Chapter Five: In-depth Understanding of Elements of Literature - Literature in English Form Five

Chapter Five: In-depth Understanding of Elements of Literature – Literature in English Form Five

   

Chapter Five: In-depth Understanding of Elements of Literature – Literature in English Form Five

Literary elements are the most fundamental parts of a story. They are also referred to as building blocks of any story. These elements help readers keep up with the story and know what is going on. In this chapter, you will learn about elements of form and content. Moreover, you will learn the significance of each element in a literary text and show the relationship between form and content. The competencies developed will enable you to read, interpret, analyse, and compose literary texts.

The existence of literary works in the absence of elements of literature.

Elements of Literature

Activity 1

a) Present the elements of literature diagrammatically by filling in the given spaces.

Elements of Literature

Form
Content

Fill in the specific elements under each category

b) Write short notes on each of the elements you have filled in the diagram.

Elements of Form

Setting

Activity 2

Read a literary text and answer the following questions:

  1. When was the text written? How did you know?
  2. At what times of the day do most of the story events unfold? How did the text let you know?
  3. What is the physical location of things presented in the text? How are they made to manifest?
  4. Where do the characters’ interactions take place?
  5. How do the geographical locations influence your understanding of events and actions in the story?
  6. Comment on the story’s setting by showing how it affects the understanding of the story.

Plot

Activity 3

Read a literary text and respond to the following questions as you analyse its plot.

(i) Exposition

  1. When does the story begin?
  2. Where does the story begin?
  3. What is the name of the protagonist?
  4. What are the physical characteristics of the protagonist? What aspects of the text revealed them?
  5. Which other characters are portrayed as the story opens?
  6. What challenges do the protagonist or other characters face as the story opens? Explain with textual evidence.

(ii) Rising Action

  1. What events are in this part of the story?
  2. What is the main challenge in the story?
  3. How does the challenge develop in the story?
  4. Does the antagonist directly or indirectly challenge the protagonist? Explain.
  5. How does the main character become more involved in the challenge? Explain with textual evidence.
  6. How does the tension between the protagonist and the antagonist build up in the story?
  7. Propose any relevant solutions to the conflicts in the story.

(iii) Climax

  1. How do the events set the moment of truth in the story?
  2. What is the nature of the challenge in the story? How is it creatively depicted?
  3. How does the protagonist’s weakness contribute to the challenge? How does it affect the course of events in the story?
  4. How does the protagonist become fully prepared for the challenge or problem?
  5. How does the protagonist’s decision predict the end of the story?

(iv) Falling Action

  1. Which events come after the climax?
  2. Which conflict(s) or challenge(s) is/are the characters trying to settle?
  3. What is the weakness of the antagonist?
  4. Why does the protagonist win or lose?
  5. How does the protagonist’s victory affect his/her family, friends, and society?

(v) Resolution/Denouement

  1. What is the solution to the conflict/challenge/problem?
  2. What lesson(s) do the protagonist and other characters learn?
  3. What do readers learn from the story? How is it told?
  4. What legacy does the protagonist leave behind? How is it depicted?
  5. Are there issues left unresolved in the story? Explain your answer.
  6. Is there any potential for a new challenge? Explain your answer.
  7. Propose how the unresolved or potentially new challenge/problem can be solved.

Exercise 14

  1. Assess how the central conflict drives the plot forward in any text you have read.
  2. Discuss how moments of tension, suspense, or reflection affect the reader’s experience in any text of your choice.
  3. How does the resolution of the plot impact your interpretation of the text?

Character and Characterization

Activity 4

Read a literary text and describe the following characters:

  1. Those who perform important events that dominate the story from the beginning to the end and the ones who carry the theme and message of the story
  2. The one who strongly opposes the protagonist and is admired by the audience
  3. Those who do not change their personalities in the course of plot development
  4. Those who change in the course of the story
  5. Those whom you admire most. Explain the reasons for your admiration.

Exercise 15

  1. With examples from a literary text of your choice, discuss the different types of characters.
  2. Use one literary text to discuss the source of conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist.
  3. Why do you think characters are important in a literary text?
  4. Compose a short story that involves dynamic and static characters.

Takeaways: Elements of Form

(i) Setting

Setting in literature refers to the time and place of the story. Time comprises many aspects, such as the character’s time of life, time of the day, time of the year, and period of time (past, present and future). Meanwhile, place entails a physical environment such as a building, a room in a building, a country, or perceptual places created through sensory details and descriptions that capture a vivid sense of location in the story’s world.

