Unit 2– Nature and Scope of Literature 1

Module 7:

Literary Conventions

Objectives:
1. Understand literary conventions
2. Identify the elements of each literary genre
3. Analyze the literary conventions utilized in the work

Literary conventions are defining features of particular literary genres, such as the
novel, short story, ballad, sonnet, and play. In other words, it is a cliche, device, or trope
that acts as a defining feature of a genre

Short Story
• A brief narrative that concentrates on one situation and involves two or three main
characters.

• A short story is a short work of fiction. Fiction, as you know, is prose writing about
imagined events and characters. Prose writing differs from poetry in that it does
not depend on verses, meters or rhymes for its organization and presentation.

Elements of a Short Story

1. CHARACTER - A character is a person, or sometimes even an animal, who takes
part in the action of a short story or other literary work.
• Round/Three-Dimensional – undergoes change
• Flat/One-Dimensional – remains the same throughout the story
• Central/Pivotal – around whom the story revolves, or
• Supportive/Satellite – circulating in the central character’s orbit, providing a
supportive role

2. SETTING - The setting of a short story is the time and place in which it happens.
Authors often use descriptions of landscape, scenery, buildings, seasons, or
weather to provide a strong sense of setting.

3. PLOT - A plot is a series of events and character actions that relate to the central
conflict. The plot should be exciting and should have good structure.
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• Exposition – the setting and

characters are introduced as
well as other essential
information necessary for the
development of the plot.
• Rising Action – the unraveling of
the conflict/s
• Climax – the story’s most
decisive crisis, the highest point
or the surprising turn of events.
• Falling Action – events leading to the resolution, a relief from the climax.
• Denouement – the final resolution, untying of the plot, indicating the end of
the story

4. CONFLICT - The conflict is a struggle between two people or things in a short

story. The main character is usually on one side of the central conflict. On the
other side, the main character may struggle against another important character,
against the forces of nature, against society, or even against something inside
himself or herself (feelings, emotions, illness).

5. THEME - The theme is the central idea or belief in a short story. the underlying
message. It is the author’s statement of purpose, philosophy, or an attitude toward
life.

6. ATMOSPHERE – the prevailing mood of the story; it can be humorous, gothic,

romantic, etc.

7. POINT OF VIEW – the perspective or the position from which the story is
presented, the one who tells the story. It is also known as the narrative technique.
It may be in the first person or the third person.

8. STYLE – refers to the way the writer chooses words; the verbal identity of the
author.

9. SYMBOLISM – pertains to the use of an object to stand for or represent a person,

thing, or an idea.

Novel
• An extended narrative that includes more characters and a more complicated plot.
• Novels are another example of fictional prose and are much longer than short
stories. Some short stories, however, can be quite long. If a a short story is a long
one, say fifty to one hundred pages, we call it a novella.
 Unit 2– Nature and Scope of Literature 3

Types of Novels:
• MYSTERY – events are not explained until the plot or conflict is resolved. E.g.
Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• EPISTOLARY – told in a series of letters. E.g. Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster,
Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
• ADVENTURE – emphasis on the set of adventures by the main character. E.g.
Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
• PSYCHOLOGICAL – emphasizes the mental and emotional responses of its
characters designed to affect the readers psychologically. E.g. Catcher in the Rye
by J.D. Salinger
• GOTHIC – has elements of horror and the supernatural. E.g. Dracula by Bram
Stoker, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
• HISTORICAL – the setting and some of the events are drawn from history. E.g.
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
• SCIENCE-FICTION – deals with the imaginary results of scientific or technological
developments. E.g. Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton, Star Wars by various
authors
• FANTASY – employ motifs, themes and approaches of fantasy; usually involves
magic, beasts, and different worlds only existing in the author’s mind. E.g. Harry
Potter by J.K. Rowling, Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

Essay
• a short non-fiction, non-imaginary work about a subject. It has three main parts:
the introduction, body and conclusion.
o INTRODUCTION / BEGINNING - The opening part of the write up that
shows the topic sentence of the essay or the thesis statement.
o BODY / MIDDLE - Explain, illustrate, discuss, or provide evidence to
support the main idea (thesis or claim) of the essay.
o ENDING / CONCLUSION - Recapitulation of the ideas in the whole essay
which brings it to a logical end.

