English I

• The sequence of events of a story, usually related to the solution of a problem or conflict.
• What is it about the stories that we crave? Millions of people everywhere love to see heroes struggle to overcome obstacles. Nobody wants to read a story where the hero achieves his goal in the first scene.

• Conflict: A struggle between opposing forces, often in the form of complications/obstacles that stand between the hero (protagonist) and his/her goal
• Types of Conflict: Man vs. Man, Man vs. Nature, Man vs. Self, Man vs.
Society, Man vs. Beliefs

: The introduction of a story where the author gives any background information, a major character, and/or the setting.

• Inciting moment: The point at which the reader is first made aware of the central conflict (Rising Action begins here)
• Climax: The point at which the central conflict of a story is resolved
– The hero either wins or loses.
• Denouement (pronounced: day-new-ma ): when the author ties up the loose ends at the end of the story

• A “plot teepee” is a good way to map the events of the story.

• Suspense: a feeling of anxious uncertainty created by raising questions in the reader’s mind
• Foreshadowing: hints of what’s to come
• Flashback: break from current action to past events
• Surprise ending: an unexpected outcome
– cliffhanger

• An idea or insight into life revealed within a story
– “Man without laws is an animal.”
– “Coming of age is never easy.”
– “Life is a journey toward self-discovery.”

• An object, person, or event that represents something else that is usually abstract
– The American flag

• metaphor: A comparison between two objects using “is”
– “The media center is an oasis of calm and quiet.”
• simile: A comparison between two objects using “like” or “as”
– “My love is like a red, red rose.”
• Literary Symbols:
– The cat in “The Black Cat” may represent the narrator’s conscience, despair, or alcoholism.

• The author’s attitude toward the characters, situation, and the reader
– respectful, sympathetic, challenging, sarcastic, formal, informal, etc.

• Mental pictures that the author creates with words by describing setting, characters’ actions, and other details from a text
Mood
• The atmosphere of the story, usually stemming from the details of the setting
– dark, depressing, uplifting, joyous, stark, etc.

• The process by which an author introduces and describes the characters in a story

• An author may develop a character by giving
• physical description
• relating the inner thoughts and feelings of a character
• using dialogue
• giving the opinions of other characters within the story

• Flat characters: Characters we don’t get to know very well.
– minor characters
• Round characters: Characters we get to know well.
– We know their fears, fantasies, history, etc.
• Static characters: Characters who do not change within the context of the story
• Dynamic characters: Characters who change, grow, or develop within the context of the story

• The perspective from which the story is told
• First Person = When a story is told from the perspective of one of the characters in the story
– Uses the pronoun “I.”

• When a story is told from the perspective of someone outside the story looking in.
– Third person limited: perspective is limited to what one character does, observes, or thinks.
– Third person omniscient: the story is told from the perspective of someone who knows and sees all

• Objective
• Story is not told by anyone other than the author.
• Reader is responsible for interpreting what actions of characters and events of story mean.

• A narrator whose perspective may or may not be trustworthy for any reason
(maybe the narrator is crazy).
– Poe’s narrators are often “insane.” Can we trust them as witnesses?

• Where and when a story takes place.
• Sometimes, we must guess the location or time period of a story from contextual clues, because the author does not tell us.
– anachronism: a detail of a story that does not fit the setting
• A computer in a Shakespearean tragedy would be out of place.

• A general name given to literary techniques that involve surprising, interesting, or amusing contradictions
• 3 Types of Irony
– Verbal irony: words are used to suggest the opposite of their usual meaning
Ex: Sara gets a horrendous haircut and
Jason tells her, “Your hair looks GREAT!”

• Dramatic irony: a contradiction between what a character thinks and what the audience knows to be true
Ex: Readers know main characters die in
Romeo & Juliet.
• Situational Irony: when an event occurs that directly contradicts the expectations of the reader.
Ex: Olympic swimmer drowns in bathtub.

• The tension and nervous uncertainty that some stories generate
• Keeps you guessing and turning pages wondering about the outcome
• Writers create suspense by withholding key details or hinting at events to come
(foreshadowing)
• Can also create suspense by using vivid details to draw you into the tension of the moment