Narrative Elements and Literary Devices

• Grade 11 Term 1 English HL Study Notes

Introduction to Novels

• To successfully identify main elements in novels, pay attention and analyze the literary items

Novels

• Can take you to places you've never been
• Can take you to times long ago and to times in the future
• Can take you into the hearts and minds of others
• Can keep you company on a boring day
• Can make you laugh or cry
• Can help you to understand your own life through the lives of others

Characteristics of Novels

• Fictional prose of work
• Usually divided into chapters
• Relatively long and often has complex plots
• The development of the story happens through the thoughts and actions of characters

Understanding Novels

• Consider who is telling the story and their point of view
• Identify where and when the story take place
• Identify who the main characters are, and what they are like
• What happens in the story is the plot
• Know the theme which is the author's central idea or main message
• Understand the author's style of expressing their ideas
• Preview the title, author, front and back covers, illustrations, and author information

Literary Elements

• Setting includes the time and place where the story takes place
• Setting includes the time and periods in history
• The place, atmosphere, clothing, living conditions, and social climate
• A story can take place in an imaginary place or a real place
• The time can be set in the past, the present, or the future
• The setting influences all aspects of a character's lives, especially the way they act and think

Mood

• The feeling that the author creates for the reader
• Author uses the setting to create the mood, which can be happy, sad, exciting, or boring
• Notice how the setting affects the mood of the story, and also how it affects the lives of the characters

Point of View

• Narrative perspective from which events are told
• The narrator is a guide
• Determine who is telling the story to find the narrative point of view
• The narrator controls what and how much of the story is told and what information is shared

First Person POV

• The narrator is a character in the story
• Action describes in his or her own words
• Limited to the character's observations and thoughts

Third Person POV

• Events and characters are described by a character outside the action
• Narrator tells the story from the perspective of only one character
• Reader only learns what this person feels and experiences

Third Person Omniscient POV

• Narrator is all knowing
• Can see into the minds of more than one character
• Reader give access to all the characters

Character Development

• Characters are the people, animals, or natural forces represented as people
• Authors describe characters carefully with lots of detail so that the reader learns how they look, what kind of people they are, how they act and behave in different situations and how they change throughout the story

Types of Characters

• Main characters are who the story revolves around the most
• Minor characters interact with the main and help move the story along
• Flat characters stay the same, even if their situation changes
• Round characters evolve individually and grow emotionally from their experiences

Protagonist

• The main character
• Actions of the plot revolves around them
• Often called "the good guy"

Antagonist

• The person who works against the main character
• Can be a character, family, society, force of nature, or force within the main character

Characterization

• Character development
• Physical appearance and personality
• Speech, thoughts, feeling, and actions
• Interactions with other characters and direct comments by the author

Plot

• Sequence of events in a story
• Many plots contain a problem

Parts of the plot

• Exposition- introduction
• Rising action - development
• Climax - the turning point
• Falling action - the setling up for conclusion
• Resolution - conclusion

Conflict

• Characters usually have a goal or problem to solve
• Struggle to achieve the goal is the conflict
• There are external and internal forces that contribute to conflict

External Forces

• Character vs. another person
• Character vs. fate
• Character vs. nature
• Character vs. society

Internal Forces

• Takes place within the characters' minds
• Character vs. themselves
• The character faces a physical, mental, or moral struggle

Conflict + Resolution

• By the end of the story the character succeeds or fails in the conflict
• Pay attention to how the story ends
• Many stories end by resolving conflicts

Plot Stages

• Exposition provides background information
• Rising action intensifies the conflict
• Climax is the turning point
• Falling action settles the conflict
• Resolution is the ending

Tone

• Expresses a writer's attitude, such as anger, joy, or humor
• The writer's style involves word choice, tone, and literary devices

Imagery

• Use of words and phrases that create a picture
• Appeals to the senses

Figurative language

• Uses words in a non-literal way
• Creates a picture and comparison

Diction and Tone

• Careful attention to language can reveal tone

Other Techniques

• Suspense creates excitement and curiosity
• Foreshadowing hints at what will happen
• Flashbacks interrupt the sequence of events
• Symbolism uses objects to represent ideas
• Surprise endings are unexpected

Theme

• The central message: what this story telling you to discover?
• Author rarely directly states the theme
• Is revealed through the way the characters react and respond
• Novels can have more than one

Adjectives

• Describe nouns by giving more information about the person, place, or things

Adverbs

• Describe verbs by giving details when, where, and how something happens

Context

• Determine what you are describing
• Adjectives describe nouns
• Adverbs describe verbs

Ending

• Many adverbs end in "ly," but not all.
• Not every word ending in this is an addverb

Placement

• Adjectives are before the noun and adverbs follow the verb with some exceptions

Conjunctions

• Connect words, phrases, or sentences
• Common conjunctions: and, although, but, or, if, so, since, though, then, until and are usually found in the middle of sentences

Prepositions with Days

• On is used with days

Prepositions with Time

• At is used with noon, night, and times of day
• In is used with parts of the day, months, years, and seasons

Extended Time

• Expressed using since, for, by, from...to, during, or (with)in

Place

• Express using in for a point, inside for something contained

Surface Area

• Express use on the surface of the subject

General Vicinity

• Express using at for a general vicinity

Higher Point

• Express using over or above using a higher point

Lower Point

• Express using under,neath, beneath or below

Close Proximity

• Express using near, by, next to, between, among, and opposite to indicate closeness

Articles

• Choice bases upon phonetic sound quality, not written letter
• Use "an" for a vowel, "a" for a consonant

Common Noun

• Naming Word

Proper Noun

• Name of people and cities

Collective Noun

• A group or collection

Absract Noun

• Intangible object

Pronoun

• Takes the place of a noun

Adjective

• Describing Word

Preposition

• Links nouns and phrases in order to describe words in the sentence

Article (Grammar)

• “a”, “an”, “the”

Verb

• Doing work

Adverb

• Tell you more about the verb

Conjunction

• Joins two words, phrases or clauses

Common Nouns

• Names given to everyday objects
• Identified by "a" or "an"
• Two names together can be compound noun

Proper Nouns

• Always begin with capital letters
• Give to names of places, people, days and months
• Titles of films and books are proper nouns
• Education subjects are proper nouns

Collective Nouns

• Are a collection of names

Abstract Nouns

• Refers to things that you cannot see

Pronouns

• Replaces nouns in a sentence

Verbs

• Test by asking "Can you...?" or place a pronoun in front of it

Finite verbs

• A verb that can be used to describe a noun

Infinitive Verbs

• Is introduced by `to'

Reading

• Divided between phases

Pre-reading

• This is the preparation, which contains
• Cover, Title, Table of Contents

During Reading

• Understanding the unknown

Descriptive Writing

• Must use creativity

Writing

• Use similes

Test your knowledge of narrative points of view, character types, and literary devices. Explore the roles of narrators, protagonists, and antagonists in storytelling. Identify flashbacks, tone, symbolism, and themes in literature.