Content Covered & Learned in Quarter 1 Language Arts

Important Vocabulary:
1. characterization
2. plot
3. conflict
4. dialogue
5. mood
6. narrative
7. narrative techniques
8. pacing
9. point of view
10. setting
11. theme


1. Characterization is the process by which the writer reveals the personality of a character. Characterization is revealed through direct characterization and indirect characterization. Direct Characterization tells the audience what the personality of the character is.


Three Elements of Characterization:
• Physical appearance What does the character look like?
• Actions, speech, and behavior What does the character do? How does the character behave? What does the character say?
• Interactions with others How other characters in the story react to this character

Characterization Lesson Using Disney's Frozen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZnD0AGqQ7I

2. PLOT - The plot is how the author arranges events to develop his basic idea; It is the sequence of events in a story or play. The plot is a planned, logical series of events having a beginning, middle, and end. The short story usually has one plot so it can be read in one sitting. There are five essential parts of plot:

  • a) Exposition- The beginning of the story where the characters and the setting is revealed.
  • b) Rising Action - This is where the events in the story become complicated and the conflict in the story is revealed (events between the introduction and climax).
  • c) Climax - This is the highest point of interest and the turning point of the story. The reader wonders what will happen next; will the conflict be resolved or not?
  • d) Falling action - The events and complications begin to resolve themselves. The reader knows what has happened next and if the conflict was resolved or not (events between climax and denouement).
  • e) Resolution - This is the final outcome or untangling of events in the story
Example of Plot Using Disney's Aladdin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffAOkGg2Lr4
      
3. CONFLICT- Conflict is essential to plot. Without conflict there is no plot. It is the opposition of forces which ties one incident to another and makes the plot move. Conflict is not merely limited to open arguments, rather it is any form of opposition that faces the main character. Within a short story there may be only one central struggle, or there may be one dominant struggle with many minor ones.

There are two types of conflict: 
      
1) External - A struggle with a force outside one's 
self.      
2) Internal - A struggle within one's self; a person must make some decision, 
overcome pain, quiet their temper, resist an urge, 
etc.
 
There are four kinds of conflict:       
1) Man vs. Man (physical) - The leading character struggles with his physical 
strength against other men, forces of nature, or 
animals.       
2) Man vs. Circumstances (classical) - The leading character struggles against 
fate, or the circumstances of life facing him/her.      
3) Man vs. Society (social) - The leading character struggles against ideas, 
practices, or customs of other people.      
4) Man vs. Himself/Herself (psychological) - The leading character struggles with himself/herself; with his/her own soul, ideas of right or wrong, physical
  limitations, choices, etc.
http://www.wingclips.com/movie-clips/rudy/what-i-can-and-cant-do - What type of conflict do you see?


4. Dialogue is conversation between characters in a story and is very important to add interest to the piece and to move the plot forward. There are some rules to dialogue, however, that you want to make sure you know. 

Dialogue Rules:

 RULE #1: A direct quotation begins with a capital letter. Jimmy shouted, “See you at the game!” “Is it true?" asked Cindy.

 RULE #2: When a quotation is interrupted into two parts with words like “he asked” or “the teacher demanded,” the second part begins with a lower case letter. “What are some of the things,” Mrs. Baskin inquired, “that make school so much fun?” “One thing I like,” replied Sarah, “is recess!” 

RULE #3: When writing dialogue, all punctuation marks at the end of the quotation go inside the quotation marks. “Let's visit the museum,” suggested Samantha. Jon replied, “Didn't we go there last weekend?” “But when we did,” Beth added, “we didn't see the Ancient Egyptian exhibit.” 

RULE #4: Do not put a period at the end of a quotation followed by things like she said, mom asked, he explained, etc. Use commas, question marks, and exclamation marks but not periods. Periods end sentences. “My Algebra class is driving me crazy!” Paul yelled. “That's my favorite class,” Becky replied.

