LITERARY TERMS - Piedra Vista High Schoolpvhs.fms.k12.nm.us/.../Literary_Terms.pdfDENOTATION ! The literal or dictionary meaning of a word ! An example of denotation literary term

LITERARY TERMS

TONE

! The author’s attitude about his/her subject

! Tone is conveyed through: Word-choice, imagery, perspective,

style, and subject matter.

! Contributes to the mood of the audience

! Helps readers accurately interpret meaning of a text.

TYPES OF TONE ! Scared

! Anxious

! Excited

! Worried

! Foolish

! Smart

! Depressing

! Negative

! Positive

! Happy

! Humorous

EXAMPLE OF TONE ! Consider the tone of The School by Donald Barthelme

! And the trees all died. They were orange trees. I don’t know why they died,

they just died. Something wrong with the soil possibly or maybe the stuff we

got from the nursery wasn’t the best. We complained about it. So we’ve got

thirty kids there, each kid had his or her own little tree to plant and we’ve got

these thirty dead trees. All these kids looking at these little brown sticks, it

was depressing.

! What is the Tone? What words help us identify the Tone?

MOOD

! In literature, mood is a literary element that evokes certain

feelings or vibes in readers through words and descriptions

! Also referred to as the atmosphere of a literary piece

! Mood creates an emotional situation that surrounds the

readers

! Mood can be developed through setting, theme, tone, and

diction

EXAMPLE OF MOOD

! Consider the tone of The School by Donald Barthelme

! And the trees all died. They were orange trees. I don’t know why they died,

they just died. Something wrong with the soil possibly or maybe the stuff we

got from the nursery wasn’t the best. We complained about it. So we’ve got

thirty kids there, each kid had his or her own little tree to plant and we’ve got

these thirty dead trees. All these kids looking at these little brown sticks, it

was depressing.

! After you identified the Tone, what is the Mood?

DENOTATION !  The literal or dictionary meaning of a word

!  An example of denotation literary term can be found in the poetic work of

Robert Frost’s “Mending Wall”:

“And on a day we meet to walk the line

And set the wall between us once again.

We keep the wall between us as we go.

To each the boulders that have fallen to each.”

!  In the above lines, the word “wall” is used to suggest a physical boundary which is

its denotative meaning but it also implies the idea of “emotional barrier”, which is the

connotative meaning.

CONNOTATION

! Refers to a meaning that is implied by a word apart from the thing

which it describes explicitly.

! There are positive and negative connotations

! Dog = Shamelessness or ugly face

! Dove = Peace or gentility

! Home = Family, comfort, security

CHARACTERIZATION

! The ways individual characters are represented by the narrator or

author

!  Includes descriptions of the characters’ physical appearances,

personalities, actions, interactions, and dialogue

! Direct/Explicit vs. Indirect/Implicit

SYMBOLS

! An object or element incorporated into a narrative to represent

another concept or concern

! Red rose = Love or romance

! American flag = Freedom

! Black = Evil or death

CENTRAL IDEA

Fiction Non-Fiction

Supporting details and credible

resources

Underlying Theme(s), Plot, Setting,

Characterization

Theme Main Idea

THEME

! A universal statement about life or the human condition

!  Supported by underlying theme(s), plot, setting, and

characterization

COLLOQUIALISM

! Usage of informal or everday language in literature

! Colloquialisms are generally geographic in nature – belonging to a

local dialect

! Used in literature to make dialogue sound more authentic

! Not to be confused with slang (social group language) or jargon

(professional group language)

COLLOQUIALISM EXAMPLES

!  Kind of

!  Cool beans

!  Like…

!  Sort of like…

!  Like crazy

!  Threw me for a loop

!  Right off the bat

!  Oh snap!

!  Pretty funny

!  Basically

!  Perfectly fine

!  It’s just that…

!  Digging deeper

!  Guess what?!