Weeks
5-6
What I Need to Know
This lesson was designed and written with you in mind. It is here to help you master the
various elements, techniques, and literary devices in various modes of fiction. The scope of this
module permits it to be used in many different learning situations.
In this lesson, you will be learning the essential elements, techniques and literary devices in
various modes of fiction. I will also show sample works of well-known local and foreign writers.
At the end of this lesson, you will be seeking for some literary pieces and identify the
elements, techniques and literary devices used.
After going through this lesson, you are expected to:
identify the various elements, techniques, and literary devices in various modes of fiction
(HUMSS_CW/MPIg-1-11)
2. appreciate some literary pieces which used various identify the various elements, techniques,
and literary devices.
1.
What I Know
Directions: Read the statements carefully. Identify what is being defined in each number. Choose the letter of
the correct answer and write your answers on your answer sheet. This is just a pretest. Your score in this part
won’t be graded.
1. __ is an element of a short story or prose which is the vantage point, perspective, or angle
from which the story is told.
a.
Point of view
b. character
c. plot
d. setting
2. __ is a type of character who is central to the story with all major events having some
importance to this character.
a.
narrator
b. antagonist c. protagonist
d. reader
3. __ is the series of events of a story. Freytag’s Pyramid is the other term for this. It is a
planned, logical series of events having a beginning, middle, and end.
a.
Point of view
b. character
c. plot
d. setting
4. It is a kind of plot where the story starts with an introduction of the characters and setting and
involves the development of the story.
a. Modular/episodic
b. verbal
c. linear
d. dramatic
5. A Plot device technique used to focus the reader’s, but not the characters’ attention on an
object, or location is called __.
a. Flashing arrow
b. Red Herring
c. Deathtrap
d. In medias res
6. A plot device that distracts the reader’s attention from the plot twist. It is used to maintain
tension and uncertainty is _
a. Flashing arrow
b. Red Herring c. Deathtrap
d. In medias res
7. A Vision Technique where series of dreams which allows the character to see events that
occur or have occurred in another time is called __.
a. Prophecy
b. Dream Sequence c. Analepsis
d. Prolepsis
8. It is an abrupt ending that leaves the plot incomplete, without denouement, it often leaves
characters in a precarious or difficult situation which hint at the possibility of a sequel.
a. Deus ex Machina b. Happy Ending c. Twist Ending d. Cliff Hanger
9. It is the general emotional weather of the literary piece.
a. irony
b. dramatic premise c. tone
d. theme
10. The character’s Struggle takes place in his/her own mind. It is usually has something to do
with a choice (choosing between right or wrong), or it may have to do with overcoming
emotions or mixed feelings.
a. Major Conflict
b. Minor Conflict
c. Internal
d. External
51
What’s In
Learning Task 1: Arrange to Know
Directions: Arrange the jumbled letter to identify the words that are relevant to our topic.
Definitions will help you to determine the hidden words. Write your answers on your answer sheet.
INOTCFI
literature in the form of prose, especially short stories and novels, that
describes imaginary events and people.
IYNTTILREEXTTUA
The complex interrelationship between a text and other texts taken as basic
to the creation or interpretation of the text
ENRGE
TLOP
ICEVDE
A category of literary composition; genres may be determined by literary
techniques, tone, content, or even (as in the case of fiction) length
the main events of a play, novel, movie, or similar work, devised and
presented by the writer as an interrelated sequence.
literary or linguistic technique that produces a specific effect, esp. a figure
of speech, narrative style, or plot mechanism.
What’s New
Learning Task 2: Use me to create
Directions: Using the formed words from the previous learning task, create two sentences that will
present your idea about the topic. Also, write your questions that will be answered after taking the
lesson. Do this on your paper.
Your sentences
Your Questions
What is It
In this part of your journey, we provide something for you to deepen your understanding
about poetry and its elements, literary devices and techniques.
Please continue reading with comprehension as you discover further knowledge that will help
you out in your quest on the remaining phases of this lesson.
What is Literature?
Literature, in its broadest sense, is any written work; etymologically the term derives from
Latin literatura/litteratura "writing formed with letters", although some definitions include spoken or
sung texts. More restrictively, it is writing that possesses literary merit, and language that foregrounds
literariness, as opposed to ordinary language.
Importance of Literature
 Serves as an art form used for expression
 preserves cultural ideals, customs, and morals.
 gives us a deeper context into the lives and livelihood of people distinct from
ourselves.
52
"Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary
competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our
lives have already become."
- C.S. Lewis, a British scholar and novelist.
What is a genre?
What is a genre \zhän-rə\
is a French word for "kind" or "sort is the term for any category of literature or other forms of
art or entertainment, e.g. music, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of
stylistic criteria.
What is Prose?
Prose is a form of language that possesses ordinary syntax and natural speech rather than
rhythmic structure; in which regard, along with its measurement in sentences rather than lines, it
differs from poetry.
Normal everyday speech is spoken in prose, and most people think and write in prose form.
Prose comprises of full grammatical sentences, which consist of paragraphs, and forgoes aesthetic
appeal in favor of clear, straightforward language. It can be said to be the most reflective of
conversational speech. Some works of prose do have versification, and a blend of the two formats that
is called “prose poetry.”
Example of a Poetry Verse vs. the Prose Form
Following is a poetry verse from a popular work of Robert Frost:
“The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.”
(Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, by Robert Frost)
Prose Form
Following is the same sentiment written in prose form:
“The woods look lovely against the setting darkness and as I gaze into the mysterious depths
of the forest, I feel like lingering here longer. However, I have pending appointments to keep, and
much distance to cover before I settle in for the night, or else I will be late for all of them.”
The above paragraph is conveying a similar message, but it is conveyed in ordinary language,
without a formal metrical structure to bind it.
