the literary elements why interpret? never forget that an author begins with a blank page everything...
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The Literary Elements
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Why Interpret?• Never forget that an
author begins with a blank page
• Everything put into the text makes a contribution to the author’s vision/perspective
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Setting
• Includes WHERE a story takes place and WHEN a story takes place
• Can affect mood/tone
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Plot• Sequence of RELATED
events that happen in the story
• Clearly build toward something ahead
• CONFLICT (a struggle of some kind) is the most important element in the plot
• Series of complications contribute to rising action
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Plot (cont.)• Plot Diagram on board/paper
– Exposition
– Rising Action• Character in series of
complications under a larger conflict
– Climax• Point where the character
faces most significant obstacle and responds
– Falling Action
– Denouement/Resolution
(“unknotting”)
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Conflict
• Person vs. Nature• Person vs. Person• Person vs. Self• Person vs. Society
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Foreshadowing
• Hints in the text that clue us in to a significant plot event to come
– Violent storms indicate violence to come in plot
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Flashback
• Interruption that takes us back to a previous event or experience in the plot or character’s life
– Shift from president in oval office to a scene from his high school experience
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Characterization• How a writer reveals a character’s
personality• Direct Characterization:
» Author tells us what the character is like (e.g. deceitful, honest, evil, kind)
• Indirect Characterization:» Physical description
» Words & thoughts
» Other characters’ thoughts & comments
» Character’s actions
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Characterization• Dynamic vs. Static
– Change or not
• Round vs. Flat– Complex personality
w/different traits, or easily summed up personality?
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Characterization• Examine the character’s
“journey”
• Evolve/Devolve?
• Grow or become diminished?
• Better off or worse off beginning to end?
• Much movement but same place?
• What contributed to shaping character?
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Symbolism
• When the author uses objects, events, or characters to represent THE BIG PICTURE
• Something in the story stands for something else
- white hat/black hat
• In the Bible, seeds eaten by birds stand for those who hear and don’t believe
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Allusion
• Reference to a well-known literary work or character
- Bob and Sarah sure are a couple of star-crossed lovers
- As Tiger Woods strolled through the crowd, it was like he was parting the white sea
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Irony• Discrepancy between
expectations & reality– Verbal Irony
– Situational Irony
– Dramatic Irony
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Verbal Irony• Speaker says one thing
but means another– “That Michael Jackson
tattoo is really cool. It’s still sort of subtle and understated even though it covers your whole back.”
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Situational Irony• What happens is the
opposite of what’s expected– A woman is assaulted
by a man, waits 35 years to get revenge, then falls in love with him the next time they meet
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Dramatic Irony• Audience knows what
the characters don’t– Character asks what
punishment for her crime will be, thinking it will be a fine; audience knows the punishment will be death
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Point of View• The angle from which the
story is told• 1st person (I, we)
– More intimate w/narrator– Tough to judge narrator?
(Consider naïve & unreliable narrator)
• 3rd person (he, she, they)– limited (1 character’s POV)– or omniscient (all-knowing)
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Style• How it is said influences what
it means• Diction (word choice) &
syntax (word arrangement) influence mood/tone
• Does it change the pace?• Does it suggest something
about characters?• How’s it make the reader feel?
Exhausted? Exhilarated?
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Theme• The Author’s vision• What’s s/he saying
about human nature, the way the world works, our relations to others?
• It’s just one view & it’s up for interpretation
• Death of the Author
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Some Themes…• Justice prevails• Love conquers all• Society will always
overwhelm the individual
• Children often see more clearly than adults
• There’s no place for the artist in the jungle