The genres and their elements

Genres and Elements

1. The Genres and Their Elements Lyza D. Francia SHS English Teacher

2. A. Literariness Literary -- artistic written expression as opposed to traditional forms like myths, epics, folktales, legends, ballads, proverbs, fold drama which had oral culture as their life and basis.

3. In the formalist view, literariness is the apt use of devices , techniques, and figurative language in the careful shaping of the elements of a poem or story to communicate a point or insight.

4. The use of creative techniques must not feel forced or artificial; verbosity or shallow, decorative applications of figurative language do not qualify as literariness.

5. B. Fiction Fiction is basically prose narrative, its distinctive feature being the centrality of plot action.

6. Elements of Fiction PLOT -- rarely the most important element of a good story. It tells what happens and how it happens in a story.

7. Special Techniques of Plot Suspense Foreshadowing Flashback Surprise ending

8. PARTS OF A PLOT Exposition —setting the scene Inciting incident —something happens to begin the action

9. PARTS OF A PLOT Rising action —the story builds and gets more exciting Climax —the moment of greatest tension in a story

10. PARTS OF A PLOT 5. Falling action —events happen as a result of the climax and we know that the story will soon end 6. Resolution —the character solves the main problem/conflict or someone solves it for him/her 7. Denouement —the ending.

11. Elements of Fiction SETTING — the physical and social context in which the action of a story occurs. The major elements of setting are the time, the place, and the social environment that frames the characters.

12. Elements of Fiction CHARACTER Major character —an important figure at the center of the story’s action or theme. Minor characters —function is partly to illuminate the major characters

13. Static(unchanging) —they remain the same from the beginning of a work to the end Dynamic —exhibit some kind of change as the story progresses

14. Elements of Fiction CHARACTERIZATION -- a writer reveals what a character is like and how the character changes throughout the story

15. Factors in Analyzing Characters Physical appearance of the characters Personality Motivation Relationship Conflict Does the character change?

16. Elements of Fiction STYLE - -the way a writer chooses words(diction), arranges them in sentences and longer units of discourse(syntax) and exploits their significance.

17. Style is the verbal identity of a writer, as unmistakable as his or her face or voice. Reflecting their individuality, writers’ styles convey their unique ways of seeing the world.

18. Elements of Fiction SYMBOL -- is a person, object, image, word, or event that evokes a range of additional meanings beyond and usually more abstract than its literal significance.

19. Elements of Fiction THEME -- the central idea or meaning of a story. --heart of the story --direct or implied

20. Elements of Fiction TONE -- the author’s implicit attitude toward the reader, subject, and/or people, places, and events in a work as revealed by the elements of the author’s style.

21. Tone may be characterized as serious or ironic, sad or happy, or any other attitudes and feelings that human beings experience.

22. Elements of Fiction POINT OF VIEW -- refers to who tells the story and how it is told.

23. Third Person Narrator (uses pronouns he, she, or they): Omniscient —the narrator is all-knowing and takes the reader inside the characters’ thoughts, feelings, and motives, as well as shows what the characters say and do.

24. Limited Omniscient —the narrator takes the reader inside one (or at most very few characters) but neither not the character(s) has access to the inner lives of any of the other characters in the story.

25. 3.Objective —the narrator does not see into the mind of any character, rather he or she reports the action and dialogue without telling the reader directly what the characters feel and think.

26. First Person Narrator (uses the pronoun I) The narrator presents the point of view of only one character’s consciousness, which limits the narrative to what the first-person narrator knows, experiences, infers, or can find out by talking to other characters.

27. Modes of Fiction Romance - - the ordinary laws of nature are slightly suppressed (it’s like looking at reality through rose-tinted glass)

28. --the characters are rendered superior to the other and the environment --stories are told in expressive, hyperbolic language

29. Modes of Fiction Realism -- claims to be the most transparent in its imaginative depiction of reality

30. --stories are told in sparse, clinical, straightforward, rational, plain, and prosaic language --aims for verisimilitude, or the empirical and objective depiction of ordinary people living in the everyday world.

31. C. Creative Nonfiction --a hybrid genre that incorporates elements of fiction and poetry in the retelling of a personal experience -- Nobody can fully remember the past, nobody can assess the past in its pure objectivity

32. --To some degree, then, fictionalization of the past; memories are constructions of past events rather than objectively retrieved data from the past. --It inescapably involves re-imagination and revaluation of the past based on who we are at present .

33. d. poetry -- “prose bewitched” (Mina Roy) -- “life distilled” through words and language (Gwendolyn Brooks) --works via suggestion , implication, and ambiguity rather than via literal, straightforward communication

34. Trees by Joyce Kilmer I think I shall never see A poem lovely as a tree. A tree whose hungry mouth is prest Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast; A tree that looks at God all day, And lifts her leafy arms to pray; A tree that may in Summer wear A nest of robins in her hair;d Upon whose bosom snow has lain; Who intimately lives with rain. Poems are made by fools like me, But only God can make a tree.