Generally, a setting can also include the social, cultural, and historical context in which the story unfolds. It creates the story’s mood for the readers or viewers and gives context to the character’s actions, making it easier to understand why the characters behave the way they do.

(ii) Plot

Plot refers to the organised structure of a literary text formed through interrelated actions which are selected and organised by a writer. Actions are interrelated because every action is related to and affects or influences other actions in the story. Thus, a plot refers to a story’s logical flow of events. Most plots have three parts: beginning, middle and end. However, a more detailed plot comprises five parts: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and denouement. Each of the five elements contributes to the development of a story. A plot can be said to be good if it presents a sequence of events, shows a cause-effect relationship among the events, and connects actions and events logically.

Types of Plot Structure

There are several types of plots, including Freytag’s triangular, linear, episodic, parallel and flashback plots. Freytag’s triangular plot is the most popular type.

Triangular/Dramatic/Linear/Progressive Plot

This type of plot is named after a German playwright, Gustav Freytag, who outlined the five key elements of dramatic structure: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.

Climax
Rising Action
Exposition
Falling Action
Resolution

(iii) Character and Characterization

A character is a person, animal or any figure imagined and created by an author in a literary text to deliver the intended message to the audience. A character’s action and situations drive the plot of a story. Thus, through characters, fiction comes alive.

Types of Characters

ProtagonistThe main character in a story often considered as “the good guy”. He/she drives the plot of the story to a great extent.

AntagonistA character or force that opposes the protagonist. It can be a single person, a group of people, nature or internal conflict.

Dynamic CharacterA character who undergoes some changes in the course of the story. He or she learns a lesson or overcomes challenges.

Static CharacterA character who does not change his/her personality throughout the story. He/she does not grow and remains static mentally and physically.

Round CharacterA fully developed figure in a story. This character is more realistic and grows to show his/her real complex personality.

Flat CharacterA one-dimensional character who is less affected by the environment and undergoes less significant changes in personality.

Elements of Content

Theme

Activity 9

Read a literary text and answer the following questions:

  1. What are the key issues in the text? How creatively are they presented?
  2. Which ideas, thoughts, or patterns are repeated in the story? How creatively are they presented?
  3. How do the repeated ideas, thoughts or patterns build up the themes?
  4. What is the central/main theme of the text you have read? Provide textual evidence.
  5. What are other themes in the story? Give textual evidence.

Conflict

Activity 5.10

Read a literary text and answer the following questions:

  1. What does the protagonist strive to achieve in the story?
  2. What obstacle does the protagonist come across?
  3. How does the protagonist react to these obstacles?
  4. How are forms of conflict represented in the story?
  5. Which characters are involved in these conflicts?
  6. How is the resolution of the central conflict presented?
  7. What are the resolutions of the minor conflicts?

Types of Conflict

Intra-personal/Self ConflictOccurs within a character’s mind as he/she has to make choices in relation to problematic situations.

Inter-personal ConflictOccurs when characters or groups of characters clash with each other.

Social ConflictOccurs when a character or group gets into conflict with their community; society turns against them.

Environmental ConflictHappens when characters come into conflict with natural forces like floods or getting lost in forests.

Society ConflictOccurs when individuals fight against societal norms, which are usually oppressive in nature.

Supernatural ConflictOccurs when characters fight against superhuman forces, deities or predetermined fate.

Takeaways: Elements of Content

(i) Theme

This is the underlying meaning of a literary work. The theme of a literary text is its view of life and how people behave. It is the primary concern of the author to write a story. The theme synthesises all issues the story presents (generalisation about life). Theme can be indirectly or directly suggested through characters’ speech and actions, setting, and other symbolic representations that make up the story.

Discovering themes requires considering:

  • The title of the literary text
  • Repeated patterns, thoughts, symbols and motifs
  • Allusions made throughout the story
  • Actions or events in the story and their arrangement
  • Lesson the main character learns
  • Characters and their characterization
  • Types of conflicts portrayed
  • Issues that the author supports or opposes

(ii) Conflict

Conflict is the heart of a story. The term refers to a clash/struggle between two opposing forces which drive the story forward. Conflict creates tension and interest, making readers want to know what happens next.

