Literary elements

LITERARY ELEMENTS

BY: CHRIS PARK

ELEMENTS OF CHARACTERIZATION

INDIRECT CHARACTERIZATION DIRECT CHARACTERIZATION

Define: Define:
The actual definition is that it is the process by The actual definition is that it is the process where
which the personality of a fictitious character is the author specifically reveals traits about a
revealed through the character’s speech, action, character.
appearance, etc.

Method used to Identify: Method used to identify:
The Method used to find the indirect The author tends to say that someone or something
characterization is the method known as its is, are, was, were, has, have. It directly states that a
acronym name STEAL Method. It has 5 ways on person has a characteristic.
indirect characterization. The method gives many
clues on how to find these ways. The words stands
for, Speech, Thoughts, Effect of Others, Actions,
Looks.

TYPES OF CHARACTERS

PROTAGONIST: The main character that does a lot of good and is against evil
ANTAGONIST: The main character that does a lot of bad and is for evil and usually has to face the
protagonist
MAJOR CHARACTER: This type of character does a lot action in the plot and also is mentioned, or shown a
lot
MINOR CHARACTER: This type of character barely does any action in the plot and is mentioned in a couple
or few scenes

TYPES OF CHARACTERS (CONT.)

COMPLEXITY CHANGE

WHAT IS A FLAT CHARACTER? WHAT IS A STATIC CHARACTER?

A flat character is a character that is commonly and A static character is a character that goes through

easily recognized, but not fully understood, meaning very few change or no change at all and the

there are still mysteries of this character. However, character shows no signs of growing or developing.

this character can still be used to carry out the

author’s purpose.

WHAT IS A ROUND CHARACTER? WHAT IS A DYNAMIC CHARACTER?
A round character is a character that is commonly A dynamic character is a character that goes
and easily understood and there are no mysteries of through a major type of change and shows many
this character. This means that this character is fully signs of growing and developing.
delineated. This character can be used to carry out
the author’s purpose.

CONFLICT TYPES

INTERNAL CONFLICT EXTERNAL CONFLICT

Internal conflict is a type of conflict where it is a External conflict is a type of outside conflict. It is a
fighting or conflict within the person. It is usually a struggle between a different object or character.
struggle of feeling because of other people, but the There are examples, such as man vs man, man vs
character has emotional feelings about him or her nature, man vs technology, and man vs society,
or it self. The internal conflict has only an example These conflicts are outside of the main character’s
of man vs self. The conflict is cause usually by mind so that he does not have to deal with himself.
demands from other characters but the main These types of conflicts could over pass or occur in
character does not want to counter against the the same plot. It just brings up the suspense.
people.

PLOT ELEMENTS

PLOT ELEMENTS

• EXPOSITION: This is the introduction of the story and sets a tone in the plot
• RISING ACTION: This is the action where there are many conflicts to be solved and cause the suspense

of the whole plot
• CLIMAX: This is the highest point of the plot with the most suspense. This is the moment when the

most important actions happen, which is usually preceded by the rising action
• FALLING ACTION: This is the action where it starts to resolute all of the action and conflict. The

suspense seems to disappear little by little
• CONCLUSION: This action or scene ends all of the conflict in the plot and eventually concludes the plot.

PLOT ELEMENTS

THEME CENTRAL IDEA

A topic of a theme would be something such as not A topic of a central idea would not be a mood or a
a setting but a feeling or a mood such as happiness, feeling, but a certain subject. Having a general topic
or sadness. would make the central idea have too much to
cover.
A theme according to the dictionary is a subject of
writing, a piece of writing, a person’s thoughts, or A central idea according to the dictionary is a main,
an exhibition. unifying element of the story which ties up all of the
Inferring a theme requires a 3-step process in which other parts of the story we might not understand to
the first step is that the topics or issues would need form a general idea.
to found. The next step is that the questions There are four steps to infer the central idea. You
regarding the topics or issues must be found to first read the passage of the text, then ask yourself
focus on a certain topic. The last step is that the what all the details of the book had in common, and
messages must be found about the topic. then see what the author’s bond would be.
Combine your bond and the author’s bond then
form a sentence that unifies all ideas.

