Literary Elements Movie Analysis

Literary Elements Book/ Activity Have you ever thought why most of us are interested in the stories we read or the movies we watch, the characters, the action, the suspense and the love stories? The writer has to think of how the story must be told, what effect it must it have on a reader or movie-goer, and what is the best way to present his/her ideas. To get the reader’s attention, literary elements, the techniques or kinds of writing, are used by authors/screenwriters. The proper use of those elements enables the author to keep us interested while reading a story or a writer to enjoy a movie.

Literary elements, such as setting, characters, point of view, conflict and the included dialogue, are all relevant to stories, establishing their plot, mood, and theme. For your assignment you will choose a favorite book or movie that is appropriate for school. You will be identifying some of the literary elements that we have been learning in reading class. You will also analyze and explain the elements as I did for you in class for “The Color Purple” (TCP) You will identify the the following: I will give you examples from the project I modeled in class: Title:

Scene: Time and place the story takes place. Point of View: Through whose eyes is the story being told? Celie speaks in the first person through a series of private letters she writes to God and her sister Nettie. We see and hear the story through Celie’s eyes. Characters: Protagonist and Antagonist Exposition or Beginning: Like you, all of the characters in a story have a history, details about their pasts that are important to understanding their personality and their present lives. It is important that readers know some of these details in order to understand a story. This is call the exposition.

It is the backround information on the characters and setting explained at the beginning of the story. For example, when I modeled my presentation in class regarding “The Color Purple’s” protagonist Celie. It was important to know that she was abused physically, mentally and verbally by all of the men in her life. It was important to know that her father gave her away to a vicious man named Albert to be married. We can then understand why Celie was so shy, introverted and had such a low self-esteem. Rising Actions:  These are the actions or events that build up to the tension or conflict in a story.

As I modeled in class a rising action for The Color Purple was Celie’s relationship with her friend Shug, a strong and independent beautiful woman. Shug teaches Celie about God, love and self-respect. This relationship teaches Celie to build confidence, a sense of self, love and a voice. This gives Celie the confidence to stand up to Mr. Albert and the conflict of the story. Conflict: Is the problem and exciting action in a story that is happening to or against the protagonist. There are seven conflicts that we have learned about in class.

Please identify what conflict(s) that are happening to the protagonist in the story. As I modeled in TCP Celie’s conflicts are Character vs. Character (her Father, Alfonso and Mr. Albert), Character vs. Society(Racism) Climax: When the conflict of the plot is resolved. It is often the most exciting part of the story. The climax is sometimes referred to as the “turning point” of the story, when the plot changes for better or for worse for the protagonist. In TCP the climax is when Celie uses her newly gained self-confidence to stands-up to Mr. Albert and leaves him to move to Tennessee with Shug.

Falling Action: The action and events that happen after the climax. The protagonist usually defeats the antagonist in some way. The reader/viewer will see a change in the characters affected by the climax. In TCP, Celie returns to Georgia as a successful entrepreneur and finds that Mr. Albert has undergone a personal transformation. Resolution: After Alphonso’s death Celie inherits his home. Mr. Albert has finally done good for Celie and she welcomes the return of her sister Nettie and her children Samuel, Olivia and Adam. Theme:  The idea, message or moral the author is trying to tell.

Examples: love, friendship, war, racism, sexism, relationships. In TCP the theme is the power of voice, strong female relationships and the cyclical nature of racism and sexism. We have learned about all of these elements of literature in class. Now we must think about them as we are reading our books or watching our . We will identify these elements and analyze them. We will work on this for 20 minutes a day in class. You will take this time to do research, ask me questions and show me the work you have completed so far so I can guide you in the correct direction.

If you need help choosing a book or movie please just ask. You may use any of our read aloud we are currently reading in class. Points: I want the organization of your project to look exactly as is does above, from Title-Theme. Each correctly identified element will be worth 5 points. Your ANALYSIS and EXPLANATION in YOUR OWN WORDS( if you need help with paraphrasing please visit Brainpop. com and search “Paraphrase”) will be worth 10 pts each. Please make sure you put your explanation in your own words. Points will be taken for messy work and misspelled words.

You will be graded on creativity. Please provide visuals or audio from your book or movie. As I modeled in class please add any clips of your movies or books that are appropriate for class. I found my clips of the exposition, climax and resolution on IMDB. com and YouTube. These clips will add to the creativity and quality of your project. You may use power point, Microsoft word, a smart board document, or poster board to present your project. If you have other ideas on how you would like to present I am open to a discussion.

If you need to use our resources at school you must COMMUNICATE that to me to set up time to do that. DO NOT WAIT until the last minute. This project will help us understand better the motivation and reasons why authors create the characters they do, why the characters say what they say and why they do what they do. It will also help us start to be able to understand how to complete a literary analysis of a story, short story or poem which we will eventually do in class. This is DUE on FEBRUARY18, 2013. Each day it is late you will lose 10 points. Any questions please see me.