- Antagonist - character or group of characters that oppose the main character. Also known as "the bad guy" but can be thought of as the rival, opponent or competitor. Without an antagonist, there is no conflict and without conflict, there is no plot.
- Character - one of the essential elements of a story in the form of a person, animal or inanimate object. The protagonist and antagonist are both characters. There are several other types of characters such as dynamic (changing), static (unchanging), round (well-developed), flat (under-developed) or stock (doesn't change during story).
- Conflict - struggle within the plot. Internal conflict is when the struggle is two opposing forces within the protagonist. This type of conflict creates tension where there is a lack of action. External struggle is usually a conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist.
- Mood And Tone - mood is the feeling that the writer creates with descriptions, words and emotional situations. Tone is the feeling that the author has towards either the subject or the audience. Both mood and tone affect how the reader feels while reading the story.
- Plot - the events that make up a story that follow a sequence or order. The elements of plot include the introduction which established the setting and conflict, the rising action, climax, falling action and resolution.
- Protagonist - the main character or leading figure in a poem, narrative, or novel. Also known as the "good guy" or "hero." The events of the story are told from the protagonist's perspective.
- Setting - social environment, location and time period of story. There are two types of setting: Backdrop where the setting does not affect the plot or the Integral setting where the characters and/or plot are greatly affected by the time or place of the story.
- Theme - main idea of a story, helps readers better understand the main character's feelings and beliefs as it is expressed through thoughts or conversations. Some common literary themes include love and friendship, war, crime and mystery, and revenge.
Literary Devices
- Allegory - a figure of speech used in both prose and poetry through characters or events to teach a moral. The use of allegory creates multidimensional characters or stories by causing the words of the author to mean something other than what they seem.
- Allusion - a brief reference to a person, place or idea that calls to the mind of the reader something more complex. It allows the author to make a quick or passing reference to something complex without much effort.
- Archetype - a character or situation that fits a universally accepted personality or pattern of behavior. For the reader, this allows for a connection with a familiar social context. Typical character archetypes include the hero, the villain, the mother figure or the scapegoat. Archetypical situations include good vs. evil, the fall or the journey.
- Deus ex machine - Latin term referring to the use of an implausible concept or character that is introduced to resolve an impossible conflict. Commonly used in mythology and creates a surprise ending for readers.
- Hyperbole - a figure of speech that uses exaggeration to convey humor or create emphasis. It is commonly used in everyday conversation and often employs the use of a simile or metaphor to create an exaggeration. ex. He is as strong as an ox.
- Imagery - the use of figurative language that creates a visual representation of an idea or object that appeals to the readers senses. Imagery employs the use of similes, metaphors, personification, or onomatopoeia to aid the reader's imagination.
- Metaphor - a figure of speech that compares two unlike things that share a common characteristic. The comparison is implicit or implied, never explicit like a simile. Used regularly in poetry to express complex feelings or images.
- Motif - an object, image, sound or action that has symbolic significance and is repeated throughout a literary work. This recurring element is used to support or explain the theme while helping readers understand the author's intent.
- Point of view - the mode of narration chosen by the author to tell a story.
- 1st person is told from the main character's perspective - indicative by the use of "I" or "me." Allows reader to only see what the main character to see.
- 2nd person is told from a narrative onlooker who is writing to the reader. Uses the pronoun "you" and is the least employed mode of narration
- 3rd person is told from an outsider to the story, can be limited in their understanding of the main character's feelings or omniscient.
- Simile - the use of direct comparison to show similarities between two things, with the help of the words "like" or "as." Because of its common use in everyday language, similes bring a familiar quality to a character or literary work.
- Symbolism - giving symbolic meaning to an idea in order to imply it means something other than its literal definition. In order to use symbolism in their writing, authors must use similes, metaphors or allegory to convey their meaning. Symbolism allows writers to convey a more profound meaning that the literal definition.
Young Adult Literary Awards
Poetry
Poetry is often overlooked in our teaching because of the complexity of teaching poetry or because of our own bad experiences with poems. Have short poems ready to share with students everyday.