Function of Prose
While there have been numerous basic discussions over the right and substantial development
of composition, the explanation behind its selection can be credited to its inexactly characterized
structure, which most authors feel great utilizing when communicating or passing on their thoughts
and considerations. It is the standard style of composing utilized for most spoken exchanges,
anecdotal just as effective and genuine composition, and talks. It is additionally the normal language
utilized in papers, magazines, writing, reference books, broadcasting, theory, law, history, technical
studies, and numerous different types of correspondence.
Some Common Types of Prose
Nonfictional Prose: A literary work like essays, biographies and autobiographies that are
mainly based on fact, though it may contain fictional elements in certain cases.
53
Fictional Prose: Holistically or partially imagined stories like novels and stories.
Heroic Prose: A literary work that might be recorded or recounted, and which utilizes a
significant number of the standard articulations found in oral custom. Models are legends and stories.
Epics and Legends may be examples of this.
Prose Poetry: A literary work that shows poetic characteristics and nature and utilizing
passionate impacts and elevated symbolism. However these are written in exposition rather than
section.
Examples of Prose in Literature
Prose in Novels
This is usually written in the form of a narrative and may be entirely a figment of the author’s
imagination.
Example #1: David Copperfield (By Charles Dickens)
“Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by
anybody else, these pages must show.”
Example #2: Anna Karenina (By Leo Tolstoy)
“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”
These examples of prose have been taken from novels, where the writers have employed their
imaginations. They are examples of fictional prose.
Prose in Speeches
Prose used in speeches often expresses thoughts and ideas of the speaker.
Example #3: Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech (By Mother Teresa)
“The poor are very great people. They can teach us so many beautiful things.”
Example #4: Equal Rights for Women speech (By U.S. Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm)
“As for the marriage laws, they are due for a sweeping reform, and an excellent beginning would be
to wipe the existing ones off the books.”
These prose examples have been taken from speeches where the writing is often crisp and persuasive
and suits the occasion to convey a specific message.
Prose in Plays
Prose written in plays aims to be dramatic and eventful.
Example #5: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (By Tennessee Williams)
“You can be young without money, but you can’t be old without it.”
Example #6: As You Like It (By William Shakespeare)
“All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players.”
Prose in plays is frequently in conversational mode and is conveyed by a character. Notwithstanding,
its style remains the equivalent all through the play as indicated by the character of the character.
Fiction incorporates short stories, books, fantasies, anecdotes, sentiments, and legends. For the most
part, center around one or a couple of significant characters that manage issues or challenges in their
lives.
Questions to Ponder: Can you recall some of your favorite prose literary pieces way back in
elementary and junior high school? Can you identify if it is a story in a novel or a short story or a
54
speech or a script of a play? What is the common elements that you can recall about particularly in
Fiction?
A. Elements of Fictional Prose
I. SETTING - The time and location in which a story takes place is called the setting. There are
several aspects of a story's setting to consider when examining how setting contributes to a story
(some, or all, may be present in a story):
a) place - geographical location.
b) time - When is the story taking place?
c) weather conditions - Is it rainy, sunny, stormy, etc?
d) social conditions - What is the daily life of the characters like?
e) mood or atmosphere - What feeling is created at the beginning of the story?
II. CHARACTER
– People who take part in the story
– Individuals that do the action in the story
– The representation of a person in the story
– Is revealed by the tone of voice
– Occasionally, it could be an animal or object given human qualities
– There are two meanings for the word character:
The person in a work of fiction.
The characteristics of a person.
Protagonist – the chief figure who struggles against opposing forces
Antagonist – the force, most often another character, that opposes the protagonist
Dynamic Character – one whose attitudes and values are affected by the events in the story
Flat Character – a character having only a single trait or quality
Round Character – a multi-dimensional or a complex character
Static Character – one whose personality, attitudes, and beliefs remain fixed, no matter what kinds
of situations he encounters
Characterization - The development of characters as done by the short story writer. The way in
which an author presents and reveals his/her characters.
Ways to do Characterization
– Direct presentation
– the author makes explicit/outright statements or explanations about the characters
Examples:
 As the years passed, Makato grew tall and handsome.
 He never idled. He never complained and was always satisfied.
 He did every kind of work—carrying heavy things, clearing away the forest, or feeding
pigs.
–
Indirect presentation
– the author reveals the characters through actions and dialogues
Example:
 “I would like to go on a journey for an adventure,” said Makato.
III. PLOT
The plot is the logical arrangement of events in a story or play. The plot is a organized. logical series
of events having a beginning, middle, and end.
55
Kinds of Plot
1. Linear Plot
In literature, a linear plot begins at a certain point, moves through a series of events to a
climax and then ends up at another point.
Also known as the plot structure of Aristotle, it is possible to represent a linear plot line with
the drawing of an arc.
The primary advantage of using a linear plot is that the reader knows, or at least has an idea,
of where the plot goes next, and the reader is guaranteed to get a beginning and ending.
a) Introduction - The beginning of the story where the characters and the setting is revealed.
b) Rising Action - This is where the events in the story become complicated and the conflict in the
story is revealed (events between the introduction and climax).
c) Climax - This is the highest point of interest and the turning point of the story. The reader
wonders what will happen next; will the conflict be resolved or not?
d) Falling action - The events and complications begin to resolve themselves. The reader knows
what has happened next and if the conflict was resolved or not (events between climax and
denouement).
e) Denouement - This is the final outcome or untangling of events in the story.
2. Modular Plot
Nonlinear narrative, disjointed narrative or disrupted narrative is a narrative technique,
sometimes used in literature, film, hypertext websites and other narratives, where events are
portrayed, for example out of chronological order, or in other ways where the narrative does not
follow the direct causality pattern of the events featured, such as parallel distinctive plot lines, dream
immersions or narrating another story inside the main plot-line. It is often used to mimic the structure
and recall of human memory, but has been applied for other reasons as well.
It is a story that does not follow a linear narrative. That is, it doesn’t move in a chronological
order, instead jumping around within the story or between different stories. Sometimes, the different
sections don’t even feature the same characters or world. Instead, they are united by thematic
meaning.
