Literary Elements
Bellringer
(11/28/11)
• Welcome back!
• Have your library book on your desk.
Character
• character – person, animal, or other creature in
a story.
Character
• protagonist – the main
character or hero of a
story.
• antagonist – the person
standing in the way of the
protagonist or villain
Character
• anti-hero – a
protagonist that does
not have the moral
values or personality
traits of a typical hero.
Character
• characterization – the process writers
use to describe characters
Characterization
• round (dynamic)
characters – interesting,
complex, fully developed,
growing
• flat (static) characters –
simple, undeveloped or
stereotypical
Flat vs. Round
Characters
• List character traits
for a heroic warrior.
• List character traits
for an evil ogre.
Round Character
Characterization
• Direct
characterization –
when an author tells you
directly about the
character’s personality
• The patient boy and the
quiet girl were both well
mannered and did not
disobey their mother.
Characterization
• Indirect characterization –
when an author reveals a
character’s personality
through his or her actions or
dialogue
– can use Speech, Thoughts,
Effects on others, Actions, and
Looks (STEAL)
•
“That Ed Johnson,” said Anderson,
watching the old mechanic scratch his head
in confusion as the sales rep explained
Dralco’s newest engine performance
diagnostic computer. “He hasn’t got a clue
about modern electronics. Give him a good
set of tools and a stack of yellowing
manuals with a carburetor needing repair,
and he’d be happy as a hungry frog in a flyfield.”
Characterization
• Use the STEAL
method to
identify indirect
characteristics of
the people in the
photographs
Assignment
• Read “Thank You, Ma’am” by Langston
Hughes and think about how the author
uses indirect characterization to describe
Roger and Ms. Jones.
• Draw a STEAL chart and identify indirect
characteristics from the story that describe
Roger.
Characterization Assignment
•
1. Choose two stock characters from the list below and list their common traits in two
columns.
– shushing old librarian
– bully jock
– bookish nerd
– ditzy prom queen
– wicked witch
– lying politician
– the “bad boy” celebrity
– the angelic child
•
2. Now draw an arrow from one column to the other, swapping the traits to make the
characters rounded.
•
3. Complete a STEAL chart for one of the characters.
•
4. Write a short scene where the two characters meet for lunch. Use indirect
characterization to help the reader learn who the characters are. *YOU MAY NOT USE
DIRECT CHARACTERIZATION TO TELL ABOUT YOUR CHARACTERS.
Character #1’s Name
Indirect
Characterization
Speech
Thought
Effect on others
Action
Look
Example from the What this tells us
story
about the
character
plot – the sequence of events in a story (what
happens)
Chronological order
Flashback
In the middle of things
Plot
• exposition –
background
information at the
beginning of a story
• character
• setting – the time and
place of a story
Plot
• rising action –
introduces and
increases the major
conflict in the story
– conflict – the problem
the main character
faces
• internal – within the
character
• external – forces
outside the character
Plot
• climax – turning point
of a story
– will the character turn
back or continue on?
Plot
• falling action –
events or action that
occurs after the
climax
Plot
• resolution – the point
at which the conflict is
resolved
Other Plot Elements
• suspense – uncertainty that makes the reader
want to know more
• foreshadowing – clues left by the author about
what will happen later
• dramatic irony – when the reader knows
something important that the character doesn’t
• theme – the message/lesson of a story or poem.
Literary Elements Quiz
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theme
foreshadowing
flashback
conflict
– internal
– external
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rising action
suspense
Resolution
Character
– Protagonist
– Antagonist
• characterization
– direct
– indirect
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plot
dramatic irony
climax
exposition
setting
falling action
point of view
Point of View
• point of view – the perspective of who is telling the
story
– first person
• uses pronouns like I
• narrator is a character in the story
• more personal (feels like we are there)
– second person
• uses pronouns like you
• the reader is the main character
• more informal or persuasive
– third person
• uses pronouns he, she, and it
• narrator is outside of the story
• more objective (factual), formal
Point of View
• 3 types of third person
– omniscient
• “all-knowing”, God-like
• tells what several characters think
– limited
• thoughts of only one character
– Objective
• Like a video camera
• only tells the actions or words—what can be seen
or heard—of the characters
– narrator does not know their thoughts