September 7, 2010
Objective: Students will demonstrate their understanding of the reading strategies in order to evaluate The Interlopers.
S.A.T. Words: Aptitude & Apathy
Homework: Read Harrison Bergeron in your LOL p. 20 and complete the plot chart. This is due next class, Friday. Study notes on plot
and be prepared for a quiz on Friday.
By PresenterMedia.com
Warm-Up
Describe a time you had to hide your
skills for someone else’s sake. Discuss
the disadvantages and advantages of
covering up your strengths to pretend
you are “equal” to someone else. Use
examples to support your opinion.
Use the following words correctly in a complete sentence in order to
demonstrate your understanding of the words.
Review Last Week’s Words:
Amorphous
Anarchy
Anguish
Animosity
Apathy
•WORDS OF THE DAY
Aptitude (AP tuh tood) n.,-
capacity for learning;
natural ability Apathy (AP uh thee) n.,-
lack of interest; lack of feeling
•READING STRATEGIES
What do good readers MONITOR while they read:
•PREDICT
•VISUALIZE
•CONNECT
•QUESTION
•CLARIFY
•EVALUATE
•FICTION is narrative writing that
springs from a writer’s imagination, though it may be based on actual.
• 2 Major Types: Short stories and Novels
The Literary Elements of FICTION
•
Plot
•
Theme
•
Character
•
Setting
•
Point of View
Today we will begin to discuss……….
Plot
Plot
•
The arrangement of incidents in a story
•
The organizing principle
that controls the order of
events
•Another way to think of it?
• The Famous Bumper Sticker:
Stuff Happens
Plot is about action and motion, about cause and effect.
One thing happens, which causes
the next thing to happen, which
causes the next thing…….Think of
dominoes falling!!!!!!
But within this series of
events, there is always……..
A CONFLICT OR A PROBLEM!
Why don’t we want to read
about someone’s perfect day?
We want to read about
PROBLEMS, about STUFF
HAPPENING, about DRAMA.
Case in point: We always stop
to stare at a car accident.
Human beings have
problems, and there is a certain safety in watching
other people work out their
own problems
.
“I put a group of characters in some sort of predicament, and then watch them try to work
themselves free.”
--Stephen King
Types of Conflict
• Man vs. Man
• Man vs. Self
• Man vs. Nature
• Man vs. Society
Man vs. Man
A problem between
characters
Man vs. Self
A problem within a
character’s mind
Man vs. Nature
A problem between a
character and some element of nature—a blizzard, a
hurricane, a mountain climb,
etc.
Man vs. Society
A problem between a character and society,
school, the law, or some
tradition
The plot in fiction…
Introduces interactions that produce a conflict, or struggle, between
opposing forces. The action
intensifies, reaches a peak, and is eventually resolved.
This what is called…
The Narrative Arc
Exposition
Rising Action
Climax
Falling Action
Resolution
Exposition
The part of the story, usually near the beginning, in which the characters are introduced, the background is explained, and the setting is described.
What is the exposition of The Interlopers?
Rising Action
The central part of the story, the conflict
becomes more intense and suspense builds as the main characters
struggle to resolve
their problem.
Climax
The high point or climax in the action of the story. It is the
turning point in the plot when the outcome of the conflict
becomes clear, usually resulting in a change in the characters or a solution to the conflict
What is the climax in The Interlopers?
Falling Action
The action and dialogue following the climax that show the audience the
effects of the climax. The suspense is over, but the results of the decision or
action that caused the climax are not yet fully worked out.
What is the falling action of The Interlopers?
Resolution
The part of the story in which the problems are
solved, the final outcome of events are revealed
and the loose ends are tied up.
What is the resolution of
The Interlopers?
Not all authors follow this pattern.
To be innovative, some authors
manipulate and change this plot
pattern for their own
purposes.
Some Untraditional Plot Techniques:
•
in medias res: when the story begins without any exposition and right in the middle of the action.
•
flashback: a scene inserted into the narrative in order to inform the
reader about events that took place
before the current action.
Theme:
The central idea or meaning of a story.
“To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme.”
--Herman Melville
Authors rarely state the theme explicitly. Instead, it is fused
into the elements of the story.
But the theme is not “hidden”
in the story! It is an inherent part of the story.
The theme is expressed by the
story itself and is inseparable from the experience of reading the
story. The theme merely helps us to understand or appreciate the story more.
“We write fiction because a statement would be inadequate.”
--Flannery O’Connor
Ridiculous Conversation:
John: I just read a story called “The Interlopers.” It was all about
revenge, and how sometimes
revenge might feel necessary, but it winds up defeating the best in oneself. You should read it!
Jane: I don’t need to now! You just told me what it’s about!
To be valid, the statement of the
theme should be responsive to the details of the story.
It would be wrong to say that the theme of “The Interlopers” is that you can live happily ever after if you let go of revenge.
The theme of a story is not
necessarily a “moral” or a “lesson.”
Most literature goes beyond
traditional morals and values to
explore human behavior rather than condemn or endorse it.
How do you determine the theme of a work?
1. Pay attention to the title.
2. Look for details that have symbolic meaning.
3. Consider whether the
protagonist changes and what he/she learns.
4. Write your interpretation of the theme in sentence form.
5. Make sure that your theme is not a plot summary!
6. Avoid clichés! (Most good literature does not rely on
cliché.)
How does this help you? Why should you care?
--Generally speaking, arriving at an interpretation of theme is a critical
analysis skill. You’re looking at details, making connections, and arriving at
conclusions.
--Thinking about the theme of a literary work requires that you think about life in general, and that is always useful!
When you write a literary analysis paper, you must
always address the theme.
How + What = So What (Theme)
Read “Harrison Bergeron”
by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
p. 20 in your LOL Complete the
chart by
identifying the elements of
plot in the short story.
