Setting
The Elements of
Literature
The setting is the time and location where the story
takes place. Setting includes the following:
•The geographical location (ex. Texas,
London, Cairo, Vancouver)
•The time period (ex. 1865, during
WWII, today)
•The socio-economic characteristics of
the location (ex. Wealthy suburbs,
depression dustbowl)
•The specific building, room, and so forth
(ex. A prep school, a log cabin, a bus, a
military base, room 204)
Setting
Can be used to set the atmosphere for the story:
“During the whole of a dull, dark,
and soundless day in the autumn of
the year, when the clouds hung
oppressively low in the heavens, I
had been passing alone, on
horseback, through a singularly
dreary tract of country.”
“The Fall of the House of
Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe
Characters
The people (or animals, things, etc. presented as
people) appearing in a literary work.
•Round Characters are convincing, true to life. Have many
different and sometimes even contradictory personality traits.
•Dynamic Characters undergo some type of change or
development in story, often because of something that happens
to them.
•Flat Characters are stereotyped, shallow, and often symbolic.
Have only one or two personality traits.
Setting
Can be used to tell readers about the characters:
That evening T.J. smelled the air,
his nostrils dilating with the odor of the
earth under his feet. “It’s spring,” he said,
and there was a gladness rising in his
voice that filled us all with the same feeling.
“It’s mighty late for it, but it’s spring”… We were all
sniffing at the air, too, trying to smell it the way T.J. did,
and I can still remember the sweet odor of the earth under
our feet. It was the first time in my life that spring and
spring earth had meant anything to me.
“Antaeus” by Borden Deal
Characters
•Protagonist (hero)
The main character in a literary
work (for instance, Cinderella or
Snow White in the fairy tales named
for their characters)
•Antagonist (villain)
The character who opposes the
protagonist (for instance, the
wicked stepmothers in the fairy
tales.)
•Static Characters do not change in the course of the story.
Methods of Characterization
Direct Characterization
The author develops the personality of a character
by direct statements.
“Jack had been in basic training
in Florida and Dottie was there
on vacation with her parents.
They’d met on the beach and
struck up a conversation. Dottie
was the talker, the outgoing
one – the extrovert. Jack was too shy around girls to say
much at all.”
Methods of Characterization
Indirect Characterization
Revealing a character’s personality through…
Plot
Plot is the literary element that describes the
structure of a story. It shows arrangement of
events and actions within a story.
•The character’s thoughts, words,
and actions
•The comments of other characters
•The character’s physical appearance
This Plot Line is also known as
Freytag’s Pyramid
“Fulough – 1944” by Harry Mazer
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Plot Components
Plot:
Types of Conflict
Plot: Conflict
Climax: the turning point, the
most intense moment-either
mentally or in the action.
Conflict is the dramatic struggle between two
forces in a story. Without conflict, there is no
plot.
Interpersonal Conflict (External):
Man vs Man
Man vs Nature
Rising Action: the series of
conflicts and crisis in the story
that lead to the climax.
Falling Action: all of the
action which follows the
climax.
Exposition: the start of the
story, the situation before the
action starts.
Resolution: the
conclusion, the tying
together of all the threads.
Point of View
Man vs Society
Intrapersonal Conflict (Internal):
Man vs Self
Theme
The perspective from which the story is told.
•Who is telling the story?
(ex. Is it a player on the home
team or someone watching the
game?)
•How do we know what is
happening?
(ex. Does a character tell us?)
•Theme is the central idea or the author’s message of the
story. It usually contains some insight into the human
condition – telling something about humans and life.
•Theme is the life lesson, the big world idea. Don’t get
confused with the small world of the story.
•The theme can be stated directly or implied by the
events and actions in the story.
Theme
Tim hated his old baseball glove. He wanted to play with a
new glove, but he didn’t have any money, so he decided to
steal it. But when Tim got caught stealing the glove, his
parents said he couldn’t play baseball all summer.
What is the theme or life lesson that
can be taught from this story?
Remember to consider the Big
World Idea, the theme will not be
specifically about Tim (the small
world of the story), but about what
can be taught from Tim’s story.
Symbolism
A symbol represents an idea, quality, or concept
larger than itself.
A journey can
symbolize life.
A lion can be a
symbol of
courage.
Water may
represent
cleanliness and
renewal.
A red rose can
represent love.
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