3. Episodic Plot
Made up of a series of chapters or stories linked together by the same character, place, or
theme but held apart by their individual plot, purpose, and subtext.
56
IV. CONFLICT - Conflict is essential to plot. It is the opposition of forces which ties one incident to
another and makes the plot move. Within a short story there may be only one central struggle, or there
may be one dominant struggle with many minor ones.
There are two types of Conflict:
1) External - A struggle with a force outside one's self.
2) Internal - A struggle within one's self; a person must make some decision, overcome pain, quiet
their temper, resist an urge, etc.
There are various kinds of Conflict:
1) Man vs. Man (physical) - The leading character struggles with his physical strength against other
men, forces of nature, or animals. A character struggles with another character.
Protagonist vs. Antagonist
The classic “good guy” vs. “bad guy” situation.
Example: - Spiderman. This is the story of Peter Parker who is nerdy high-schooler.
One day while on an excursion to a laboratory a runway radioactive spider bites him... And
his life changes in a way no one could have imagined. Peter acquires a muscle-bound physique, clear
vision, ability to cling to surfaces and crawl over walls, shooting webs from his wrist... But the fun
isn’t going to last.
An eccentric millionaire Norman Osborn administers a performance enhancing drug on
himself and his maniacal alter ego Green Goblin emerges. Now Peter Parker has to become a SpiderMan and take Green Goblin to the task... Or else Goblin will kill him. They come face to face and the
war begins in which only one of them will survive at the end
2) Man vs. Circumstances (classical) - The leading character struggles against fate, or the
circumstances of life facing him/her.
3) Man vs. Nature - A character struggles with a force of nature (natural disaster, desolation, animal,
etc.) Usually, the character is struggling to survive.
Example: San Andreas. In the movie, A series of massive earthquakes hits Nevada and California.
Caught in the middle is a helicopter rescue pilot, Raymond Gaines. Flying his helicopter, he must first
rescue his ex-wife, Emma, and his daughter, Blake. Meanwhile, a pre-eminent seismologist, Dr
Lawrence Hayes, is trying to predict where the next earthquake will hit.
4) Man vs. Society - In this conflict, a character, or a group of characters fight against the society in
which they live. The character fights against social traditions or rules (fight for freedom, rights, for a
cause etc.) Society becomes a “character” of its own. Usually used to comment on positive or
negative aspects for real society. (SATIRE)
Example: Avatar. In the movie Avatar a man is put into an army to get rid of a civilization of blue
creatures. They want the civilization to move to another location cause their town is built over rich
treasures. But the civilization prays to their God in that one location. Jake Scully (main character) is
told to go into a replica of a body from civilization. After getting used to how they live he wants to
help them fight for their land, so he starts a war to help keep their land.
5) Man vs. Self - The character’s Struggle takes place in his/her own mind.
Usually has something to do with a choice (choosing between right or wrong), or it may have to do
with overcoming emotions or mixed feelings.
Example: Tangled (Rapunzel). In the movie Tangled Rapunzel, experiences man vs. Self throughout
the movie. She cannot decide if she want to stay in the tower or defy her “mother’s wishes and leaved
the tower. When she finally decides to leave, she is very hesitant and does not know if what her
“mother” has told her is true or not. She goes back and forth with herself wondering what will happen
if she continues.
57
6) Man vs. Supernatural - is a conflict between a character and something that is not normal in some
way. Supernatural elements include ghosts, omens, and superstitions.
Example: Predator
- The U.S government hires a team of commandos. The group of goes to Guatemala. There they
battle and invisible extraterrestrial with superhuman strength.
7) Man vs. Fate - This type of Conflicts occurs when is trapped by an inevitable destiny, freedom and
free.
Example: Example: Fahrenheit 451
-In part of Fahrenheit 451, “Burning Bright,” Montag’s Fate is to be hunted and killed. The Hound,
programmed to kill Montags, is chasing him, and has the TV says, “The Mechanical Hound never
fails” (page numbers vary by edition)..
8) Man vs. Technology - The protagonist must overcome a machine or technology. Most often the
encounter with the machine or technology is through the character's own doing. For example, it may
be technology or a machine that they created, purchased, or owned with the assumption that it would
make their life easier. Over time the protagonist must overcome the technology, in some instances,
even destroying it before it destroys them.
Example: The Matrix. Thomas A. Anderson is a man living two lives. By day he is an average
computer programmer and by night a hacker know as Neo. Neo has always questioned his reality, but
the truth is far beyond his imagination. Neo finds himself targeted by the police when he is contacted
by Morpheus, a Legendary computer hacker branded a terrorist by the government.
V. POINT OF VIEW
Point of view, or P.O.V., is defined as the angle from which the story is told.
1. Third Person P.O.V – The narrator does not participate in the action of the story as one of the
characters but let us know exactly what the characters feel. (uses third personal pronoun he, she, it,
they)
2. First Person - The story is told by the protagonist or one of the characters who interacts closely
with the protagonist or other characters (using pronouns I, me, we, etc).
The reader sees the story through this person's eyes as he/she experiences it and only knows what
he/she knows or feels.
3. Omniscient- A narrator who knows everything about the characters is all knowing or omniscient.
a) Omniscient Limited - The author tells the story in third person (using pronouns they, she, he, it,
etc). We know only what the character knows and what the author allows him/her to tell us. We can
see the thoughts and feelings of characters if the author chooses to reveal them to us.
b) Omniscient Objective – The author tells the story in the third person. It appears a camera is
following the characters, going anywhere, and recording only what is seen and heard. No
interpretations are offered. The reader is placed in the position of spectator without the author there to
explain. The reader must interpret events on his own.
VI. THEME - The theme in a piece of fiction is its controlling idea or its central insight. It is the
author's underlying meaning or main idea that he is trying to convey. The theme may be the author's
thoughts about a topic or view of human nature. The title of the short story usually points to what the
writer is saying, and he may use various figures of speech to emphasize his theme, such as: symbol,
allusion, simile, metaphor, hyperbole, or irony.
