English
In
this first semester of the Ron Paul Curriculum,
I've learned more about literature and what goes into it. I have
learned about genres, the many forms of literature, and the five
parts of fiction. Also over this first semester, I have read some
really good books by great authors. In this semester report, I will
cover what I have learned. I hope you enjoy this essay!
Five
Parts of Literature:
The
first thing I learned in English was the steps that go into writing a
fiction story. Every story has five parts. These parts are the
plot,
setting,
character
development,
theme,
and author's style.
So,
coming up with the plot
is the first step to writing any story. To make a good plot, there
are five more more steps to complete. There is the exposition,
rising
action,
climax,
falling
action,
and resolution.
In
any good story, the author must write a satisfying introduction to
the story called the exposition.
The exposition covers the beginning of the book and introduces the
characters of the story. This first part of the plot shows what the
main character's life is like and some of the things going on in
his/her life.
Next,
the rising
action is
the part of the story that builds up to the climax. This usually
introduces the big conflict that the characters have to face. The
rising action usually takes up most of the story and can also
introduce subplots as the story climaxes.
The
third part of the plot is the climax.
Here, the story's conflict is at its height. This climax is where
everything the story was building up to falls into place. The climax
usually takes place in one exciting scene.
Then
comes the falling
action.
This is where the author starts drawing the story to an end. The
characters solves all the conflicts that happened in the rising
action and climax.
Finally,
the resolution.
This is where the story is concluded. The characters may have won the
big conflict or
the
author could have set up the ending for another book to continue the
story.
Moving
on the next point in literature. The setting
of
the story is basically the backdrop to what happens in the book. Good
authors can help you visualize where and how things take place. The
setting is often described in the exposition, early on in the story.
There are many ways for the setting to appear in a book. One of the
ways for to have setting is juxtaposition.
The
juxtaposition
of a book is where two opposite things are put together to create a
contrasting effect. The book A
Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by
Mark Twain shows an excellent example of juxtaposition. The main
character is pulled from his modern time and stuck in the time of
King Arthur. Therefore, his actions and manner of speech are in
contrast to those of old England.
Another
setting appearance is milieu.
The milieu of the story is the social environment surrounding the
characters. For instance, in a pirate story, the milieu would be the
surrounding pirate environment.
A
third appearance of setting is tone.
In books, how you read the story is based on what the tone is. If the
book's tone has a romantic feel to it, then the the story is
probably a romance.
The
customs
of
the story is the next look in building the setting. Based on where
the characters go and how they get there, the customs of the story
change. For example, if the characters went to Russia, all the
different customs would be noticeable.
Next
up is satire.
The satire of the story is the act of pointed mocking at anything the
author thinks is ridiculous. If you discover satire in a book, the
author might be trying to get a point across.
Visualization
is
a very important bit of setting. Without details and descriptions
throughout a story, reading would be very dull indeed.
The
final appearance setting has is mood.
The mood of the story comes from the entire feel of the book. It
helps you to understand the book better.
The
third point of literature is character
development.
Throughout a story, you should be able to see the characters develop
and mature as the book goes on. The author describes details and
creates an image of what the character look like, what the
environment looks like, etc.
There
are different types of characters. The foremost main characters are
the protagonists
and the antagonists.
The protagonist is generally on the good guy side and can be a single
character or in a group. The antagonist is usually on the bad guy
side and can be a single character or in a group. Then there are the
primary
and secondary
characters. The primary characters are the main characters, the ones
that are talked about the most. The secondary characters are the ones
in the background and play more minor roles in the overall story.
Dialogue
is a huge part in characterization. How the character converses with
other people helps to keep the story entertaining. It also shows how
the character takes to different languages spoken.
Next
is rivalry.
A healthy rivalry is very good for the characters, as it allows them
to build a good sense of judgment towards situations with the people
they don't like.
The last part of character
development is the static and dynamic characters. The static
characters are the ones that don't really grow along with the story.
They don't learn from mistakes that happen. The dynamic characters,
however, do learn lessons and grow in maturity. They are often the
“heroes” of the story.
The
fourth of the five points of literature is theme.
This part of literary analysis is important to the story at large.
The theme of the story can be interpreted differently by everybody.
No two people have the same idea of the theme of the story. The them
is generally the moral of the story or what the author is trying to
say.
The
last and final part of literature is author's
style.
Every author has a different way of writing their books. The author's
style is how they write characters, describe details, write the
dialogue, etc. Author G. A. Henty writes personal historical fiction.
His books are mostly centered around his main characters. Another
author, Arthur Conan Doyle, wrote short detective stories. No two
authors have the same style.
Five
Types of Literature
The
next thing I learned in English this semester was how many different
types of literature there are. There are five major types: novels,
novellas,
short
stories,
poems,
and dramas.
The
novel
is
a long story that is written in the everyday language, prose. It's
the longest of the five literature types. The novel is a narrative of
fictional characters and events. Novels are often in the form of
sequential stories or series. A few of my favorite novels include:The
Harry
Potter
series
by J. K. Rowling, The
Lord of the Rings
series by J. R. R. Tolkien, and the Mistborn
series
by Brandon Sanderson.