Drama
• A literary work intended to be presented on stage in the form of dialogues, to
portray life or character or to tell a story. The word drama comes from the
• Greek verb which means “to do” or “act”

Elements of Drama:
• PLOT – sequence of events in the story
• CHARACTERS – people involved in the story
 Unit 2– Nature and Scope of Literature 4

• DIALOGUE – the words spoken by the characters. It is essential in advancing the

plot, establishing the setting and revealing character.
• STAGING – also known as spectacle or the over-all look of the theatre on stage,
this refers to the visual details of a drama or play such as make-up, costumes,
lightning, sound effects, gestures, blocking, scenic backgrounds and props.
• THEME – the central message, meaning and significance of the play which is
derived from the other four elements.

Poem
Elements of Poetry
• VOICE – the persona or speaker in the poem. A poet can either use his own voice
or use an imaginary voice and act as an imaginary speaker.

• DICTION – refers to the author’s choice of words, the linguistic style of poetry
which can involve the vocabulary, metaphor, simile, personification, etc. The way
of expressing oneself.

• IMAGERY – the vivid mental pictures that the readers create through the words
used in the poem. Imagery in poetry need not only visual but could be any of the
five senses (sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell)
He wears too much aftershave. (Smell)
His lips taste sweet like ripe fruit (Taste)
He has a high-pitched laugh (Sound)
His hair feels wiry (Touch)
A greasy stove (Touch)

• FIGURES OF SPEECH – a literary device used to represent something in a

nonliteral manner such as simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, irony, etc.

o Simile – a comparison of two objects with the use of “as” “like” or “than”.
E.g. O my Luve is like a red, red rose
That’s newly sprung in June
my Luve is like the melody
That’s sweetly played in tune.

“A Red, Red Rose” by Robert Burns

o Metaphor – a comparison that is made directly without the use of “as” “like”
or “than”.
E.g. The snow is a white blanket.
The classroom was a zoo.
Life is a rollercoaster.
 Unit 2– Nature and Scope of Literature 5

o Irony – implies a distance between what is said and what is meant. It is a

difference between the appearance and reality.
E.g. A man looked out of the window to see the storm intensify. He turned
to his friend and said, “Wonderful weather we’re having!”

o Hyperbole – uses extreme exaggeration to make a point or show emphasis.

It is perfect to use in creative writing to add color to your work.
E.g. I’ll love you dear, I’ll love you
Till China and Africa meet,
And the river jumps over the mountain
And the salmon sing in the street,
I’ll love you till the ocean
Is folded and hung up to dry.
“As I Walked One Evening” by W.H. Auden

o Personification – a thing, an idea or an animal is given human attributes or

qualities. These non-living objects are portrayed in such a way that we feel
they have the ability to act like human beings.
E.g. The sky weeps while the fire swallowed the entire forest.
The flowers danced in the gentle breeze.
The wind whispered through dry grass.
Look at my car, she is a beauty, isn’t she?

• SYMBOLISM – objects in the poem that are meant to represent abstract concepts,
like a rose symbolizes love

• THEME – the underlying message or philosophy of the poem, there may be one
theme in some poems, the overall meaning and significance

• STRUCTURE – the form, how a poem appears. Poems can be:

o Closed Form – also known as the fixed form, follows a pattern of lines,
meters, rhyme schemes, stanzas.
o Open Form – also known as free-form, does not follow a certain pattern,
does not have rhyme or a certain number of feet per line.

• SOUND – the rhyme or the matching of the final vowel and constant sounds in two
or more words

TYPES OF RHYME
o Perfect Rhyme – occurs when differing consonant sounds are followed by
identical stressed vowel sounds.
E.g. FOE – TOE
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o Half-Rhyme – only the final consonant sounds are identical

E.g. SOUL – OIL , MIRTH – FOURTH

o Rime Riche – words that sound exactly the same but have different
spellings and meanings.
E.g. NIGHT – KNIGHT

o Eye-Rhyme – appears to be a rhyme but does not actually rhyme

E.g. COUGH – BOUGH

o End Rhyme – corresponding sounds occur at the end of the lines. The
rhyming words are placed at the end of two consecutive sentences.
E.g. A word is dead
When it is said,
Some say.
I say it just
Begins to live
That day.
There once was a man who wasn’t very smart,
For instance, he once tried to drive a shopping cart.

o Internal Rhyme – corresponding lines occur within lines, which means two
or more rhyming words appear in the same line.
E.g. I went to town, to buy a gown.
I took a car, it wasn’t far.

o Internal Rhymes could also be in the middle of two consecutive sentences.

E.g. I hear the seas calling my name,
the birds and bees beckoning me.

o It could also be an ending word rhyming with a word in the middle of the
next line.
E.g. I once went to a soccer arena
The teams were Argentina and Spain
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References:

https://users.aber.ac.uk/jpm/ellsa/ellsa_elements.html March 22, 2004