Some simple examples of common themes from literature, TV, and film are:
- things are not always as they appear to be
- Love is blind
- Believe in yourself
- People are afraid of change
- Don't judge a book by its cover
Presenting the theme of the prose:
• the feelings of the main character about the subject written about
58
• through the thoughts and conversations of different characters
• the experiences of the main character in the course of a literary work
• the actions and events taking place in a narrative
Theme Vs. Subject
• A poem’s subject is the topic of the poem, or what the poem is about
• The theme is an idea that the poem expresses about the subject or uses the subject to explore
• Example: So, for example, in the Edgar Allan Poe poem “The Raven”, the subject is the
raven, who continually repeats a single word in response to the speaker’s questions.
• The theme of the poem, however, is the irreversibility of death—the speaker asks the raven,
in a variety of ways, whether or not he will see his dead beloved again, to which the raven
always replies “nevermore.”
Motifs
• Look for meaningful repeated elements in the poem, or motifs.
• An example from the poem “The Raven” is the repeated word “nevermore.”
• Whenever an element is repeated in a poem, you should assume it is both intentional and
meaningful.
• Motifs are often connected to the theme of the poem, as is the case with “nevermore.”
This connection is so close that many people use the words “theme” and “motif”
interchangeably.
VII. TONE
• When you speak, your tone of voice suggests your attitude.
• In fact, it suggests two attitudes: one concerning the people you’re addressing (your audience)
and the other concerning the thing you’re talking about (your subject).
• That’s what the term tone means when it’s applied to poetry as well. Tone can also mean the
general emotional weather of the poem.
Example: “And the trees all died. They were orange trees. I don’t know why they died, they just died.
Something wrong with the soil possibly or maybe the stuff we got from the nursery wasn’t the best. We
complained about it. So we’ve got thirty kids there, each kid had his or her own little tree to plant and
we’ve got these thirty dead trees. All these kids looking at these little brown sticks, it was depressing.”
Questions to Ponder: Can you still recall the novel that you have analyzed when you were
taking the 21st Century Literature in the Philippines and the World? How was the storyline? Was
the author used effectively the elements?
B. TECHNIQUES AND LITERARY DEVICES
A literary device is a technique that shapes narrative to produce an effect on the reader. It is a
literary or linguistic technique that produces a specific effect, esp. a figure of speech, narrative style,
or plot mechanism.
Plot Device - an object, character or a concept introduced into the story by the author to introduce its
plot.
1. Flashing arrow- technique used to focus the reader’s, but not the characters’ attention on an
object, or location.
Example: The Shutter
A man wonders on his consistent neck ache without knowing that he is carrying the ghost all
those times.
2. Red herring- it distracts the reader’s attention from the plot twist. It is used to maintain
tension and uncertainty.
Example: Professor Snape of Harry Potter
In Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Severus Snape is a red herring, sneaky and
behaving suspiciously but not, eventually guilty. In fact, Snape's chequered path through the
59
books is littered with red herrings. Less ambiguously, Sirius Black is painted as an evil
character, to be feared, which is undermined when he finally meets Harry.
3. Deathtrap- device that the villain uses to try to kill the protagonist and satisfy his own
sadistic desires.
Example: Different Death scenes in Final Destination stories
4. Reverse chronology- is a technique where the story begins at the end and works back toward
the beginning.
Example: The White House Story where the story begins at the end and progressed the story
while taking the story backward.
5. ‘In medias res’- the narrative starts in the middle of the story instead of from its beginning.
Other events are often introduced through a series of flashbacks.
Example: The Odyssey of Homer. The story started in the middle instead of the beginning of
the story. Flashbacks were used to introduce the initial events in the story.
VISION - character share with the reader visions of the past or the future to explain a character’s
motives.
1. Dream sequence- series of dreams which allows the character to see events that occur or have
occurred in another time
Example: The Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Ebenezer Scrooge had a series of dreams which allowed him to see the events happened in
another time with the help of the Christmas ghosts of the past, present and future and led him to
change his attitude.
2. Analepsis (flashback)- prevents events from before the current time frame. Flashbacks are
usually presented as characters’ memories and are used to explain their background.
Example: Titanic. The story used Rose, the main character, to tell the events happened to Titanic.
3. Prolepsis (flash-forward)- presents events that will occur in the future.
Example: Final Destination seeing what will happen in the future.
4. Prophecy- is often used in science fiction to underline their futuristic structures.
Example: Breaking Dawn’s Final Rival Scene between the Volturi and Bella Swan and Edward
Cullen’s family. Alice who has a premonition supernatural presented the prophecy, the possible
event that can be happened once the action will be continued.
5. Foreshadowing- is a premonition, muck like a flash-forward, but only hints at the future.
Example: Toy Story 2. The use of Buzz’s glass space helmet to ignite the rocket string was
foreshadowed when Buzz was accidentally burnt because of the glass lens.
ENDING - refers to story endings
1. Cliff-hanger- an abrupt ending that leaves the plot incomplete, without denouement, it often
leaves characters in a precarious or difficult situation which hint at the possibility of a sequel.
Films with sequel are examples of this.
2. Twist ending- is an unexpected finale that gives an entirely new vision on the entire plot. It is
a powerful technique but may leave the reader dissatisfied and frustrated.
Example: Planet of the Apes. Twist: As Taylor escapes with mute companion Nova (Linda
Harrison), he is stunned to discover that he didn't land on a distant planet, he was back on
Earth, centuries into the future.
3. Happy ending- a finale when everything ends in the best way for the hero.
Example: Since the target audience are the children, Disney Movies have Happy endings.
4. Deus ex machina- plot dating back to ancient Greek theater, where the conflict is resolve
through a means (god, or dues) that seem unrelated to the story. This allows the author to end
the story as desired without following the logic and continuity of the story.