(iii) Message

Message is a two-way communication or statement conveyed from one person or group to another. A text’s message is the product of the information and the complete communication system of all human beings. In literature, a message is a big idea or a theme of a story that a writer communicates to the audience.

(iv) Lesson

Literature is known for its various functions in society. A literary text not only provides pleasure but also teaches, encourages, informs and motivates audiences. Therefore, literary texts should be read and analysed for spiritual, moral, cultural, economic, political and social education.

(v) Philosophy

Philosophy is the author’s views on existential problems and life’s major concerns. It results from his/her reflection on the experiences and problems of everyday living. Philosophy is manifested through analysing and according meaning to the text’s setting, plot, characters, style, language and themes.

The Significance of Elements of Literature

Activity 14

Read a literary text and analyse the following:

  1. The significance of the story’s setting
  2. The effectiveness of the point of view deployed in the story
  3. The significance of language deployed in the text
  4. The contribution of the plot to the understanding of the story

Takeaways: Significance of Literary Elements

The elements of literature respond to the story’s who, what, where, when, why and how questions. Each of these elements greatly impacts the completeness of the story. Their absence may result in the malformation of the story.

LanguageA means through which a writer communicates with the audience. A text earns its literaliness through language, which creates mood and mental picture for readers.

CharactersThe entities that participate in events and perform actions in a story. They help in sequencing events and create psychological connections with readers.

Point of ViewDetermines the position from which the story is narrated and establishes the relationship between audience and narration.

PlotPresents the story and reveals the protagonist’s development and the story’s theme. It binds readers with emotional connection.

SettingDrives the plot forward, shapes characters and provides opportunities for conflicts to happen. It adds important dimension of meaning.

ConflictDrives a story forward and reveals deeper meaning while highlighting characters’ motivations, values, strengths and flaws.

The Interplay Between Form and Content

Activity 15

a) Read a literary text and discuss the elements of the narrative based on the following questions:

  1. What is the title of the story?
  2. How does the title relate to or differ from the content of the story?
  3. What lesson do you get from the actions of central characters in the story?
  4. How does the setting help you to predict the theme of the story?
  5. How do the figures of speech contribute to the meaning or message?

b) Discuss the relationship between form and content of the story.

Takeaways: Form and Content Relationship

Formalists or neo-critics claim that form rules the content. The existence and delivery of the content relies on a well-crafted form. Thus, to get a text’s theme, one should examine devices such as metre, rhyme scheme, rhythm, figures of speech, syntax, tone, motifs, voice, setting, character, styles, structure, coherence, emphasis, diction, images, sounds, phrases, punctuation, words and other conventions.

Conversely, non-formalists view the relationship between form and content as cause and effect, similar to the events in a literary text. In this relationship, the content is the cause, and form is the effect; the content is the reason the writer writes, and the form is the way the writer presents the idea.

Form creates the shape of a literary text, influencing the reader’s perception of the content. For example, using imagery adds depth and meaning to the literary text. Other literary forms, such as scenes and acts in a play, help to create dramatic tension on the reader’s part. The setting and contexts provide the background for understanding a story’s events and actions and influence the overall atmosphere of a literary text.

Key Insight: Form without content is nothing, and content without form is unsighted. (Emmanuel Kant)

Assessment Questions

  1. Do you think it is important for you to perceive the message as it was intended by the author? Give reasons.
  2. Using one literary text, relate how characters in stories reflect or challenge societal norms or expectations in real-life situations.
  3. Pick any literary text and write an essay about how that text challenges or reinforces the existing beliefs or attitudes in society.
  4. With reference to one text, explain the way authors’ philosophy shape the way they perceive things in life.
  5. How will you help your friend identify the author’s philosophy in a selected text?
  6. “There is a story without a plot, but there is no story without characters.” Discuss this statement with reference to one reading.
  7. Discuss the relevance of one literary text you have read to your real-life experience.
  8. With reference to one literary text, how do characters in a story develop to enhance themes?
  9. With reference to one literary text, explain how conflicts in a story develop to enhance themes.
  10. Compare and contrast literary language with ordinary language.

Related Posts:

  1. Chapter One: The Concepts of Literature – Literature in English Form Five
  2. Chapter Two: The Origin and Development of Literature – Literature in English Form Five
  3. Chapter Three: The Origin and Development of African Literature in English – Literature in English Form Five
  4. Chapter Four: Analysis of the Relationship Between Folklore and Written Literature – Literature in English Form Five

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