Next
is the short
story.
This type of literature is also written in everyday language. A short
story isn't always “short”. It can be as long as a novel. A
short story makes use of plot, resonance, and other dynamic
components to a greater degree than an anecdote, yet to a far lesser
degree than a novel.
Some short stories include: The
Legend of Sleepy Hollow by
Washington Irving, To
Build a Fire by
Jack London, and The
Purloined Letter by
Edgar Allen Poe.
The
third type of literature is novella.
Novellas are fictional stories too. These stories usually have fewer
conflicts, unlike novels, which have more conflicts to span across a
longer story. The story of a novella is longer than a short story,
but has a far more simplified plot line than a novel. A few examples
of novellas include: A
Christmas Carol by
Charles Dickens, Call
of the Wild by
Jack London, and The
Old Man and the Sea by
Earnest Hemingway.
Next
is the poem.
Poems use a sing-song rhythm, prose and word positioning in pretty
and unique ways. Poems aren't supposed to be read as you would a
novel, as there are many forms of poems. A haiku is a three line poem
consisting of a line of five words, a line of seven words, and then a
line of five words again. An epic is a really long book poem telling
a story. An example of an epic is The
Epic of Gilgamesh.
Then there's a concrete poem which is a poem formed into a shape.
Lastly, there's just regular poems that sometimes give you a peek
into the author's life.
The
last type of literature is drama.
This is a huge part of literature. Drama is written in a dialogue
format. It is then interpreted in ballets, plays, and theater works.
Plays are performed using literature drama, such as comedy and
tragedy. The literature drama for plays is split up into scenes and
acts. William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet,
is a form of drama.
Types
of Genres
A
genre is a term for categorizing literature, art, and entertainment.
It developed as new forms of literature became popular. There are two
major genres: fiction
and nonfiction.
Under those two genres, there are sub-genres.
Nonfiction
is
the first major genre. This genre only contains true facts and
events. Included in nonfiction is newspapers, essays, journals,
books, autobiographies and biographies. An autobiography
is
the writings of a person about his own life, making it a memoir. And
then a biography is one person's writings about another person's
life. The last type of nonfiction I'll talk about is historical
accounts.
These can be certain newspapers, documents, and eyewitness accounts.
Next
is fiction.
This is the biggest part of genres. It contains everything
that is not nonfiction. There are many sub-genres in this bigger one.
There is historical
and
realistic
fiction, science fiction and
horror, allegory, fables and
mythology, comedy, and
mystery.
First
up is historical
fiction.
This genre is literature set in an actual time period. Historical
fiction stories can contain made up characters in actual time periods
and events that happened or just revolve in the setting alone. One of
my favorite historical fiction authors is Phillipa Gregory. I've read
a lot of her good books. Realistic
fiction is
any story where the characters and events are made up, but everything
that happens could be true. It's also usually set in modern times.
It's an accurate portrayal of what the world is like now.
Science
fiction and
horror
literature
are paired together because they both use unusual creativity to
provide entertainment. Science fiction is
usually based around futuristic and high techy settings. It sometimes
takes place on far away planets,and could feature aliens.
Horror literature uses graphic
words and scenery to instill feelings of dread and sometimes fear in
both the characters and the reader. Horror is more common in movies
and TV, but there is certainly existing horror in books as well.
Next
is allegory.
This genre is a literary device in a literary and visual, or musical
form represent or symbolize ideas and concepts. Allegory literature
generally uses fictional characters and stories to present nonfiction
truths. Allegory is often used to critique culture. Fables
and parables are
short narrations demonstrating a useful truth. Fable often use human
speaking animals in legendary and supernatural tales. Myths are used
to lift up or tear down, while fables are used to make a point. My
favorite is Aesop's Fables. Mythology
literature
is legendary or traditional narratives often based in part to reveal
human behavior and natural phenomena by it's symbolism; often
pertaining to the actions of the gods. The most commonly known
mythological stories are those of the Roman and Greek gods.
Comedy
is any work or discourse generally intended to be humorous or to
amuse by inducing laughter, especially in theater, TV, film, and
standup comedy. No matter what form comedy comes in, it's purpose is
always to humor. Comedic literature can be written with
juxtapositions, jokes, or other literary devices. Satire
is
a genre in which humorous stories ridicule things such as the
government and society in order to evoke change. Jokes are told to
make the person laugh, and then think about the point that was
introduced in the joke. Satires are supposed to make you stop and
think about the meaning. Lastly, we have mystery.
This genre is fascinating because it usually follows a detective
trying to solve a case. It allows you to keep up and see if you can
figure out the case along with the character. The
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by
Arthur Conan Doyle is one of the earliest mystery stories created.
All
in all, I've learned so much in this semester of English. It's really
helpful to be able to read a book and see what it lengths the author
went through to get the finished product. Knowing how to analyze
literature opens new doors for students who want to get into the
publishing business. Literary analysis allows you to look at a story
and know how to find the theme, sympathize with the characters, and
eventually, to write your own story.