For a plot device to be a Deus Ex Machina, it has to satisfy the following conditions:
 The plot is facing an impossible and hopeless problem, no existing characters can solve.
 A new element is introduced.
 The element itself usually doesn't have any plot/character development to set it up.
60



Even if the element was previously mentioned, it was never used in such fashion, or never
explained to have such power.
The element is here to solve this problem and disappear again. The element's power was
never used to solve other problems, even the situation is similar.
The element is independent of character choices made in the story.
Perfect example of Deus ex machina is the Fairy Godmother of Cinderella who helped
her during the moment that the reader thought that no one could help the main
character.
Questions to Ponder: Among the literary techniques and devices presented, which one for
you is the most effective? What will be the devices and techniques that you will use in your own
fictional story?
What’s More
Learning Task 3:
Read and Tell!
Directions: Read the statements with understanding. Identify the Theme, Subject and Tone of the
following excerpts. Use the table below and write your answers on your answer sheet.
Literary Piece
1
2
3
4
5
Theme
Subject
Tone
1. The space travelers were travelling to the moon, when their spaceship suddenly ran out of
fuel. They were all frightened to learn that they wouldn’t be able to return to Earth and could
only land on the moon.
2. Their marriage ceremony was taking place in a grand hotel. All the eminent people of the city
were invited, the reason that the celebration was excellent.
3. The teacher said that she hoped all of her students would pass with good grades.
4. The politician was delivering a speech on the need for peace between two neighboring states.
He said through peace they could achieve what not possible through war.
5. The general commanded his troops to open fire at the enemy, and to kill each and every
soldier of the combatants.
Learning Task 4: Very Short Story Time
Directions: Read the short stories with understanding. Use the table below to determine the parts of
the plot in each story and write your answers on your answer sheet.
Elements
1. Plot
Exposition
Rising Action
Climax
Falling Action
Denouement
2. Point of View
Story 1
Story 2
61
3. Characters
4. Setting
5. Conflict
1. Kaitlin wants to buy a puppy. She goes to the pound and begins looking through the cages
for her future pet. At the end of the hallway, she sees a small, sweet brown dog with a
white spot on its nose. At that instant, she knows she wants to adopt him. After he receives
shots and a medical check, she and the dog, Berkley, go home together.
2. Scott wants to be on the football team, but he’s worried he won’t make the team. He spends
weeks working out as hard as possible, preparing for try outs. At try outs, he amazes coaches
with his skill as a quarterback. They ask him to be their starting quarterback that year and
give him a jersey. Scott leaves the field, ecstatic!
Learning Task 5: Read and Appreciate
Directions: Read the short story with understanding and appreciation.
Broken Hope
by Skye Robertson
The Doctor hated his job, not all of it but this part. His job is usually so rewarding. He saves
people’s lives; he gives mothers their children. He is the guardian angel that they pray for. He strides
down the hospital halls, his footsteps creating a symphony of righteous and warm music. The walls of
the obstetrics center painted with bright vibrant colors, full of sounds of happiness and joy. The
Doctor would walk down the hall full of pride. Standing straight a grin of true content on his face.
New fathers would greet him with thank you and handshakes. And the mothers, while thankful could
not bear to tear their gaze from their new child’s face. They just mumbled thank you as they cried
tears of joy. The nurses would give him flirtatious looks, and he would send them right back. The
interns looked at him like he was a Rockstar, their hero. But not today, today was different.
He’d been sitting in his office, about to go see a patient, he was happy. When he received an
email from his friend, a doctor in the oncology department. He’d consulted him to help with the test
result for a patient. The patient he was going to see, Cora Broehain and her husband Euston. He
picked up a doughnut sitting on his desk and took a bite while opening the file. He scanned over it
looking for one word humming the song Hero by Enrique Iglesias while looking. When he found the
one word he abruptly stopped, and his doughnut slipped from his hand. He read the word over and
over again and again, Hoping, praying that it was a mistake. He called his friend, but their was none.
All of the sudden he was being stared in the face by the only part of his job that he hated. His
shoulders slumped his happiness and content gone. He slowly rose from his chair and walked down
the hallway that he usually loved so much. But today, the hallway was different. He wasn’t smiling,
he walked slowly drained of purpose. The walls were a grey and bleak. His footsteps echoing down
the hall making it sound as if he was being followed, haunted by ghosts. As the doctor neared the end
of the hall he came upon the door. He pauses at the door listening to the sounds of laughter, joy, and
love inside. All of this he was about to ruin, he took a deep breath, knocked once, and walked inside.
Our lives were perfect, my wife Cora Broehain was laying on her back in a hospital bed. Her
swollen stomach exposed; her eyes fixed on the screen. Her mouth parted as she took in our daughter,
Hope. Still trapped in Cora’s stomach, waiting to be released.
“Ohhhh Euston she’s perfect,” her voice choked with tears as she looks toward her husband.
“Just like her mama,” I lean down and kiss her forehead. Then I kiss her belly.
62
“Euston stop,” I keep going and she goes from giggling to laughing. She’s still laughing when
we hear the knock on the door. That single knock signaling the end of good times. Followed by Dr.
Kevorkian sweeping in, his coat flapping like the robes of Death himself.
“Hey Doc,” I rose and extended my arm to shake his hand but freezing when I saw him
flinch. He started sweating and his eyes shifted between Cora and me. I knew that look, the look a
deer gives when trapped in headlights. A look of impending doom, my heart grew heavy and I took
my wife's hand. She looked me in the eye trying to discern what's wrong before finally piecing it
together. Her shoulder stiffened and her lips pursed, a tear already welling up in her eye.
“Euston, Cora I’m afraid I have some bad news,” He paused taking a breath composing
himself. “Your tests came back….. It’s Cancer.”
“No, No, No please God No,” Cora cry’s out screeching clawing into her husband’s arms.
Euston gathers her shaking form barely holding on himself.
