Terms and
Definitions
Connotation: suggestions and associations which attach to a word
Denotation: bare, literal meaning of a word
Example
Gold: a precious yellow metal, highly malleable, and
ductile, and free from liability to rust (denotation)
Gold: happiness, colour, power, richness,
unhappiness, evil, etc. (connotation)
- good writers search for words
which suggest more than they say, which stimulates reader’s imagination
- don’t
use too many as the writing can get wordy and muddled
Fundamental
Components of Fiction
Theme (literature)
A theme is a main idea, moral, or message, of an
essay, paragraph, movie, television program, book or video game. The message
may be about life, society, or human nature. Themes often explore timeless and
universal ideas and are almost always implied rather than stated explicitly.
Along with the plot, character, setting and style, theme is considered one of
the fundamental components of fiction.
Watch this Pixar short and write a theme statement
(1-3 sentences).
Plot (narrative)
Plot is a
literary term for the events a story comprises, particularly as they relate to
one another in a pattern, a sequence, through cause and effect, or by
coincidence. One is generally interested in how well this pattern of events
accomplishes some artistic or emotional effect.
Character
A character is
the representation of a person in a narrative or dramatic work of art such as a
novel, play, or film.
In literature, characters guide readers through their
stories, helping them to understand plots and ponder themes.
The study of characters requires an analysis of its
relations with all of the other characters in the work.
Setting
In fiction, setting
includes time, location, and everything in which a story takes place, and
initiates the main backdrop and mood for a story.
Literary Devices
Symbolism
Symbolism
refers to any object or person which represents something else.
"Finally, doves fly over the fields of war"
(doves symbolize peace)
Tone
Tone refers to
the attitude that a story creates towards it's subject matter. Tone may be
formal, informal, intimate, solemn, somber, playful, serious, ironic,
condescending, or many other possible attitudes. Tone is sometimes referred to
as the mood that the author establishes
within the story.
Imagery
Imagery is used
in fiction to refer to descriptive language that evokes sensory experience.
Imagery may be in many forms, such as metaphors and similes.
"First day of school smells like new
books."
Metaphors
Comparing something to something else.
"The ocean is a bowl of dreams."
Simile
A comparison using like or as.
"He smells like a gym shoe."
Personification
Making an object act like a person or animal
"The ducks complained all day."
Hyperbole
Exaggerated statement
or claim not meant to be taken literally.
"I've been there and back a million times."
Alliteration
Repeated consonant sounds.
"Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled
peppers."
Assonance
Repeated vowel sounds.
"The June moon loomed."
Onomatopoeia
Words sound like it is describing
The ceiling fan said, "clicketa clacketa
clicketa."
Foil
In fiction, a foil is
a character who contrasts with another character —usually the protagonist— in
order to highlight particular qualities of the other character. In some cases,
a subplot can be used as a foil to
the main plot.
Dilemma
*When
a character has two choices which both have potentially bad results.
Dilemma is a Greek word, which means double proposition, or perplexing situation,
which presents two different possibilities, and both of them seem practically
acceptable.
Character types
- Dynamic -
A dynamic character is a person who changes
over time, usually as a result of resolving a central
conflict or facing a major crisis. Most dynamic characters tend to be
central rather than peripheral characters, because resolving the conflict
is the major role of central characters.
- Static -
A static character is someone who does
not change over time; his or her personality does not transform
or evolve.
- Flat -
A flat character is the opposite of a round character. This literary
personality is notable for one kind
of personality trait or characteristic.
- Round -
A rounded character is anyone who has a complex personality; he or she is often
portrayed as a conflicted and contradictory person.
- Stock -
Stock characters are those types of characters who have become conventional or stereotypical through repeated use in particular types of
stories. Stock characters are instantly recognizable to readers or
audience members (e.g. the femme fatale, the cynical but moral private
eye, the mad scientist, the geeky boy with glasses, and the faithful
sidekick). Stock characters are normally one-dimensional flat
characters, but sometimes stock personalities are deeply
conflicted, rounded characters (e.g. the "Hamlet" type).
- Anti-Hero -
A major character, usually the protagonist, who lacks conventional
nobility of mind, and who struggles for values not deemed universally
admirable. Duddy, in Mordecai Richler's The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz,
is a classic anti-hero. He's vulgar, manipulative and self-centered.
Nevertheless, Duddy is the center of the story, and we are drawn to the
challenges he must overcome and the goals he seeks to achieve.
