Literary terms & elements 5H

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo
• Leerjaar 5

Literary terms & elements 5H

A. The 5 literary elements of a story

a. Character 

• Often people or animals
• To perform actions and speak dialogue
• Who part of the story
  
  
• Major characters - most important, dominate the story
• Minor characters 
  
  

Protagonist vs antagonist

• Protagonist  - Main character 

Can you name a famous protagonist?

Can you think of a villain as a protagonist?

• Antagonist - opponent of the main character. This doesn't have to be a villain. It can be someone who gets in the protagonist's way. 

If Homer is the protagonist of The Simpsons, then he has many antagonists, some of them evil and others less so. Can you think of examples of antagonists of Homer?                                                                         

Foil

Has opposite character traits to highlight another's positive or negative side. 

Often the antagonist is the foil for the protagonist. 

Static vs dynamic

Dynamic - changing and growing

Static - do not change 

throughout story.

Add your own examples to the 

handout!

Flat -  has one or two main traits (positive or negative)

Round - Different traits good and bad, more interesting

Stock - stereotypical character

Add your own examples to the handout!

Static

Dynamic

Flat

Round

Stock

Static

Dynamic

Flat

Round

Stock

b. Setting - time and place

• where and the when does the story take place
• creates mood

c. Plot

1. Expositions

2. Rising action

3. Climax

4. Falling action

5. Resolution

Minions example

Minions have a goal to serve the most despicable master. Their rising action is their search for the best leader, the conflict being that they cannot keep one.

Movie trailers encourage viewers to see the movie by showing the conflict but not the climax or resolution.

Plots can vary but often fit a pattern...

• Overcoming the monster ___________________  
• From rags to riches _________________________
• Voyage and return __________________________
• The quest
• Tragedy
• Comedy
• Rebirth

d. Conflict

Challenge of problem that drives the action of the story. 

Internal vs external conflict -->

Internal or external conflict?

e. Theme

• refers to the underlying insight, the moral or idea that the writer is expressing through the story
• e.g. - The power of true love                        - Fate, which sometimes tears lovers apart and then                       joins them together
              -War

a. Respect other’s property and have manners.

  b. Life and Death--it is a never-ending cycle.

  c. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder; love can conquer all.

  d. Forbidden love; ridiculous fighting may end in tragedy.

  e. The importance of family and togetherness.

  f. Hard work and patience pays off in the end since the last house, which

  was built with bricks and took even longer to build, was not knocked down.

  g. Slow and steady wins the race.

  h. Be true to yourself; love will find its way if you believe.

  i. Don’t talk to strangers.

 1. Romeo and Juliet

  2. Lilo and Stitch

  3. Little Red Riding Hood

  4. The Three Little Pigs

  5. The Lion King

  6. Goldilocks and The Three Bears

  7. The Tortoise and the Hare

  8. Beauty and the Beast

  9. Cinderellat

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

D E I F B A G C H

2. More advanced story elements.

1. Colloquialism 

informal, conversational language

2. Allusion

reference to familiar works 

He studies all day, he's a regular Einstein. 

Allusions... Related to?

- His smile is like kryptonite to me. __________________________________

 - His job is like pulling a sword out of a stone _________________________

 - My math teacher is he who must not be named. ____________________

 - I want to sound like Queen B. ____________________________________

  - Does it count if we were on a break? ______________________________

- Achilles’ heel _________________________________________________

  - Judas _______________________________________________________

   - Uncle Sam ___________________________________________________

   - Don Juan/Casanova____________________________________________

4. Simile      3. Metaphor

Which similes can you find in the following (literary) examples?

a. He sat as still as a mouse, in the futile hope that whoever it was might go away after a single attempt. But no, the knocking was repeated. The worst thing of all would be to delay. His heart was thumping like a drum, but his face, from long habit, was probably expressionless. (G.Orwell, 1984)

b. And she said losing love is like a window in your heart; everybody sees you’re blown apart; everybody sees the wind blow (Paul Simon)

5. Imagery 

Which senses do the following examples ‘talk’ to?

a, The night was black as ever, but bright stars lit up the sky in beautiful and

 varied constellations which were sprinkled across the astronomical landscape.

 b. The candy melted in her mouth and swirls of bittersweet chocolate and slightly

 sweet but salty caramel blended together on her tongue.

 c. After the long run, he collapsed in the grass with tired and burning muscles.

 The grass tickled his skin and sweat cooled on his brow.

6. Irony

verbal irony or situational irony?

a. Telling a rude customer to “have a nice day” 

b. Describing someone who says foolish things a “genius” 

c. Sending a Christmas card to someone who is Jewish. 

d. A police station being burglarized. 

7. Tone

• refers to the “feel” of a piece of writing
• the style” or “voice” in writing
• Examples - Nostalgic / regretful / joyful / envious / persuasive / dry / playful / assertive / pessimistic / sympathetic / ironic / conflicted / fearful / nervous / …

How would you describe the of tone in the following famous movie lines?

 a. “Go ahead, make my day.” Sudden Impact 

 b. That is so fetch.” Mean Girls 

 c. There’s no place like home.” The Wizard of Oz 

 d. Just keep swimming.” Finding Nemo 

8. Symbolism

A symbol is something that stands for or suggests something else; it represents something beyond literal meaning.

Everyday words, objects, and even concepts often have more than a single meaning. 

9. Motif

• symbolic image or idea that appears frequently in a story 
• strengthen a story by adding images and ideas to the theme present throughout the narrative
• What is the motif in this short film? 

Themes vs motifs

Themes are overarching, central ideas in stories. Motifs serve to emphasize themes with specific images and symbols throughout the story.

 

10. Hyperbole

• a figure of speech in which an author or speaker purposely and obviously exaggerates to an extreme 
• often used in creative writing just to make a description more amusing or creative

She had a brain the size of the planet.

I could eat a horse. 

Explain the hyperbole in the following sentences

1. He called me a thousand times today.

2. It took him forever to learn Spanish.

3. We have enough food to feed an army.

4. Ron could move mountains for a slice of pizza.