RULE #5: Make a new paragraph (indent) when a different person begins to speak. "Last night, I dreamt that I ate a giant marshmallow," Kevin said. "Was that anything like the dream you had about eating your way through a mountain of fruit cocktail?" asked Suzy. "Scarier," Kevin explained. "This time I woke up and my pillow was gone." 

OTHER REMINDERS: -Always make it clear who is speaking in the dialogue. -Try to avoid using the word “said” repeatedly

5. Mood & Tone - Mood is the general attitude that the reader feels after reading a piece of literature.  Tone is the attitude the writer feels/writes with in a text.
mooD                                    Tone
reaDer                               wriTer

6. Narrative - A narrative is some kind of retelling, often in words (though it is possible to mime a story), of something that happened (a story). The narrative is not the story itself but rather the telling of the story

Writing a Personal Narrative
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTVWUKBjp1o

7. Narrative techniques -  are the methods that writers use to give certain artistic and emotional effects to a story. Although the term gets used loosely in everyday speech to talk about narrative, a “story” is just a sequence of events in time. Not until a writer chooses how to present that story in language does it become a “narrative.” Many key narrative techniques fall into four categories: plot, character, point of view, and style.

8. Pacing - Narrative pace determines how quickly or how slowly the writer takes a reader through a story, explains Writer's Digest. The story itself determines the pace of the story. It relies on the combination of mood and emotion as these elements play out in the dialogue, setting and action. For example, a story such as Dan Brown's "The DaVinci Code" has a much faster pace than Elizabeth Gilbert's "Eat, Pray, Love." Additionally, the pace of the story varies; the opening pace may feel very different from that of the story's climax.Flashback and Foreshadowing can help greatly with pacing.

9. Point of View - Literature provides a lens through which readers look at the world. Point of view is the way the author allows you to "see" and "hear" what's going on. Skillful authors can fix their readers' attention on exactly the detail, opinion, or emotion the author wants to emphasize by manipulating the point of view of the story.

Point of view comes in three varieties, which the English scholars have handily numbered for your convenience:
  • First-person point of view is in use when a character narrates the story with I-me-my-mine in his or her speech. The advantage of this point of view is that you get to hear the thoughts of the narrator and see the world depicted in the story through his or her eyes. However, remember that no narrator, like no human being, has complete self-knowledge or, for that matter, complete knowledge of anything. Therefore, the reader's role is to go beyond what the narrator says.
  • Second-person point of view, in which the author uses you and your, is rare; authors seldom speak directly to the reader. When you encounter this point of view, pay attention. Why? The author has made a daring choice, probably with a specific purpose in mind. Most times, second-person point of view draws the reader into the story, almost making the reader a participant in the action.
  • Third-person point of view is that of an outsider looking at the action. The writer may choose third-person omniscient, in which the thoughts of every character are open to the reader, or third-person limited, in which the reader enters only one character's mind, either throughout the entire work or in a specific section. Third-person limited differs from first-person because the author's voice, not the character's voice, is what you hear in the descriptive passages.

More on Point of View (Sports Center Style)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv8HMBouN_s

10. Setting - is an environment or surrounding in which an event or story takes place. It may provide particular information about placement and timing, such as New York, America, in the year 1820. Setting could be simply descriptive like a lonely cottage on a mountain. Social conditions, historical time, geographical locations, weather, immediate surroundings, and timing are all different aspects of setting. It has its three major components; social environment, place and time. Moreover, setting could be an actual region, or a city made larger than life.

SETTING= WHEN + WHERE


11. Theme - The theme in a story is its underlying message, or 'big idea.' In other words, what critical belief about life is the author trying to convey in the writing of a novel, play, short story or poem? This belief, or idea, transcends cultural barriers. It is usually universal in nature. When a theme is universal, it touches on the human experience, regardless of race or language. It is what the story means. Often, a piece of writing will have more than one theme.

Examples for theme: "Believe in yourself," "Honesty," "Always try your best," "Be happy with what you have," and "Good vs. Evil"
The plot diagram is like a roller coaster!