35. --poems are primarily relished as words the building blocks of this art—how their meticulous selection, arrangement, and calculated interplay deliver ideas, feelings, perspectives, shades, flavors , and layers of meaning.

36. General Types 1. Lyric Poetry — This applies to any type of poetry that expresses emotions and feelings of the poet. They are usually short, simple, and easy to understand. 2. Narrative poetry —deals with series of events 3. Dramatic poetry —the speaker is an imaginary character addressing another imaginary character who remains silent

37. Elements and Forms of Poetry Theme —the main point or the insight to be derived from the poem Speaker/persona —the fictitious character whose voice we hear in the poem

38. 3. Dramatic situation —the moment (in lyric poetry) or series of events (in narrative poetry) that the speaker speaks in the poem. 4. Diction —the poem’s choice of words, with each word suggestive in terms of its meaning, sound, and placement together with other words.

39. 5. Figurative language/ figure of speech —comparisons or substitutions that, for the sake of freshness, emphasis, or surprise, depart form the usual denotation of words. In other words, non-literal use of language. a. Simile —a stated comparison(usually formed with “like” or “as”) between two fundamentally dissimilar things that have certain qualities in common.

40. Ex. “Good coffee is like friendship; rich and warm and strong.” “You know life, life is rather like opening a tin of sardines. We’re all of us looking for the key.”

41. b. Metaphor —an implied comparison between two unlike things that actually have something important in common. Love is a lie. Life is going through time. You are the light of my life.

42. c. Metonymy —one word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated to. “between the cradle and grave” “The pen is mightier than the sword.” “I stopped at a bar and had a couple of double Scotches. They didn’t do me any good. All they did was make me think of Silver Wig, and I never saw her again.”

43. d. Synecdoche — a part is used to represent the whole (for ex. ABCs for alphabet ) or the whole to part ( England won the World Cup in 1966. ) General Motors announced cutbacks.

44. e. Personification —human qualities are given to inanimate objects, animals, or abstract terms. The flowers nodded. Snowflakes danced. Thunder grumbled. Fog crept in. The wind howled.

45. f. Apostrophe —the speaker addresses someone who is absent, dead, does not/cannot respond, or is not ordinarily spoken to. “O western wind, when wilt built thou blow That the small rain down can rain?” “ Blue Moon, you saw me standing alone, Without a dream in my heart, Without a love on my own.”

46. g. Hyperbole —the use of exaggerated terms for the purpose of emphasis or heightened effect. “I was helpless. I did not know what in the world to do. I was quaking from head to foot, and could have hung my hat on my eyes, they stuck out so far.” “He snorted and hit me in the solar plexus.”

47. h. Understatement —a writer or a speaker deliberately makes a situation seem less important or serious than it is. “The grave’s a fine and private place, But none, I think, do there embrace.” “I am just going outside and may be some time.”

48. i. Oxymoron —combination of contradictory words or ideas “How is it possible to have a civil war?” “The best cure for insomnia is to get a lot of sleep.” “A yawn may be defined as a silent yell.”

49. j. Paradox —a statement that appears to contradict itself. “The swiftest travel is he goes afoot.” “If you wish to preserve your secret, wrap it up in frankness.”

50. k. Pun —a form of word play involving two similar sounding words but with different meanings. “Ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man.” A vulture boards on a plane, carrying two dead possums. The attendant looks at him and says, “I’m sorry, sir, only one carrion allowed per passenger.

51. 6. Image-- word/words that appeal to any of the five senses to convey a flash of understanding Imagery—refers to a cluster of sensory perceptions, all the images in a poem taken or mean something together rather than separately.

52. 7. Tone -- the manner of the poem, could be the speaker’s attitude toward a subject. Tone is usually an effect of distraction and may be affectionate, hostile, earnest, playful, sarcastic, respectful, serious, humorous, surprised, angry, nostalgic, tender, expectant, etc.

53. 8. Irony – saying one thing but meaning another. a. Ironic point of view b. Verbal irony c. Situational irony

54. 9. Sound – patterns of consonants and vowels, that contribute greatly to the poem’s effect. a. Onomatopoeia—a word that imitates the sound it denotes e.g. “zoom”, “crash”, “bang”, “buzz” b. Alliteration—the repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning of or inside successive words. e.g. “so smooth”, so silv’ry is thy voice

55. c. Assonance– the repetition of the same vowel sound at the beginning of the same sound or inside successive words e.g. Eager beaver d. Rhyme—two or more words contain the same combination of vowel and consonant sounds.

56. 10. Rhythm —the recurrence of stresses and pauses in a poem