“Please Doctor Kevorkian tell me there’s something we can do, anything please.” Euston’s
words frantic taking Dr. Kevorkian by the shoulders shaking him. Eyes mad with grief searching his
face but seeing the hard lines of bad news yet to come.
“There’s more the treatment for your cancer,” his eyes nervously darted to Cora’s. “Is
extremely aggressive, you would normally have a high success rate.” Then she’ll be okay right she
has to be ok. Cora reaches out and touches his hand Looking the doctor hard in the face.
“You said normally, what’s different here?” Dr. Kevorkian looked at her in grief and
unbearable pain.
“What’s different here is Hope, you can survive the treatment, but she can’t. I’m sorry but
you have to make a choice.” Wait what do you mean we have to make a choice. Euston stands face
red in anger, what kind of choice. Cora’s eyes fall down already knowing the truth before the Dr. says
it. “If your wife gets the chemo Hope will die, but if she doesn’t your wife will die.
“How do we save her?”
“What are you talking about Cora you’re not gonna die.” Euston yelling at her grabbing her
gently tugging. Fully conscious of her condition. “You aren’t dying, we can, we can have other kids.”
Euston chock’s out stammering between tears.
“No baby we can’t, because I can’t let Hope die. We’ve been trying for years we lost faith
until God gave us this….. This hope. You have to hold onto her.”
“Don’t say that,” Eustons grief torn screech echoes out. “Don’t say that I have to take care of
her as if it’s already been decided.” He kneels down by her and rests his head on her stomach. “Don’t
talk like you’re already dead. Please you’re all I have.” He’s racked with sobs as he hugs her swollen
belly. Cora looks at the ceiling trying to make the tears fall silently.
“Can you hear her?” She whispers silently her voice breaking. “Can you feel her heartbeat?
Remember the time I woke up and punched you because I thought you kicked me?” Euston laughs
through his tears choking on them.
“Not even born yet and still making us fight.” He keeps chuckling making Cora smile. Cora
grabs his head and looks him right in the eye’s. Tears pouring down her face.
“Baby you know what I want, and I know what you want, but you have to make the decision.
But before you do. Just think of all the moments of happiness she’s already given us, Choose.” Euston
63
starts crying again before steeling himself. He looks at Dr. Kevorkian who had been shifting
awkwardly the whole time.
“I choose……”
The hill was moving as the pair climbed it. The wind blowing the grass every direction. They
walked to the lone headstone and kneeled before it. The man appearing older than he was. Weathered
by the storm of pain that makes up the world. He stared at the tombstone no longer prey to tears, but
forever filled with grief. He squeezes the hand of his partner.
“I think about the choice I made everyday. I play it in my mind, but I still chose you. Every
year we come here not just because she died on this day. But because it should remind us that the hard
choices in life. The ones that come at a great sacrifice, always have the best reward.” He looks down
at his partner, “If there’s one thing she taught me it would be to never give up Hope. Do you
understand sweetheart?” His partner looks up at him and smiles her candy smile.
“Yes daddy.”
Learning Task 6: Go Back with the Fifth
Directions: Go back with the story in the previous learning task. After reading the story, arrange the
sequence of events to create the plot the story. Use number 1-5 and write your answers on your
answer sheet.
___ 1. They are in the cemetery visiting her wife and telling her child the great sacrifice and choice
that people will get through.
___ 2. They have to decide who will live, whether Cora will get chemo and the child will die or Cora
will die, and the Hope will save. Then Euston chose.
___ 3. Cora and Euston were on the Hospital and waiting for the result of the test. When the doctor
arrived and tell the result they were shocked knowing that Cora has a cancer.
___ 4. The doctor received an email from a friend to help in a test. The doctor was going to see Cora
Broehain and her husband Euston to deliver the news. When he read the result, he was shocked, and
he thought it was just a mistake. He walked at the hallway in a sad mood.
___ 5. The story starts by introducing and on discussing the job of the doctor. The feeling of saving
people’s life and the happiness he brought to a mother and father’s face.
Learning Task 7: Element Time
Directions: Read the statements carefully. Identify the element of fictional prose being described in
each sentence. Write your answers on your answer sheet.
1. A point of view where the narrator is not included in the story. He is not one of the characters and
uses the pronouns she, he, it, they is called __.
2. A third person point of view where the narrator told as though a camera is following the characters,
going anywhere and everywhere and recording only what is seen and heard is called __.
3. It is a kind of plot that follows a conventional arrangement of the events where the story may begin
in any part of the plot.
64
4. A Plot device technique used to focus the reader’s, but not the characters’ attention on an object, or
location is called __.
5. A Vision Technique where series of dreams which allows the character to see events that occur or
have occurred in another time is called __.
6. It is the narrative starts in the middle of the story instead of from its beginning. Other events are
often introduced through a series of flashbacks.
7. It prevents events from previous to the current time frame. Flashbacks are usually presented as
characters’ memories and are used to explain their background.
8. It is a plot dating back to ancient Greek theater, where the conflict is resolve through a means (god,
or dues) that seem unrelated to the story. This allows the author to end the story as desired without
following the logic and continuity of the story.
9. The character’s Struggle takes place in his/her own mind. It is usually has something to do with a
choice (choosing between right or wrong), or it may have to do with overcoming emotions or mixed
feelings
10. In a piece of fiction is its controlling idea or its central insight, it is the author's underlying
meaning or main idea that he is trying to convey
What I Have Learned
Learning Task 8: “T-M-L Phrase
Complete the following phrases.
The Topic was about
______________________________________________________________________
It Matters because
______________________________________________________________________
I’ve Learned today that
______________________________________________________________________
What I Can Do
Learning Task 9: End it on your own way!
Directions: Go back with the story of Broken Hope, if you could change the ending of the story, how
would you end it? Write your ending part on your answer sheet.
Also, determine the Plot Device and Vision used in the story. Use the table below.
