Creative Non Fiction Week 3 PDF

C RE AT IV E NON- FICTION FIGURATIV E LANGUAGE  1. SIMILE A simile is a figure of speech that compares two separate concepts through the use of a clear connecting word such as “like” or “as.” Examples of simile are phrases such as “He was wily as a fox...

C RE AT IV E NON- FICTION FIGURATIV E LANGUAGE  1. SIMILE A simile is a figure of speech that compares two separate concepts through the use of a clear connecting word such as “like” or “as.” Examples of simile are phrases such as “He was wily as a fox,” or “I slept like a log.”  2. METAPHOR A metaphor is like a simile, but without connecting words. It simply posits that two separate things are the same. For example, “He was a wily fox,” or “She cried a river of tears.”  3. PERSONIFICATION Personification projects human qualities onto inanimate objects, or perhaps animals or natural elements. “The wind howled,” “The words leapt off the page,” and “Time marches on” are all examples of personification.  4. HYPERBOLE Hyperbole is extravagant, intentional exaggeration to express strong emotion. “I have a million things to do today” is a common example of hyperbole.  5. ALLUSION Allusion is a reference to a well-known person, character, place, or event that a writer makes to deepen the reader’s understanding of their work. “We’ve entered a Garden of Eden” is an allusion to the biblical place, for instance.  6. IDIOM Idioms are non-literal turns of phrase so common that most people who speak the same language know them. It is a cultural expression that cannot be taken literally. English examples include, “He stole her thunder” and “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”  7. PUN A pun is a play on words. It exploits the different meanings of a word or its homonyms, usually to humorous effect. A well-worn example of a pun is: “Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.”  8. ONOMATOPOEIA In onomatopoeia, words sound like the thing they describe. It is a figure of speech in i which a word imitates the sound associated with an action or an object, effectively mimicking the sound it describes. Sound effects like “tick-tock” and “ding- dong” are everyday examples, as well as words like “zap” and “hiccup.”  9. VERBAL IRONY /SARCASM When you mean the opposite of what you say. Example: “My darling brother is the sweetest boy on Earth,” she muttered sarcastically.  10. SITUATIONAL IRONY When the outcome of a situation is the opposite of what is expected. Example: after many years of trying, Mr. Smith won the lottery – and immediately died of a heart attack. ELEMENTS OF FICTION  1. CONFLICT a clash of actions, ideas, desires, or will. Man vs. Himself Man vs. Man Man vs. External Force (physical nature, society, or “fate”) Man vs. Nature (environment)  1. CONFLICT Protagonist: central character in a conflict, sympathetic or unsympathetic Antagonist: any force against protagonist  2. SUSPENSE Mystery: an unusual set of circumstances for which the reader craves an explanation Dilemma: a position in which he or she must choose between two courses of action, both undesirable  3. ENDING Is it logical within the story’s own terms and does it afford a full, believable revelation? Surprise Ending: a sudden, unexpected turn or twist, and furnishes meaningful illumination, not just a reversal of expectation Happy Ending: more common in commercial fiction.  3. ENDING Unhappy Ending: more common in literary fiction because it more closely mirrors real life and forces readers to contemplate the complexities of life. Indeterminate Ending: no definitive conclusion is reached, but need not be in terms of a resolved conflict.  4. CHARACTERIZATION Direct Presentation: readers are told straight out what the characters are like, or they have another character in the story describe them. Little emotional impact Indirect Presentation: the author shows us the characters through their actions; we determine what they are like by what they say or do. In good fiction, characters are dramatized.  PRINCIPLES OF CHARACTERIZATION Flat Characters: usually have only one or two predominant traits; they can be summed up in a sentence or two. Round Characters: complex and many sided; they have the three- dimensional quality of real people.  PRINCIPLES OF CHARACTERIZATION Stock Characters: type of flat character; stereotyped figures who have recurred so often in fiction that we recognize them at once: silent sheriff, mad scientist, brilliant detective. Static Character: does not change during the story.  PRINCIPLES OF CHARACTERIZATION Dynamic Character: (developing) undergoes distinct change of character, personality, or outlook. Usually experiences an epiphany which is a moment of spiritual insight into life or into the character’s own circumstance. This epiphany usually defines the moment of the dynamic character’s change.  5. THEME The controlling idea or central insight The unifying generalization about life stated or implied by the story Gives the story its unity What view of life does the author want readers to support?  6. POINT OF Who tells the VIEW story and how much do they know about the thoughts of the characters? 1st person POV uses the pronouns “I” and “we.” 2nd person POV uses the pronoun “you.” 3rd person POV uses the pronouns “she,” “he,” “they,” and “it.”  6. POINT OF VIEW 3rd person limited is when the narrator only knows the thoughts of one person. 3rd person omniscient is when the narrator knows more than the thoughts of just one person. 4th person POV uses indefinite pronouns like “one,” “oneself,” “someone,” “anyone.”  7. SYMBOLS something that means more than what it suggests on the surface. It may be an object, person, situation, action or other elements. Name Symbolism: Adam, Phoenix Object Symbolism: flag, wedding ring, red, quilts Action Symbolism: journey Setting Symbolism: landscape, railway station  7. SYMBOLS Irony: a technique used to convey a truth about human experience by exposing some incongruity of a character’s behavior or a society’s traditions. Irony helps to critique the world in which we live by laughing at the many varieties of human eccentricity and folly.  7. SYMBOLS Verbal Irony: simplest kind, sarcasm, word play Dramatic Irony: the contrast between what a character says or thinks and what the reader knows to be true. Situational Irony: the discrepancy is between appearance and reality, expectation and fulfillment, or what is and what would seem appropriate Sentimentality: contrived or excessive emotion  8. STYLE The author’s type of diction (choice of words), syntax (arrangement of words), and other linguistic features of a work.