Understanding the 10 Key Elements of Literature
1. Plot: The Sequence of Events in a Story
A. 5-Point Plot Sequence
- Exposition: The initial part of a story where readers are introduced to the setting and characters.
- Situation: The event in the story that propels the action forward and demands an outcome.
- Complication: Difficulties encountered by characters as they face internal and external conflicts.
- Climax: The pivotal moment when it becomes clear that major conflicts will be resolved.
- Resolution (Denouement): The conclusion of the story where loose ends are tied up.
B. Other Plot Elements
- Sub-plots: Plots that exist beneath and around the main plot.
- Foreshadowing: Hints and clues about future plot developments.
- Flashback: A portion of the plot where a character relives a past experience.
- Frame Story: A plot that begins in the present, moves to the past, and then returns to the present.
- Episodic Plot: A larger plot sequence composed of a series of smaller plot sequences.
- Plausibility: The likelihood that certain events within a plot could occur.
- Soap Opera: Multiple interconnected stories told sequentially to maintain continuous interest.
2. Point of View: The Perspective of the Story
- First Person Major (Participant Major): The narrator is the main character in the story.
- First Person Minor (Participant Minor): The narrator is a minor character in the story.
- Third Person Omniscient (Non-participant Omniscient): The narrator is outside the story and has insight into the hearts, minds, and motivations of all characters.
- Third Person Limited (Non-participant Limited): The narrator is outside the story and has insight into, at most, one character’s heart, mind, and motivations. The narrator is objective if not omniscient.
3. Setting: The Time and Place of a Story
- Physical (External) Setting: The specific and general time and place of a story.
- Psychological (Internal) Setting: The mood, tone, and atmosphere of the story.
Major Literary Movements:
- Romanticism: Characters are free to choose against moral and spiritual backdrops. Good decisions are rewarded. There is a controlling God.
- Existentialism: Characters are free to choose against backdrops other than their own. If a character believes something is right, then it is right.
- Naturalism: Characters are largely trapped, mere cogs in an impersonal machine. They have little control over their circumstances.
- Realism: An eclectic view, leaning towards naturalism. Good things sometimes happen to bad people, and vice versa.
Other Literary Movements:
- Classicism: Characters are free but appear trapped due to conflicting codes.
- Transcendentalism: An offshoot of Romanticism; nature is seen as a window to the divine.
- Nihilism: A consequence of extreme existentialism or naturalism. Life is viewed as horrible, painful, and meaningless.
4. Conflict: The Nature of the Problems
Four Universal Conflicts:
- Person vs. Self
- Person vs. Person
- Person vs. Society
- Person vs. Nature
Other Conflicts:
- Person vs. God/Machine/The Unknown
5. Characterization: Development of Characters
- Protagonist: The central figure in a story, bearing the brunt of the burden and conflicts.
- Antagonist: The character (or force) opposing the protagonist.
- Stock: Basic “fill-in” characters used to create realistic scenes.
- Flat: A character with limited dimension and development.
- Round: A multi-faceted, multi-dimensional, fully developed character.
- Static: A character whose core values remain constant throughout the story.
- Dynamic: A character whose core values change from the beginning to the end of the story.
- Coded Character: A character who is self-aware of an internal pattern of behavior.
Character Traits: Physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, social.
Character Tendencies: Movement towards love or fear; identity or disintegration; conformity or non-conformity; self-mastery or solitude; enchantment or disillusionment.
Character Purpose: What is the character trying to obtain, retain, regain, or explain?
Character and Forces: Is the character trapped by external or internal forces? Is the character free with clear or murky choices?
Method of Development: Events, actions, narrator’s analysis, personal dialogue, object of dialogue.
6. Symbol: Concrete Objects with Abstract Meanings
An object that remains true to itself while also taking on connotative meanings derived from the work.
7. Theme: The Central Insight of the Work
Universal Themes: Love, Time, Commitment, Disillusionment, Self-Realization, Sacrifice, Suffering, Justice, Fear, Power, Courage, Survival, Beauty, Corruption, Faith, Innocence, Loss, Redemption, Revenge, Freedom, Greed, Hate, Pride, Nature, Change.
8. Allusion: References to Literature or History
The two primary sources of allusion in Western Literature are the Bible and Shakespeare.
9. Style: The Author’s Unique Voice
- Writer’s choice and use of words.
- Nature of the language employed: Language of images, language of ideas, language of metaphor.
- Writer’s palette is the blending of other elements, such as symbols, characterization, allusion, setting, etc.
10. Irony: Breaks in the Natural Logic
- Verbal Irony: Spoken inconsistencies.
- Dramatic Irony: Inconsistencies between perception and reality; the audience knows something the characters do not.
- Situational Irony: Circumstances that contradict common sense.