Plot Device of the Story
Vision of the Story
65
Your Own Ending
Assessment
Identifying Time! Directions: Read the story with understanding and appreciation. Using the outline
below, identify the elements, literary devices and techniques used by the writer of the story. Write
your answers on your answer sheet.
THE LAST LEAF
O. Henry
In a little district west of Washington Square the streets have run crazy and broken themselves
into small strips called "places." These "places" make strange angles and curves. One Street crosses
itself a time or two. An artist once discovered a valuable possibility in this street. Suppose a collector
with a bill for paints, paper and canvas should, in traversing this route, suddenly meet himself coming
back, without a cent having been paid on account!
So, to quaint old Greenwich Village the art people soon came prowling, hunting for north
windows and eighteenth-century gables and Dutch attics and low rents. Then they imported some
pewter mugs and a chafing dish or two from Sixth Avenue and became a "colony."
At the top of a squatty, three-story brick Sue and Johnsy had their studio. "Johnsy" was
familiar for Joanna. One was from Maine, the other from California. They had met at the table d'hôte
of an Eighth Street "Delmonico's," and found their tastes in art, chicory salad and bishop sleeves so
congenial that the joint studio resulted.
That was in May. In November a cold, unseen stranger, whom the doctors called Pneumonia,
stalked about the colony, touching one here and there with his icy fingers. Over on the east side this
ravager strode boldly, smiting his victims by scores, but his feet trod slowly through the maze of the
narrow and moss-grown "places."
Mr. Pneumonia was not what you would call a chivalric old gentleman. A mite of a little
woman with blood thinned by California zephyrs was hardly fair game for the red-fisted, shortbreathed old duffer. But Johnsy he smote; and she lay, scarcely moving, on her painted iron bedstead,
looking through the small Dutch windowpanes at the blank side of the next brick house.
One morning the busy doctor invited Sue into the hallway with a shaggy, grey eyebrow.
"She has one chance in - let us say, ten," he said, as he shook down the mercury in his clinical
thermometer. " And that chance is for her to want to live. This way people have of lining-u on the side
of the undertaker makes the entire pharmacopoeia look silly. Your little lady has made up her mind
that she's not going to get well. Has she anything on her mind?"
"She - she wanted to paint the Bay of Naples someday." said Sue.
"Paint? - bosh! Has she anything on her mind worth thinking twice - a man for instance?"
"A man?" said Sue, with a jew's-harp twang in her voice. "Is a man worth - but, no, doctor;
there is nothing of the kind."
"Well, it is the weakness, then," said the doctor. "I will do all that science, so far as it may
filter through my efforts, can accomplish. But whenever my patient begins to count the carriages in
her funeral procession, I subtract 50 per cent from the curative power of medicines. If you will get her
to ask one question about the new winter styles in cloak sleeves, I will promise you a one-in-five
chance for her, instead of one in ten."
After the doctor had gone Sue went into the workroom and cried a Japanese napkin to a pulp.
Then she swaggered into Johnsy's room with her drawing board, whistling ragtime.
Johnsy lay, scarcely making a ripple under the bedclothes, with her face toward the window.
Sue stopped whistling, thinking she was asleep.
66
She arranged her board and began a pen-and-ink drawing to illustrate a magazine story.
Young artists must have their way to Art by drawing pictures for magazine stories that young authors
write to pave their way to Literature.
As Sue was sketching a pair of elegant horseshow riding trousers and a monocle of the figure
of the hero, an Idaho cowboy, she heard a low sound, several times repeated. She went quickly to the
bedside.
Johnsy's eyes were open wide. She was looking out the window and counting - counting
backward.
"Twelve," she said, and little later "eleven"; and then "ten," and "nine"; and then "eight" and
"seven", almost together.
Sue look solicitously out of the window. What was there to count? There was only a bare,
dreary yard to be seen, and the blank side of the brick house twenty feet away. An old, old ivy vine,
gnarled and decayed at the roots, climbed halfway up the brick wall. The cold breath of autumn had
stricken its leaves from the vine until its skeleton branches clung, almost bare, to the crumbling
bricks.
"What is it, dear?" asked Sue.
"Six," said Johnsy, in almost a whisper. "They're falling faster now. Three days ago, there
were almost a hundred. It made my headache to count them. But now it's easy. There goes another
one. There are only five left now."
"Five what, dear? Tell your Sudie."
"Leaves. On the ivy vine. When the last one falls, I must go, too. I've known that for three
days. Didn't the doctor tell you?"
"Oh, I never heard of such nonsense," complained Sue, with magnificent scorn. "What have
old ivy leaves to do with your getting well? And you used to love that vine so, you naughty girl. Don't
be a goosey. Why, the doctor told me this morning that your chances for getting well real soon were let's see exactly what he said - he said the chances were ten to one! Why, that's almost as good a
chance as we have in New York when we ride on the street cars or walk past a new building. Try to
take some broth now, and let Sudie go back to her drawing, so she can sell the editor man with it, and
buy port wine for her sick child, and pork chops for her greedy self."
"You needn't get any more wine," said Johnsy, keeping her eyes fixed out the window. "There
goes another. No, I don't want any broth. That leaves just four. I want to see the last one fall before it
gets dark. Then I'll go, too."
"Johnsy, dear," said Sue, bending over her, "will you promise me to keep your eyes closed,
and not look out the window until I am done working? I must hand those drawings in by to-morrow. I
need the light, or I would draw the shade down."
"Couldn't you draw in the other room?" asked Johnsy, coldly.
"I'd rather be here by you," said Sue. "Besides, I don't want you to keep looking at those silly
ivy leaves."
"Tell me as soon as you have finished," said Johnsy, closing her eyes, and lying white and
still as fallen statue, "because I want to see the last one fall. I'm tired of waiting. I'm tired of thinking.
I want to turn lose my hold on everything, and go sailing down, down, just like one of those poor,
tired leaves."
