Your Interactive

Guide to

Literary

Elements!

CHARACTERS

Characters: The people, animals, things, etc. a story’s plot and conflicts revolve around.

Types of Characters:*protagonist—the main character*antagonist—the person who opposes the main character*main character—who the story is mostly

about*minor character—has little involvement in the story; little is known about this character

Who are the major and minor characters in The Outsiders?

Major:

Pony Curtis

Johnny Cade

Dallas Winston

Minor:

Darry CurtisSoda-pop

Two-Bit

Steve

Cherry Valance

The development of characters:

Characters can be…•Flat—a character who the reader knows little about and usually plays a supporting role to the main character

•Round--a major character in a work of fiction who encounters conflict and is changed by it

•Static--characters in a work of fiction who do not undergo substantial change or growth in the course of a story

•Dynamic--tend to be more fully developed and described than flat characters. If you think of the characters you most love in fiction, they probably seem as real to you as people you know in real life.

PLOT

PLOT IS THE BACKBONE OF A STORY

Plot: the sequence of events which involves the characters in conflict of a story

Now you try your hand at plot:Red Riding Hood was walking through downtown L.A. on her way to

Grandma’s condo when she met a tough-looking wolf in a leather jacket leaning against a motorcycle.

“Hey, Red,” he called out to her, “you wanna go for a ride?”

“Uh, no way, Creep-a-saurus,” Red replied.

Deeply hurt and angered, Wolfie drove the few blocks to Grandma’s parking garage, bypassed the security code, broke in to Grandma’s condo, and tied her up in a closet. There he lay in wait for Red.

When Red arrived at the condo, she found Wolfie there instead of Grandma. Red reached for her cell, but Wolfie knocked it out of her hand. He was just about to lunge at Red when Grandma broke out of the closet at attacked Wolfie, knocking him out (Grandma had just started taking a daily multi-vitamin).

Grandma and Red called the police. Wolfie was arrested and after his trial he was sent to prison. Grandma started doing infomercials for the multivitamin company and made a series of work-out videos. Red married Vince Vaughn, adopted a multitude of children from various impoverished nations (ala Angelina Jolie) and lived happily ever after.

Your turn!

Can you diagram the plot?

Other elements of plot:

•foreshadowing: clues in the story that hint a future events

•flashback: an interruption in the action of the plot to tell what happened at an earlier time

•suspense: a quality in a work of fiction that arouses excited expectation or uncertainty about what may happen

Upon the eighth night I was more than usually cautious in opening the door. A watch's minute hand moves more quickly than did mine. Never before that night had I felt the extent of my own powers --of my sagacity. I could scarcely contain my feelings of triumph. To think that there I was, opening the door, little by little, and he not even to dream of my secret deeds or thoughts. I fairly chuckled at the idea; and perhaps he heard me; for he moved on the bed suddenly, as if startled. Now you may think that I drew back --but no. His room was as black as pitch with the thick darkness, (for the shutters were close fastened, through fear of robbers,) and so I knew that he could not see the opening of the door, and I kept pushing it on steadily, steadily.

--from The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe

foreshadowing? flashback? suspense?

Includes the place, time period, and atmosphere (physical and social) in which the story takes place.

Setting can clarify conflict, illuminate character, affect the mood, and act as a symbol.

There are primary settings and temporary settings. Most stories have MORE than one setting!

Think about the setting of The Outsiders…

Primary setting?

Temporary setting?

Conflict is the essence of fiction. Conflict is the struggle between opposing forces within a novel. The conflicts we encounter can usually be identified as one of four kinds.

Internal-Man vs. Self

External: Man vs. Man, Man vs. Nature, Man vs. Society

Most novels have more than one conflict; many conflicts can be categorized into several types.

THEM

E

The underlying meaning, message, and moral of the story.

A universal truth, a significant statement the story is making about society, human nature, or life lessons are all considered in theme. Here’s how to do it:

•Make a generalization.• Look at the main character, her conflict and how it was resolved to determine the theme of the story. •Start by understanding what the main character learned in the short story. •Then, generalize that lesson to apply to everyone.

If the main character learned not to trust her friend who just won the lottery, the theme of the short story may be that money changes people.

The Outsiders (again…)•Generalization: Classismclass·ismnoun 1. a biased or discriminatory attitude based on distinctions made between social or economic classes.

The Socs hate the Greasers because they are poor and the Greasers hate the Socs because they are rich.

•Character: Pony Conflict: The Greasers are constantly harassed and tormented by the Soc. The conflict is resolved when Pony reads a letter from Johnny and realizes that the story of the Greasers needs to be told so that they will not perpetuate the same cycle of hatred.

•Lesson: Pony learned that the Greasers and Socs are a lot alike through his friendship with Cherry, a Soc.

•This lesson applied to everyone: Bridging the Gap Between the Rich and the Poor

Remember the story “Seventh Grade” by Gary Soto?What’s the theme?

Scowling makes y

ou

look awesome?Hard work gets you the things

you need?

People do crazy things for love?

Explain why you chose this theme.