statement, a place, an object, or even a sound

motifs, or recurring elements in a story

must be expressed in a complete sentence.

We can think of theme, in its most basic definition, as the message the author tries to send their readers.

anything that represents something larger than itself.

An author often uses imagery to call attention to a particular idea, character, setting, or plot point. Imagery can also be used to create the mood of a text.

Imagery is language that makes an appeal to the senses.

f you see a word or phrase appear more than once, make a note of it – it is likely that the author included the repetition intentionally.

Two of the most common rhetorical devices are metaphors and similes. These are both means of comparison.

. Rhetorical devices are words that serve a special function in the text. Authors include them in order to convey a meaning to the reader.

style as a way of organising and expressing narrative unique to the writer,

the authorial "voice" is one of the key distinguishing factors of a piece of writing

syntax – the order in which the sentence is put together grammatically.

diction, or the overall word choice,

Tone is the attitude writing can take towards its subject or audience

A connotation is the non-literal meaning we associate with words

understand it at its most basic, literal level. This is called denotation.

dialogue gives the viewer an understanding of what is going on.

An omniscient narrator is one that exhibits full knowledge of the actions, thoughts and feelings of each of the characters in the story

multi-narrator text

relates the story in third person but has access to all information in the story.

Some third-person narrators tell from a limited perspective. These narrators relate a story from one point of view, which is often the main character's point of view.

A third-person narrator will not be a character in a story, but an outside entity relating the story's events.

Third-person narration is related by someone who does not refer to him or her self and does not use “I,” “you,” or “we” when addressing the reader. Here's the same story as above, told in third-person narration:

limited perspective; he cannot tell what the other characters are thinking or doing, and his telling of the story is influenced by his feelings about the other characters

Paying attention to how a text is organized, divided, and sub-divided will provide you insight into the plot and theme.

organized into large sections, while others are organized into chapters

Unreliable Narrators

narrator and author are different.

various settings come to represent different values, ideas and attitudes.

Location can refer to wider geographical entities such as countries or cities as well as to smaller entities such as households or domestic interiors.

internalized setting. In this kind of setting, an aspect of the story external to a character represents the character's internal development. For instance, the cracked face of the house can be said to represent the cracked minds of the Usher siblings.

Mood is the feeling we get from a story; tone is a way of getting that feeling across.

The frame of reference in which the story occurs is known as setting. The most basic definition of setting is one of place and time.

flashback (not shown in the diagram) is a device used to give the reader background information that happened in the past.

The dénouement can also leave the story and characters in the same state they were in before the story began.

It serves as the unraveling of a plot – a resolution to a story. In the dénouement, the central conflict is resolved. However, conflicts aren't always resolved. Some stories leave secondary conflicts unsettled

Falling Action: The events that take place after the climax are called the falling action.

These sub-climaxes can be minor turning points in the main conflict that help build and release suspense during the rising action. They can also be the main turning points for secondary conflicts within a story.

the incident that allows the main conflict of a story to resolve. The climax allows characters to solve a problem.

The rising action is comprised of a series of events that build up to the climax of the story. It introduces us to secondary conflicts and creates tension in the story.

Exposition: This is the part of the story that tells us the setting. We find out who the main characters are and where the story takes place. T

so you will have to identify the main conflict before you can identify the inciting incident. Remember, the inciting incident and conflict are two separate things – the inciting incident is a moment in a story that starts the main conflict.

A plot has several main elements: inciting incident, exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and dénouement.

A plot is a storyline. We can define plot as the main events of a book, short story, play, poem, etc. and the way those events connect to one another. Conflicts act as the driving forces behind a plot.

"Round" characters, by contrast, are described and developed in such a way as to achieve three-dimensionality, a physical and psychological complexity that mimics that of the real people we come to know in our everyday lives.

"flat" characters were those who are largely taken to represent a particular idea, human trait, or set of values,

archetype

important type of minor character is called a foil.

they can illustrate a different side of the main conflict, or they can highlight the traits of the main characters.

The antihero is a protagonist who does not embody traditional “heroic” values. However, the reader will still sympathize with an antihero.

protagonist and antagonist

Characters and Characterization

characterisation to describe the strategies that an author uses to present and develop the characters in a narrative.

Proficient students may monitor their understanding of a text by summarizing as they read.

Just because the information is “freely” available on the Internet does not mean you can use this information in your academic writing without properly citing it,

a serious matter because ideas in the forms of research, creative work, and original thought are highly valued.

is the unauthorized or uncredited use of the writings or ideas of another in your writing. While it might not be as tangible as auto theft or burglary, plagiarism is still a form of theft.

n her Pharmaceutical Executive article available through the Wilson Select Internet database,

Summaries provide “just the facts” and are not the place where you offer your opinions

brief explanation of a longer text

the same item could be either a primary or a secondary source: if I am writing about people’s relationships with animals, a collection of stories about animals might be a secondary source; if I am writing about how editors gather diverse stories into collections, the same book might now function as a primary source.

“The Matrix,” the movie itself, an interview with the director, and production photos could serve as primary sources of evidence. A movie review from a magazine or a collection of essays about the film would be secondary sources.

Secondary sources present information that has already been processed or interpreted by someone else.

in this case, “primary” means “first” or “original,” not “most important”