"Try to sleep," said Sue. "I must call Behrman up to be my model for the old hermit miner. I'll
not be gone a minute. Don't try to move 'til I come back."
67
Old Behrman was a painter who lived on the ground floor beneath them. He was past sixty
and had a Michael Angelo's Moses beard curling down from the head of a satyr along with the body
of an imp. Behrman was a failure in art. Forty years he had wielded the brush without getting near
enough to touch the hem of his Mistress's robe. He had been always about to paint a masterpiece but
had never yet begun it. For several years he had painted nothing except now and then a daub in the
line of commerce or advertising. He earned a little by serving as a model to those young artists in the
colony who could not pay the price of a professional. He drank gin to excess, and still talked of his
coming masterpiece. For the rest he was a fierce little old man, who scoffed terribly at softness in
anyone, and who regarded himself as especial mastiff-in-waiting to protect the two young artists in
the studio above.
Sue found Behrman smelling strongly of juniper berries in his dimly lighted den below. In
one corner was a blank canvas on an easel that had been waiting there for twenty-five years to receive
the first line of the masterpiece. She told him of Johnsy's fancy, and how she feared she would,
indeed, light, and fragile as a leaf herself, float away, when her slight hold upon the world grew
weaker.
Old Behrman, with his red eyes plainly streaming, shouted his contempt and derision for such
idiotic imaginings.
"Vass!" he cried. "Is dere people in de world mit der foolishness to die because leafs dey
drop off from a confounded vine? I haf not heard of such a thing. No, I will not bose as a model for
your fool hermit-dunderhead. Vy do you allow dot silly pusiness to come in der brain of her? Ach, dot
poor leetle Miss Johnsy."
"She is very ill and weak," said Sue, "and the fever has left her mind morbid and full of
strange fancies. Very well, Mr. Behrman, if you do not care to pose for me, you needn't. But I think
you are a horrid old - old flibbertigibbet."
"You are just like a woman!" yelled Behrman. "Who said I will not bose? Go on. I come mit
you. For half an hour I haf peen trying to say dot I am ready to bose. Gott! dis is not any blace in
which one so goot as Miss Johnsy shall lie sick. Someday I vill baint a masterpiece, and ve shall all go
away. Gott! yes."
Johnsy was sleeping when they went upstairs. Sue pulled the shade down to the windowsill,
and motioned Behrman into the other room. In there they peered out the window fearfully at the ivy
vine. Then they looked at each other for a moment without speaking. A persistent, cold rain was
falling, mingled with snow. Behrman, in his old blue shirt, took his seat as the hermit miner on an
upturned kettle for a rock.
When Sue awoke from an hour's sleep the next morning, she found Johnsy with dull, wideopen eyes staring at the drawn green shade.
"Pull it up; I want to see," she ordered, in a whisper.
Wearily Sue obeyed.
But, lo! after the beating rain and fierce gusts of wind that had endured through the livelong
night, there yet stood out against the brick wall one ivy leaf. It was the last one on the vine. Still dark
green near its stem, with its serrated edges tinted with the yellow of dissolution and decay, it hung
bravely from the branch some twenty feet above the ground.
"It is the last one," said Johnsy. "I thought it would surely fall during the night. I heard the
wind. It will fall to-day, and I shall die at the same time."
"Dear, dear!" said Sue, leaning her worn face down to the pillow, "think of me, if you won't
think of yourself. What would I do?"
68
But Johnsy did not answer. The lonesomest thing in all the world is a soul when it is making
ready to go on its mysterious, far journey. The fancy seemed to possess her more strongly as one by
one the ties that bound her to friendship and to earth were loosed.
The day wore away, and even through the twilight they could see the lone ivy leaf clinging to
its stem against the wall. And then, with the coming of the night the north wind was again loosed,
while the rain still beat against the windows and pattered down from the low Dutch eaves.
When it was light enough Johnsy, the merciless, commanded that the shade be raised.
The ivy leaf was still there.
Johnsy lay for a long time looking at it. And then she called to Sue, who was stirring her
chicken broth over the gas stove.
"I've been a bad girl, Sudie," said Johnsy. "Something has made that last leaf stay there to
show me how wicked I was. It is a sin to want to die. You may bring a me a little broth now, and
some milk with a little port in it, and - no; bring me a hand-mirror first, and then pack some pillows
about me, and I will sit up and watch you cook."
And hour later she said:
"Sudie, someday I hope to paint the Bay of Naples."
The doctor came in the afternoon, and Sue had an excuse to go into the hallway as he left.
"Even chances," said the doctor, taking Sue's thin, shaking hand in his. "With good nursing
you'll win." And now I must see another case I have downstairs. Behrman, his name is - some kind of
an artist, I believe. Pneumonia, too. He is an old, weak man, and the attack is acute. There is no hope
for him; but he goes to the hospital to-day to be made more comfortable."
The next day the doctor said to Sue: "She's out of danger. You won. Nutrition
And that afternoon Sue came to the bed where Johnsy lay, contentedly knitting a very blue
and very useless woollen shoulder scarf, and put one arm around her, pillows and all.
"I have something to tell you, white mouse," she said. "Mr. Behrman died of pneumonia today in the hospital. He was ill only two days. The janitor found him the morning of the first day in his
room downstairs helpless with pain. His shoes and clothing were wet through and icy cold. They
couldn't imagine where he had been on such a dreadful night. And then they found a lantern, still
lighted, and a ladder that had been dragged from its place, and some scattered brushes, and a palette
with green and yellow colours mixed on it, and - look out the window, dear, at the last ivy leaf on the
wall. Didn't you wonder why it never fluttered or moved when the wind blew? Ah, darling, it's
Behrman's masterpiece - he painted it there the night that the last leaf fell."
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
Characters (Consider the kinds of characters)
Setting (Consider the elements of setting)
Plot (Identify the five parts of a plot)
Theme, Tone, Subject, Motif
Conflict and Point of View
Plot Device, Vision and Finale used in the story
69