I can identify, analyze, and evaluate the ways in which the devices the author chooses (e.g. irony, imagery, tone, sound techniques, foreshadowing, symbolism) achieve specific effects and shape meaning in increasingly challenging texts.

I can identify, analyze, and evaluate plot, character development, setting, theme, mood, and point of view as they are used together to create meaning in increasingly challenging texts.

Analyzing Literature

THEME What exactly is this elusive thing called

theme?

The theme of a fable is its moral.

The theme of a parable is its teaching.

The theme of a piece of fiction is its view about life and how people behave.

THEME In fiction, the theme is not intended to

teach or preach.

In fact, it is not presented directly at all.

You extract it from the characters, action, and setting that make up the story.

In other words, you must figure out the theme yourself.

EXAMPLES OF THEME The Great Journey

This follows a character or characters through a series of episodic adventures as they travel.  It may be a sad story or a happy story, or it may even be comedic.  Huckleberry Finn, Heart of Darkness, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and The Odyssey are good examples.  In film, this theme can be seen in Apocalypse Now and National Lampoon's Vacation.

Loss of InnocenceSometimes called the "coming of age story," this most commonly introduces an “innocent” character to the evil or complexity of the real/adult world.  In literature, we might look at David Copperfied or most of the Nick Adams stories by Ernest Hemingway, like "Indian Camp" and "The End of Something."  In film, we might look at Stand by Me.

Love and FriendshipRomeo and Juliet is a classic love story, as is the story of Lancelot and Guenivere.  The films You’ve Got Mail and Message in a Bottle are also love stories.  The ending may be be happy, sad, or bittersweet, but the main them is romantic love.  Also included in this theme is platonic love--friendship--like in the movies Wrestling Ernest Hemingway and Midnight Cowboy.  All Romance novels, whether straight or gay, fit into this category.   All “buddy films” like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Thelma and Louise fit into this category.

SYMBOLISM Symbolism in literature is very important in

order for you to fully understand the theme of the story

The first sign is that it is mentioned frequently in the literature piece. If it is often mentioned then it is probably very important.

The second sign is when an object is described with so much detail.

EXAMPLES OF SYMBOLISM The movie series Star Wars has been described

as symbolic of faith and religion in our world overcoming evil.

The Harry Potter books by J. K. Rowling could be seen as containing a lot of symbolism.

One clear example is a commonly used one; the use of a snake to represent evil.

It is no coincidence that the symbol of Slytherin House is a serpent.

FORESHADOWING The technique of arranging events and information in a

narrative in such a way that later events are prepared for or shadowed forth beforehand.

This literary device is used to build suspense and prepare the reader's subconscious for the conflict.

It also helps the reader believe extraordinary events when they happen.

It can be subtle, such as rain in the beginning of a story to suggest something bad is going to happen, or more obvious, such as in the prologue of "Romeo and Juliet": "A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life."

Examples of Foreshadowing

A classic example of this technique is found in the children's fairytale "Little Red Riding Hood."

Her mother tells her to take some food to her ill grandmother. However, she warns her to behave herself on the way and stay on the path otherwise she might fall and break the glass.

Her mother's warning foreshadows the big bad wolf.

IRONY

Dramatic IronyWhen the reader knows what is going to happen, but the characters do not.

IRONY

SituationalWhen the results of a situation are far different from what was expected, resulting in a feeling of surprise and unfairness due to an odd situation.

EXAMPLES OF IRONY

Dramatic IronyOedipus is a good example of dramatic irony, as the audience knows that he is the one guilty of the crime he seeks to punish.

EXAMPLES OF IRONY

Situational IronyA man and woman are sitting at a bus stop and start to converse. The woman divulges some of her deepest darkest secrets. The man listens and advises her, and the woman thanks him and gets on her bus. After she is gone the man takes off his heavy coat to reveal that he is in fact wearing the garb of a priest. The irony lies in the fact that the woman never knew that the man she was talking to was a priest, but the audience does and the reality of what the audience knows about why the man was so helpful and understanding is different from the reality the woman experienced.

SETTING

The time, place, physical details, and circumstances in which a situation occurs. Settings include the background, atmosphere or environment in which characters live and move

EXAMPLES OF SETTING

1930’s America, Soledad, California

Rural Ranch

REFERENCES

http://www.learner.org/interactives/literature/read/Studyguide.org

www.3delta.edu "Use of Foreshadowing in Of Mice and

Men." 123HelpMe.com. 14 Feb 2012     <http://www.123HelpMe.com/view.asp?id=16348>.

http://www.sarcasmsociety.com/irony.html