MOOD AND TONE

• MOOD: It is a feeling the readers create as they read a plot
• TONE: It is a feeling the author creates for the readers
• Connotation is a word that is a synonym or relates to the actual word while the denotation is the actual

definition of the word
• Synonyms are not supposed to be exactly the same as the original word. They just have to relate to the

original word and have common ties to both words.
• Tone impacts mood because if the author is creating a feeling for the reader, the reader should feel the same

feeling that the author has already created.
• Imagery is visually descriptive or in other words, figurative language. It affects or impacts mood because it

adds description so that the author and reader both know where the imagery or what it connects to.
• Figurative language is basically imagery but certain forms of it that compare or describe objects to one

another. It impacts mood because the readers imagine vivid action and try to compare small things to vast
things.

MOOD AND TONE

• TYPES OF FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE:
• Assonance: “A long song”
• Alliteration: The Wicked Witch of the West
• Juxtaposition: Satan and God
• Hyperbole: I am so tired I can barely walk an inch

MOOD AND TONE

• Personification: The Winking Moon
• Metaphor: He was a bear in his own bed
• Simile: Chop was like Usain Bolt of the pool
• Puns: Santa’s workers were like inferior Clauses

MOOD AND TONE

• Onomatopoeia: BOOM!
• Idiom: Break a leg!
• Allusion: No wonder Henry is named after Bill Gates…. He fixes all of the school’s computers!

MOOD AND TONE

The Feeling Wheel helps me with writing because it shows us which words connect with which and it
helps us to choose our feeling. It gives me a status of what to write because I get more specific as I move
towards the outer part of the circle. It helps me to choose and I am good at making decisions for 1 versus
1.

TYPES OF ESSAYS

• Elements of a Narrative Essay: There are three elements, and they are the Exposition, the Introduction,
the Complication, which is the story itself, and the resolution, the conclusion that ends the story.

• Sample:
http://www.westerntc.edu/writingcenter/pdf/samples/Narrative%20and%20Reflection/LomasL.pdf

• Elements of a Expository Essay: There is organization, Topic Sentence, Thesis, Subtopics, Transitions,
Evidence, Example, and Conclusion

• Sample:
• https://academichelp.net/samples/academics/essays/expository/the-quest-for-eden.html
• Elements of an Informative Essay: Introduction, Background, Thesis, Body Points, and Conclusion
• Sample: http://www.westerntc.edu/writingcenter/pdf/samples/Informative/BaumgartnerD2.pdf

OBJECTIVE SUMMARY

• A solid objective summary has an IVF summary sentence, Key facts, or ideas and a concluding sentence.
• An IVF stands for Identify, Verb and Finish
• DOTS IT CC Stands for, Definitely, Obviously, Truly, Surely, In fact, To Summon up, Clearly, Certainly

OBJECTIVE SUMMARY

• Works Cited
• Biography.com Editors. "Ben Carson." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2016.

<http://www.biography.com/people/ben-carson-475422>.
• Carson, Ben, and Cecil Murphey. Gifted Hands. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1990. Print.
• JHU. "Dr. Ben Carson: A Healer Beyond The Operating Room." The History of African Americans@Johns

Hopkins University. DesignFutures, 2004. Web. 12 Jan. 2016.
<http://afam.nts.jhu.edu/people/Carson/carson.html>.

OBJECTIVE SUMMARY

• Chris Park
• Mrs. Mora
• ELA, Period
• 4/11/2016
• Characteristics of Juvenile Offenders
• The two documents, named “Characteristics of Juvenile Offenders” with an unknown author (Sage) and “Youth’s Characteristics and Backgrounds” by the U.S

Government, describes the characteristics and background of juvenile offenders. Just because their records show that they have committed very bad crimes, does not
mean their characteristics are the same. Many juvenile offenders take drugs and do delinquent things. These characteristics are often inspired by parents, family, or peer
pressure. The family has different personalities and behavioral patterns that cause the young to follow. Ever heard of the phrase, be a good example to other people? It is
basically saying whatever you do, the young will follow, because they are uneducated, and need someone to look upon. Often juvenile offenders are always depressed or
their family members are depressed. Also, their parents do not care for them and they live in a stressful home, where it is unwelcome. All of these bad factors cause the
bad characteristics of their own family; they reflect based off what they experienced, which is violence, taking drugs, being bad towards your own family, and so forth.
Now, people say like people like Black people, white people, and Mexicans have the most of this “behavior”. Saying this is racial, and not always true. People assume the
behavior of a certain race, which ends up not being true. So, as you can see, juvenile’s characteristics cannot be assumed and has to do mainly with family issues.
•