Elements of Literature
Over :
The Sniper
By: Ben
IntroductionI am going to tell you about the story “The
Sniper” by Liam O'Flaherty. I will show you a
plot diagram of the story, the setting, point
of view and the theme of the story also so
you may get a better understanding of the
story.
Plot DiagramClimax
Exposition
Inciting
Incident
Dénouemen
t
Resolution
Exposition- Introduces the story to
the reader like:
Ex: Republicans and Free Staters are in a civil
war
Ex: Two snipers are on top of the roofs
Inciting Incident- The first problem
in the story.
Ex: Republican sniper gets shot at by free
stater sniper.
Rising Action- All the actions that
happen up until the climax.
Ex: Republican sniper shoots man in armoured
car and old lady.
Ex: Gets shot by Free Stater sniper and
Republican attends to his wounds.
Climax- The peak of what is going on
in the story.
Ex: Republican Sniper devises a plan to trick
Free Stater Sniper
Falling Action- All of the actions that
happen up to the resolution.
Ex: Republican Sniper puts plan into action
Ex: Puts arm over edge and when Free Stater
shoots at Republican then drops his to the
street
Ex: When Free Stater sees this he stands up
and the Republican shoots him with pistol
Resolution- The answer to the
Inciting Incidents problem.
Ex: Free Stater Sniper falls for trick and
Republican Sniper shoots the Free Stater
Dénouement- Wraps up what went
on in the story.
Ex: Goes down to see who the other sniper
was and if he knew him.
Ex: The Free Stater Sniper that he shot turns
out to be his brother.
CharacterizationIn “The Sniper” the characterization is
indirect. The sniper thinks throughout the
story about what the other sniper is doing.
He also thinks of plans to kill the other
sniper and thinks about what his mission is
also.
Setting“The Sniper” takes place in Dublin, Ireland. At
the time there was a civil war going on
between the Free Staters and the
Republicans. An example of the civil war
was they tell you there is a waging civil war
going on. Another example is when the
Republican shot his enemy he went to his
dead body to see if he had known him
before the army had split.
Point of View, Narration, and VoiceThe point of view of the story is 3rd Person
limited. I chose this because the narrator is
on the outside looking in and uses “he” and
“his” throughout the story. The point of
view is limited because the narrator never
tells us what the other people are doing
throughout the story, and he is always
focused on the republican sniper.
Theme: In civil wars, even families
can be split and turned against each
other.
I chose this theme for this story because
its goes along with what happens in the
story. In the story, the snipers that tried to
kill each other ended up being brothers that
had been split because of the civil war. That
is Why i chose my theme.
ConclusionThroughout this powerpoint i have told you
about the plot diagram, the setting, point of
view and the theme. I hope that this
presentation has given you a better
understanding of the story “The Sniper.”