Literary Elements
Identify and analyze standard
literary elements.
Such As…
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Symbols
Allegory
Parable
Paradox
Parody
Satire
Foreshadowing
flashback
Symbols
• Public Symbols
Allegory
• a story wherein the characters and events
represent abstract ideas.
• Examples:
– The Rat Trap – a peddler is invited to stay in
someone’s home, steals something, then is forgiven
so he returns what was stolen and rises from the
depths.
– The Pilgrim’s Progress – about a man names
christianand his proress through the world to the
Celestial city. On his way he must conquer all
dangers and temptations.
Other Allegories
• Fable – Animal characters teach a
practical lesson of life
– The Tortoise and the Hare
• Parable – set in everyday world to teach a
lesson about ethics or morality.
– The Good Samaritan (page 326)
Parody
• A humorous imitation of a serious work of
literature, art, or music.
– Weird Al Amish paradise
– coolio gangsters paradise
– scary movie 1
Satire
• Any writing that ridicules the shortcomings
of people or institutions in an attempt to
bring about a change.
– satire affect on politics
– The Modest Proposal, Jonathan Swift
A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift
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Summary
The full title of Swift's pamphlet is "A Modest Proposal for Preventing the
Children of Poor People from Being a Burthen to their Parents, or the Country,
and for Making them Beneficial to the Publick." The tract is an ironically
conceived attempt to "find out a fair, cheap, and easy Method" for converting
the starving children of Ireland into "sound and useful members of the
Commonwealth." Across the country poor children, predominantly Catholics,
are living in squalor because their families are too poor to keep them fed and
clothed.
The author argues, by hard-edged economic reasoning as well as from a selfrighteous moral stance, for a way to turn this problem into its own solution. His
proposal, in effect, is to fatten up these undernourished children and feed them
to Ireland's rich land-owners. Children of the poor could be sold into a meat
market at the age of one, he argues, thus combating overpopulation and
unemployment, sparing families the expense of child-bearing while providing
them with a little extra income, improving the culinary experience of the
wealthy, and contributing to the overall economic well-being of the nation.
The author offers statistical support for his assertions and gives specific data
about the number of children to be sold, their weight and price, and the
projected consumption patterns. He suggests some recipes for preparing this
delicious new meat, and he feels sure that innovative cooks will be quick to
generate more. He also anticipates that the practice of selling and eating
children will have positive effects on family morality: husbands will treat their
wives with more respect, and parents will value their children in ways hitherto
unknown. His conclusion is that the implementation of this project will do more
to solve Ireland's complex social, political, and economic problems than any
other measure that has been proposed.
Paradox
• a statement or situation containing
apparently contradictory or incompatible
elements but upon closer inspection might
be true or make sense.
• Ghost House