden, Rory remembered an incident from long ago. He had been walking in the woods with his older brother, who tried to scare him half to death with a story about a hooded monster. Rory had been so frightened then that he had cried uncontrollably. 2. Today, as he strolled along peacefully, Rory chuckled at that long-ago horror story. He had no way of guessing what was waiting now, just a few yards ahead. Right now, he was happy and relaxed. 3. Gloria lined up with the other runners. They were all flushed with determination and excitement -all except Gloria. Suddenly, it was last year again, and she was telling the coach that she had to drop out of the team because of her illness. Now she was well again. “Still, ” she said to herself, “what am I doing here? I’ll never win. I haven’t practiced enough!” But miracles do happen. The question is, what kind of miracles would be best for Gloria?

Figurative Language ◦ Figurative language refers to any language that uses images or language that makes different kinds of comparisons.

◦ Imagery is language that appeals to the senses of hearing, touch, taste, sight, or smell. ◦ It was dark and dim in the forest. – The words “dark” and “dim” are visual images. ◦ The children were screaming and shouting in the fields. - “Screaming” and “shouting” appeal to our sense of hearing or auditory sense. ◦ A simile is a description that compares two unlike things to one another, using the word like or as ◦ Our soldiers are as brave as a lion. ◦ Her cheeks are red like a rose.

◦ A metaphor compares unlike things without using the word like or as. ◦ My brother was boiling mad. (This implies he was too angry. ) ◦ The assignment was a breeze. (This implies that the assignment was not difficult. ) ◦ Hyperbole is an obvious exaggeration, usually funny. ◦ My grandmother is as old as the hills. ◦ Your suitcase weighs a ton!

◦ Symbolism is the use of symbols to signify ideas and qualities by giving them symbolic meanings that are different from their literal sense. ◦ Dove is a symbol of peace. ◦ Red rose or red color stands for love or romance. ◦ Black color is a symbol that represents evil or death. ◦ Alliteration a number of words, having the same first consonant sound, occur close together in a series. ◦ But a better butter makes a batter better. ◦ A big bully beats a baby boy.

◦ Onomatopoeia imitates the natural sounds of a thing ◦ The buzzing bee flew away. ◦ The sack fell into the river with a splash. ◦ Personification is a figure of speech in which a thing, an idea or an animal is given human attributes. ◦ Look at my car. She is a beauty, isn’t it so? ◦ The wind whispered through dry grass.

Try It! 1. He loves the scent of the blossoming flowers and the warbles of birds. (Answer: imagery) 2. I was so hungry that I even ate the plate. (Answer: hyperbole) 3. My father was the sun and the moon to me. (Answer: metaphor) 4. The rain seemed like an old friend who had finally found us. (Answer: simile) 5. Her head was so full of ideas that it was ready to burst wide open. (Answer: hyperbole) 6. Dessert was a dark chocolate covered with slurpy, pink ice cream. (Answer: imagery) 7. Your car sounded as if it were mad at us. (Answer: simile) 8. He was a library of information about baseball. (Answer: metaphor)

Point of View ◦ Point of View is the vantage point from which a story is told. ◦ There are three points of view from which a story can be told. ◦ First Person- The person telling the story is also a character in the story, and uses words such as I, me, and my to tell what she observes and experiences. ◦ Third Person- We see the story events from the viewpoint of just one of the characters in it. This character is referred to in the third person, ex. he, she. ◦ All-Knowing or Omniscient- The narrator knows what everyone in the story is feeling, thinking, and doing.

Try it! Read the following sentences and determine the point of view that is being used in each sentence. ◦ I groped my way down the tree and fell with a thud into the mud. Then I heard the guard dogs baring furiously as they bounded toward me. My heart began to pound. ◦ She saw that her father was laughing hysterically, but she had no idea why. Was he reading that silly book again? ◦ In the school cafeteria, Jon felt lonely and out of place, so he gobbled his lunch as fast as he could. On the other side of the table Jeanne was wondering if she would ever get used to this noisy, crowded school. As for Liddy, she was as depressed as ever.