Elements of Literature
Honors Study Guide
Setting: the time and place a story takes place
The setting of “Thank You, M’am” is: a city (NYC) in the late 50’s or early 60’s
Clues that helped you figure it out: the blue suede shoes; old-fashioned words like “icebox”
and “pocketbook”; showing the city streets
Character: a person or animal appearing in a work in literature.
Protagonist: the main character in a piece of literature
Antagonist: a character with whom the protagonist has a conflict
Using the story “The Revolt of the Evil Fairies” tell me the. . .
Protagonist: the narrator
Antagonist: Leonardius
Dynamic Character: a character who undergoes an important change
A dynamic character in the story “I Confess” is:
The teacher, Mr. Wei, who changed from a very strict teacher to someone who had to
humble himself by the end by confessing his mistakes.
Static Character: a character who does not undergo an important change
A static character in “The No-Guitar Blues” is: Fausto’s mom and brother; the couple
Stock Character: a character who follows a familiar and predictable formula, also known as a
stereotype
A stock character in “Rolls for the Czar” is: the Czar (all-powerful ruler)
Characterization: the way an author presents a character to the reader.
1.
2.
3.
4.
describing the character’s physical appearance
showing the character’s actions and words
revealing the character’s thoughts and feelings
showing how the character is thought of and treated by others
Conflict: a problem or struggle of some kind
External Conflicts: a character’s struggle with another person, with society as a whole, or with an
outside force (such as a force of nature or an animal)
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Character vs. Character – One character has a conflict with another character.
“The Revolt of the Evil Fairies”: the narrator vs. Leonardius
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Character vs. Society – One character has a conflict with society (a group of people).
“The Revolt of the Evil Fairies”: the narrator vs. racism

Character vs. Nature – One character struggles with some element of nature (weather,
animals, etc.).
“The Panther”: the boy vs. the panther
Internal Conflict: a character’s struggle to come to terms with his own inner feelings

Character vs. Self – One character struggles with an important decision.
“The Lady, or the Tiger?”: the princess has to decide which door to send her boyfriend to
Theme: the central idea or underlying meaning about human nature that is developed in a story
Explicit Theme: a statement that directly expresses the central meaning of a story
“A Nincompoop”: One should stand up for one’s self.
Implicit Theme: the central meaning that must be inferred from the events of the story
“Thank You, M’am”: Don’t steal, ask for help; learn from your mistakes; you’re not
alone; spread kindness
Point of View: the angle from which a story is told
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First-Person Point of View: The narrator is a character in the story and uses the pronouns
“I” and “me”.
Third-Person Point of View: The narrator is an all-knowing outside observer who knows
what all the characters can see, hear, think, and feel.
Give examples of stories told from the first-person point of view.
“The Revolt of the Evil Fairies”; “I Confess”; “A Nincompoop”
Give examples of stories told from the third-person point of view.
“The Panther”; “Thank You, M’am”; “The Lady, or the Tiger?”; “The No-Guitar
Blues”; “Rolls for the Czar”
Plot: the sequence of related events or actions in a story
Exposition: the part of a story giving background information – the characters & setting
Initiating Event: the event that gets a story started
Climax: the point of highest excitement or intensity in a story
Resolution: the resolution or solving of the conflict(s)
Flashback: an interruption in a narrative to tell about something that has already happened
Give one example of a flashback from a short story we have read.
“I Confess” – the teacher remembers carving the characters himself; “The Revolt of the Evil
Fairies” – the narrator flashes back to previous years when he didn’t get the part of Prince
Charming
Foreshadowing:
building in clues or hints about what is to come in a story
Give one example of foreshadowing from a short story we have read.
“The Panther” – old woman’s dress, she was cooking lamb, the horse’s reaction
“I Confess” – the teacher and student had same last name, the characters were an old style,
the teacher worked at his old school
Motivation: the reason(s) a character does what he or she does
Pick one character from a story and tell one of his or her actions and the motivation behind it. \
Roger tries to steal a purse BECAUSE he wants blue suede shoes but doesn’t have any
money.
Dialogue: the conversations between characters
Pick one character from one of the short stories we’ve read and complete the following characterization
chart.
Physical description of character
What the character says/does

Wore blue jeans
Tall for his age – kindergarten (5)
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Lied – He said “Charles” did
a lot of bad things, when it
was really him.
Said “fresh” words.
Hit the teacher.
Told other kids to say bad
words.
Kicked PE teacher.
Threw chalk at teacher.
Hit girl with seesaw.
Passed out crayons
Told stories about “Charles”
proudly
Played jokes on dad.
Laurie
What the character thinks/feels
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
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He feels proud about what
“Charles” did.
He feels that he’s better than
his classmates.
He feels like he can get away
with anything with his
parents.
He wants more attention.
He thinks he’s funny.
How other characters treat the
character




His parents treat him like a
king.
Classmates treat him like a
leader/with respect.
His teacher tries disciplining
him, but when that doesn’t
work, she tries to give him
some responsibilities, which
worked fairly well.
Teacher washed his mouth
out.
Climax
When Roger chose
to stay instead of
running.
Roger tells her he
wanted blue suede
shoes.
Mrs. Jones tells
Roger that she’d
done things too.
They eat
dinner.
Mrs. Jones had
Roger wash his
face.
Mrs. Jones
dragged Roger to
her home.
Resolution
Mrs. Jones gave him
the money for the
shoes.
Exposition
Characters: Roger & Mrs. Luella
Bates Washington Jones
Initiating Event
Roger tried to
steal her purse.
Setting: NYC – Late 50’s or early
60’s