What is a literary element?
Well, element means a part of something, and literary means about literature or stories. So a literary element is a part of a story.
Setting:
The
first literary element we're going to learn today is setting. When and where a story
takes place is called setting.
As an example, the setting for the story Finding Nemo was in the
Pacific Ocean in modern times around the year 2003.
 |
| Finding Nemo |
How
we know that the setting is the Pacific Ocean?
Did
the movie say that?
Did
the book say that?
It didn't.
We know that the story took place in the Pacific Ocean because Nemo
began in the ocean near the United States and ended up crossing the ocean to
Australia. The ocean between the United States and Australia is the Pacific
Ocean, and how do we know that the year was 2003?
Not all stories or movies tell the year. The story and movie Nemo
doesn't tell the year, but we know its 2003 because that's when the movie and
the book were released or published.
Characters:
The next literary element is characters. Characters are people and
animals in the story.
As an example, the characters in the movie Finding Nemo included
Nemo, Marlin, his father, and Dory, a friend who helps Marlin find Nemo. There
were other characters in the movie, but these three were the main characters.
Plot:
Our
next literary element is plot. A plot includes important events and actions in
the story.
For example, in Finding Nemo, three important plot events include
that Nemo gets lost. Then his father Marlin searches for him and eventually
finds him. The plot includes more events and these three are the most
important.
Conflict:
Number three literary element is conflict. The conflict of a story is the big problem to solve. For example, in Finding Nemo, the conflict is that Nemo is lost.
Narrator:
Number four literary element is narrator. The narrator is the one that
tells the story. Remember that the narrator is not the same as the author. The
author creates a narrator to tell the story to readers. Most movies don't have
a narrator. Books do have a narrator. The narrator of the book Finding Nemo
sees the story but isn't part of the action. The movie Finding Nemo doesn't
have a narrator.
Theme:
Number five literary element is theme. A theme is the story's message
about life. Sometimes, stories have more than one theme. For example, in
Finding Nemo, one of the themes is that fear is an obstacle to goals and
wishes. The message is fight your fears. That will help you accomplish goals and
wishes like Nemo did.
Mood:
Number six literary element is mood. The mood is how the story feels
for the reader. Some stories, for example, feel happy, sad, or scary. For
example, the mood of the story Finding Nemo is tense or stressful. The
obstacles are scary, so the reader is often worried about Nemo.
Tone:
Number seven literary element is tone. The author's tone shows the
author's attitude or opinion toward details in the story. The tone can be
positive, negative, sarcastic, sad, etc.
Feeling an author's tone is like hearing a speaker's tone. The way
a person speaks about a topic shows how he or she feels about it. For example,
in the book Finding Nemo, the author writes, "But today was Nemo's first
day of school."He was very excited!"
Imagine the author saying these words. If we do this, we can feel that
the author's tone toward Nemo is positive. Basically, this means that the
author likes the character of Nemo.
Now let's practice identifying literary elements.
Example 1:
In Twilight, Edward is a vampire who loves Bella. Edward wants to be
close to Bella, but he is afraid he will hurt her.
This
describes what of the story.
A,
plot B, conflict C mood
The answer of it is B, conflict. We know this is the answer because
these words explain to us the problem that needs to be solved in the story
Twilight.
What
is the problem?
The problem is that Edward is a monster, specifically a vampire,
who loves Bella but might hurt her. Because Bella and Edward fall in love by
the end of the story, they have to solve the problem that Edward might hurt her
if he is close to her.
We know that the answer is not A, plot, because these words
don't tell us any events or actions that take place in the story, and we know
that the answer isn't C, mood, because these words tell us a problem. They
might also make us feel certain emotions, but the statement tells us the
problem in the story that needs to be solved. So the only possible answer is B,
conflict.
Example 2:
In Harry Potter, Harry, Ron, and Hermine are the people who make
important decisions and actions in the story.
Harry,
Ron, and Hermine are the main,
A,
characters B, mood or C, plot
The answer to number three is A. Harry, Ron, and Hermine are the
people in the story Harry Potter, so that makes them the characters.
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