5H Literature

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo, vwo
• Leerjaar 4,5

4H Literature

Goals:

Preparation for test week 3

Learn more about the most important components of a novel

Learn new literary terms

How to read a novel

Characterisation: a character is determined by:

• What he/she looks like (appearance)
• What he/she does (actions)
• What he/she says or thinks (language)

How to read a novel

Setting: includes the entire physical and emotional backdrop of where and when a story takes place

• Where? (urban or rural, one place or multiple places, home or abroad.
• When? (present, past or future; always pay attention to how much time passes between the beginning and the end)
• When?  (seasons, weather conditions etc. all add to the emotional backdrop )

How to read a novel

Point of view: through whose eyes do you see the story?

Both:

- First-person narrator: you get to hear the thoughts of the narrator and see the world depicted through his/her eyes.

- Third-person narrator: (point-of-view of an outsider)

• Omniscient (all-knowing)
• limited narration   

How to read a novel

Theme: the central idea or point of a story

- ask yourself:

1.  What is the text about?
2. What is the author's message?

The answer is often an abstract idea: love, betrayal, social class, survival, ambition, coming-of-age.   

Finish the sentence: 'setting' refers to both ... and ...

point-of-view: through whose eyes do we see the story?

1. first-person narrator only
2. first- and third-person narrator
3. the author
4. the reader

Group assignment

In groups of four, prepare a short 90-120 second presentation regarding the following components in 'the catcher in the rye':

characterization (protagonist + antagonist)

plot and point-of-view

setting

theme 1  coming-of-age                                         you are allowed to look things up

theme 2 religion

Literary Terms pt. 1

Literary terms are words and concepts used to understand and analyze literature.

• Simile
• Metaphor
• Personification
• Hyperbole
• Onomatopoeia

Simile

A simile is a comparison between two unlike things using 'like' or 'as'.

• I ran like the wind
• You are as brave as a lion
• As cold as ice
• As light as a feather                        Do you know any other ones?

Metaphor

A metaphor is a comparison between two unlike things without using 'like' or 'as'.

• His heart was 
• The exam was a piece of cake
• You are an open book

Personification

Personification is giving human qualities to non-human things.

(like: emotions, characteristics or behaviour).

• The flowers begged for water
• The wind whispered softly in the night
• The camera loved her

Hyperbole

Hyperbole is an exaggeration for emphasis or effect.

• He is taking ages...
• My head is spinning
• My shoes are killing me!

Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia is the use of words that imitate the sound they describe.

comparison between two unlike things

A comparison between two unlike things without using 'like' or 'as'.

Giving human qualities to non-human things

An exaggeration for emphasis or effect

the use of words that imitate the sound they describe

simile

Metaphor

personification

Hyperbole

Onomatopoeia

what is the following example:

Crash!

1. Simile
2. Hyperbole
3. Onomatopoeia
4. Metaphor

what is the following example:

Your laughter is like music to my ears

1. Simile
2. Hyperbole
3. Onomatopoeia
4. Metaphor

what is the following example:

The trees danced in the wind

1. Simile
2. Personification
3. Onomatopoeia
4. Metaphor

what is the following example:

I died of laughter

1. Hyperbole
2. Personification
3. Simile
4. Metaphor

Name a few things that you have learned today:

What have you not understood yet?