Criteria for Poetry - (Based on research done with elementary students in 1974 and 1993)
- Kids prefer narrative poetry
- they typically do not like free verse or haikus - partially because of the lack of rhyming
- Poems with sound devices or playing with language
- Kids love funny poems, familiar experiences and poems about animals
- Kids prefer contemporary poems - although many poems considered classic were not written for children. (ex. Robert Frost)
- Visual images - poems should evoke imagery
- Poems shouldn't be watered down for kids
- A poem should allow interaction ex. readers theater poetry, repeated readings
- Poems should be lively with rhythm and meter
- There should be an emphasis on sounds and play on words
- Poems should contain simple stories and introduce stirring scenes of action
- Subject should be relevant to children
- Poems should be good enough for repeated readings
- John Ciardi - Mummy slept late, Daddy fixed breakfast
- Kalli Dakos - If you're not here, please raise your hand
- Technically, Its not my fault - concrete poems
- Many Luscious Lollipops - part of series about parts of speech
- Judith Viorst - Sad Underwear and If I were in Charge of the World
- NCTE award - given to a poet for a body of work
- A Jar of Tiny Stars - collection of poems by NCTE winners
- Marilyn Singer - most recent winner for Mirror Mirror and Follow Follow - reverso poems
- Joyce Sidman - winner for poems about animals - Dark Emperor and Winter Bees - great for science teacher
- J. Patrick Lewis - Please Bury me in the library and Book of Animal Poetry
- Lee Bennett Hopkins collections - I am the Book and Nasty Bugs
- namesake for Lee Bennett Hopkins award
- Nikki Grimes - Daddy Poems and Words with Wings
- Mary Ann Hoberman - I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly (narrative and cumulative poetry)and A House is a House for Me.
- X. J. Kennedy - funny poems Exploding Gravy and Brats
- Eloise Greenfield - Nathaniel Talking and Honey I love
- Barbara Esbensen - Swing Around the Sun and Dance with me
- Valerie Worth - All the Small Poems - writes about common objects
- Arnold Adoff - Roots and Blues and Eats Poems
- Lillian Moore - I feel the same way
- John Ciardi - You read to me and I'll read to you
- Eve Merriam - You be good and I'll be night
- Myra Kohn Livingston - Birthday Poems and Calendar
- Karla Kuskin - Moon, Have you met my mother?
- Aileen Fisher - Going Barefoot
- David McCord - Every Time I Climb a Tree
- Mary O'Neill - Hailstones and Halibut Bones - full of color poems
- Paul Fleischman - Joyful Noise - Poems for two voices (Newbury Winner)
- Douglas Florian - Dinothesaurus and Shiver Me Timbers
- Roald Dahl - Revolting Rhymes
- James Stevenson - funny poems - Cornstalks
- Shel Silverstein - Where the Sidewalk Ends and Light in the Attic
- Arnold Lobel - Pigericks
- Jack Prelutsky - funny poems full ph rhythm
- Kenneth Koch - wrote books about how to teach kids to write poetry
- Paul Janeczko - A kick in the head (poems about how phrases came into being) and The death of a hat (history of poetry)
- Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong - books of poems for each day of school and teachers guides
Historical Fiction
Historical Fiction can be difficult to define as history is a relative to the reader. Stories about September 11th are historical for my 14 year old daughter but not for me. Historical fiction books should:
- tell a good story while blending history into the plot, affecting characters and the setting.
- contain historical facts that are accurate. Authors should not embellish here for the sake of the story. Any mention of historical references must be factual. The Council on Books for Children is a good resource to review the reliability of a book's content.
- accurately represent what was valued at the time, despite the controversy those views might represent in today's time period. This goes back to an accurate representation of the time period.
- accurately represent the elements of a time period. Architecture, clothing, music, and technology should all be portrayed with accuracy. Speech patterns should also be appropriate to the setting both in time and location.
- appeal to contemporary readers. Despite the historical nature of the book, the overall theme of the book should be universal in order to appeal to more readers.
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