Focus Question: The Literary Elements

The literary elements are all important aspects that create the foundation for a story.  The use of all of them combined constructs the form and body of any story, and helps the reader to understand what is happening from page to page. 


I find characters to be the most important.  A story without characters, in my opinion, is no story at all.  However, a character does not necessarily have to be a person.  As seen in The Higher Power of Lucky, the desert can be a character in itself.  The growth of the characters themselves brings the story to life, and is what interests me the most when I am reading any given story.  


Point-of-view is also an important literary element.  There is nothing more frustrating than reading a story where the point of view is inconsistent, if it is not done correctly.  In the fourth book of the Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn, the narrator switches 3 times between characters.  We get to see what is going on through Bella's point of view, then Jacob's, then back to Bella's.  I believe this to be an incredibly clever way of seeing the story from different angles.  It helped me as the reader gain insight to various characters emotions, and made for an interesting twist.


Time is also something that can be played with by the author.  Jumping time zones (such as during flashbacks) can be beneficial to bringing a story to life, or it can cause confusion and lose the reader.  I think that the most basic and understandable form of time is when it is organized chronologically.  For young children especially, this is the most realistic and relatable, because our lives are being lived chronologically.  Much like point-of-view, I feel that time has the potential to really help or really hurt the body of a story.


Place is an element that I find can add a lot to a story.  The more detailed the setting is, the more I like it, because I can get a visual of where the characters are in place.  Place helps contribute to the passing of time, based on when the location of the characters changes.  I think that without description of the character's location, I as a reader would be frustrated and lost.


Plot is essential, as I feel it forms the story itself.  The sequence of events that are created throughout a story are what I enjoy reading about- the actions, the activities, and the events that the characters partake in.  It helps to connect the dots and relate other parts of the story, and is best enjoyed when read between the lines.


The mood of a story is created by a combination of all of the above literary elements.  The colors of the place, the emotions of the characters, can all help create the mood or tone of the piece.  The mood is important: if the mood is depressing it can pull you in and evoke emotions that the author intends to take out of you.


Symbols and extended metaphors are extremely helpful in the building of a story.  The Higher Power of Lucky is notorious for using symbols to add important tidbits of information to the reader, whether it be about the characters, place, etc.  (i.e. Lincoln's knot typing obsession says a lot about him as a person).


Finally, theme is important for the author especially when creating a piece of writing.  It is what the story is likely built off of, and we as readers get to interpret what the author is trying to say based off of this literary element in combination with the six others.