Literary Elements
Motif
►a
word, character, object, image, metaphor
or idea that recurs in a work or several
works
Motif
example, in Haroun and the Sea of
Stories, water is a recurring image prevalent
in various parts of the novel.
OR
In many heroic tales, the hero is a “reluctant
hero”. He/She may be apprehensive to
begin a journey.
► For
Imagery
► “mental
pictures” created by the author
which would appeal to one or more of our 5
senses.
Imagery
► It
is important to note that imagery does
not just describe what someone sees….it
goes deeper than that. It can appeal to ALL
of the senses.
Allusion
►A
brief reference to a historical or literary
figure, event, or object.
Allusion
► For
example, an obvious allusion appears
when Rushdie references One Thousand
and One Arabian Nights by naming the
houseboat the same name.
Mood
► The
attitude of the author toward the
subject.
Tone
► The
attitude of the author toward the
audience.
Symbolism
► The
use of one object to represent or
suggest another. Generally, something
concrete to represent something more
abstract.
Symbolism
you think of any symbols in Haroun and
the Sea of Stories?
► Can
Symbolism
► Gup
and Chupp symbolize the conflict
between silence and storytelling.
 Gup is Hindi for “gossip” or “nonsense.” The
Guppees possess a strong propensity for
speech. They talk so much that their talk begins
to lose its meaning.
 Chup is Hindi for “quiet.” In Chup, silence has
been ordered. Some take it to such an extreme
that they sew their lips together and sacrifice
themselves by starving and thirsting to death.
Theme
► The
central idea of a work.
Theme
► Themes
are not one-word answers. For
example, the theme of Haroun and the Sea
of Stories is NOT “storytelling”.
Theme
► Equation
for identifying theme:
 Subject + author’s message about subject = theme
 For example, “The most important theme in the novel is
that in order for any society to be successful, censorship
cannot exist.”
Allegory
►A
form of extended metaphor in which
objects, persons, and actions in a work are
equated with meanings that lie outside the
work itself.
Allegory
► Look
at the handout on Allegory. Also
consider the following quote from Rushdie.
Answer the questions and come to a
consensus on what kind of allegory Haroun
and the Sea of Stories is.
Allegory
►
►
“See, I did think that what happened in the case of "The Satanic
Verses" is that, in the end, it was pretty much a victory. That there was
this attempt to murder a writer who was not murdered. There was an
attempt to suppress a work, which was not suppressed. And in the
end, the people issuing those threats were forced by international
opinion and by political realities to withdraw those threats. And it
seems to me that's a remarkable achievement, not just of mine but of
many, many people working on my behalf and with me and, indeed, of
the American and British governments working together. Really a
collective achievement by publishers, by booksellers, readers,
politicians and just ordinary people who got very agitated about this
matter. “
AND….
Allegory
►
“Well, you know it's [Haroun] a book that was written for my son, who
was 11 at the time it was written and whose middle name is Haroun.
Now he's 26, and really in a way I wrote it for him at two ages. I
wanted to write a book that could be read by an 11-year-old boy and
from which he would get 11-year-old pleasure. And then to think that,
"Well, one of these days he's going to grow up and read it again. And I
want that there to be enough depth in it so that when he reads it as
an adult he gets adult pleasure from it." And certainly in the case of
that audience of one, it seems to have worked. Then I thought
afterward, you know, many of the books that we think of as children's
books were not really written as children's books. I mean, "Grimm's
Fairy Tales," for instance. Those weren't children's stories. Those were
very dark, in many ways, traditional folk tales.”