CORONA, DARREN JOY B.

ACT 184

ELEMENTS OF LITERATURE
I. FICTION

1. CHARACTER - can be defined as any person, animal, an inanimate object, or figure

represented in a literary work. Characters are persuasive, if they are motivational and
reliable.

Basically, the persons in a fiction work are of two types.

 Antagonist: The evil character in a story is called the antagonist. In short, a
person whose action harm others. The action in the story arises from a conflict
between the protagonist and the antagonist. The antagonist can be a person,
an inanimate object, an animal, or nature itself.
 Protagonist: The real hero or we can say the major or central character of the
story. The main character, who creates the action of the plot and engages
readers, arousing their empathy and interest. The protagonist is often a hero or
heroine of the story, as the whole plot moves around him or her.

Furthermore, there are also different types of characters:

 Confidante - A confidante is someone in whom the main character confides.

He reveals the central character’s thoughts, intentions, and personality traits.
However, a confidante need not necessarily be a person. An animal can also be
a confidante.
 Dynamic Character - A dynamic character changes during the course of a
novel or a story. This change in character or his/her outlook is permanent.
That is why sometimes a dynamic character is also called a “developing
character.”
 Static Character - A static character remains the same throughout the whole
story. Even the events in a story or novel do not change character’s outlook,
perceptions, habits, personality, or motivations.
 Round Character - The round characters are well-developed and complex
figures in a story. They are more realistic and demonstrate more depth in their
personalities. They can make surprising or puzzling decisions and attract
readers’ attention. There are many factors that may affect them, and round
characters react to such factors realistically.
 Flat Character - A flat character does not change during a story. Also, he or
she usually only reveals one or two personality traits.
 Stock Character - A stock character is a flat character that is instantly
recognizable by readers. Like a flat character, the stock character does not
undergo any development throughout the story.
2. THEME - Basically, the theme is the message that author wants to give to its readers. In
other words, it’s a kind of lesson or message, author is trying to convey to its readers. n
fiction, the theme does not mean to preach or teach somebody. Actually, you have to
figure out the theme yourself by analyzing the story, action, characters and setting.
Basically, the task of the author is to interact with the reader in a way that audience can
easily figure out the lesson.

3. PLOT - A plot means the sequence of different events take place in the story. The plot
reflects a vivid picture of the characters of the story and reader can easily understand
about their nature through it. A plot’s structure is something on which the elements of
story are arranged.

There are different parts of story that comes under the category of a plot.

 Exposition: It is the information that is required for the reader to understand

the story.
 Complications/Rising Action: It is the point in the story from where the
conflicts begin.
 Climax: A very important and turning point of the story where situation get
totally changed or a character finally resolves the problem.
 Resolution/Catastrophe: When the story finally reaches on end. It can be a
happy ending or might be unfortunate for all the characters of the story.

4. POINT OF VIEW - Point of view is something through which the events, people and
story is viewed while reading that piece of writing.

There are different types of point of view in literature.

 Objective Point of View: The author describes what happens without telling
more than can be contingent from the dialogue and action in the story. The
storyteller will never expose anything about what the character is thinking or
his/her emotionally condition.
 Third Person Point of View: Here the storyteller does not take part in any
story’s action but give us the idea what actually the character is feeling.
 First Person Point of View: In the first person point of view, we ourselves
need to realize that the storyteller is trying to convey. We should question the
reliability of the accounting.
 Omniscient and Limited Omniscient Points of View: In Omniscient Point
of view, the narrator knows each and everything about the characters. On the
other hand, in a story, where storyteller who knows limited about the characters
is called limited omniscient point of view.

5. SETTING - It is the time and place in which the story takes place. It also refers to the
time, the geographical locations, and the general environment and circumstances that
prevail in a narrative.

Some of the main aspects of settings are below:

 Place: Where will be the story take place, in short, the geographical location?
 Time: When the story will take place. It included time period, day, date, year etc.
 Weather: The background that means whether the atmosphere will be sunny,
rainy or stormy.
  Social Condition: It shows the daily life of the characters, their dress, customs,
speech style and place etc.
 Mood: What sort of feeling is aroused at the start of the story, whether it was
cheerful or frightening?

6. CONFLICT - Conflict is the quintessence of fiction. It makes plot. A conflict in

literature is defined as any struggle between opposing forces. Conflict is also the result
of competing desires or the presence of obstacles that need to be overcome.

The contentions we experience can typically be distinguished as one of four sorts.

 Human versus Human: Clash that sets one individual against another.
 Human versus Nature: This includes a keep running in with the powers of
nature. From one viewpoint, it communicates the irrelevance of a solitary human
life in the infinite plan of things. Then again, it tests the points of confinement of
a man’s quality and will to live.
 Human versus Society: The qualities and traditions by which other people
lives are being tested. The character may arrive at an inconvenient end as an
aftereffect of his/her feelings. The character may, then again, convey others
around to a thoughtful perspective, or it might be chosen that society was directly
truth to be told.
 Human versus Self: Inner clash. Not all contention includes other individuals.
Some of the time individuals are the cause all their own problems. An interior
clash is a decent test of a character’s qualities.

7. TONE - tone is the enthusiastic color or the passionate importance of the work and
gives an amazingly critical commitment to the full significance.

8. SYMBOL - A symbol is literary device that contains several layers of meaning, often
concealed at first sight, and is representative of several other aspects, concepts or traits
than those that are visible in the literal translation alone. Symbol is using an object or
action that means something more than its literal meaning.

II. POETRY
1. THEME - The theme in a story is its underlying message, or 'big idea.' In other words,
what critical belief about life is the author trying to convey in the writing of a novel, play,
short story or poem?

2. SYMBOLISM - In poetry and other forms of writing, symbolism is often used to

convey a specific meaning to the audience. Writers often employ this literary device as a
means of artistic expression.

3. METER - is a stressed and unstressed syllabic pattern in a verse, or within the lines of a
poem. Stressed syllables tend to be longer, and unstressed shorter. In simple language,
meter is a poetic device that serves as a linguistic sound pattern for the verses, as it gives
poetry a rhythmical and melodious sound.
4. RHYTHM - Rhythm is the repetition of a pattern of sounds in poetry. Rhythm is
created by the alternation of long and short sounds and stressed and unstressed
syllables. In a similar way, all poems that are not written in free verse have rhythm, or a
beat, as well. We also call that beat meter. Each specific syllable in a line of poetry is
called a foot. This is also referred to as a unit of meter.

5. PERSONA - Persona, plural personae, in literature, the person who is understood to be

speaking (or thinking or writing) a particular work. The persona is almost invariably
distinct from the author; it is the voice chosen by the author for a particular artistic
purpose. The persona may be a character in the work or merely an unnamed narrator;
but, insofar as the manner and style of expression in the work exhibit taste, prejudice,
emotion, or other characteristics of a human personality, the work may be said to be in
the voice of a persona.

The term derives from the Latin persona, meaning an actor’s mask, and is thus
etymologically related to the term dramatis personae, designating the characters in a
drama.

REFERENCES:

http://www.writeawriting.com/academic-writing/elements-of-
literature/http://www.writeawriting.com/academic-writing/elements-of-literature/

https://literary-devices.com/content/symbol/

https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-external-conflict-in-literature-definition-
types-examples.html

https://literarydevices.net/character/

https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-theme-in-literature-definition-examples-
quiz.html

https://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-symbolism-in-poetry.html

https://literarydevices.net/meter/

http://softschools.com/examples/literary_terms/rhythm_examples/340/

https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-rhythm-in-poetry-definition-examples-
quiz.html

https://www.britannica.com/art/persona-literature