APES Basic Training Equipping YOU with the tools you need to achieve success in class, on the AP Exam, and in college.
The Big Five Characterization Setting Plot Point of View Conflict
Characterization The method used by a writer to develop a character. This term refers to the various means an author uses to describe and develop characters in a literary work.
Types of Characters Round/Dynamic a round character is one that the reader knows a lot about, through direct or indirect means, and who experiences a change. Flat/Static readers know much less about this kind of character typically, and he/she does not experience a change due to the action of the literary work. Foil a character who is a contrast to the central character, or protagonist. By acting as a contrast, the foil character makes aspects of the protagonist more obvious or evident. Stock based on stereotypes, this is often useful to the reader because less time/detail is necessary to understand the character.
Warning! Characterization is about the selection of details an author uses and does not use. This requires close reading! Keep in mind that circumstances do not make the character. They can, however, reveal the character.
How a Character is Revealed Ask yourself: what does the writer reveal directly? Then consider how the author goes about the following: Showing the character s appearance. Displaying the character s actions. Revealing the character s thoughts. The words the character speaks. The reaction of others to the character/what others say about the character.
TOADS: A Tool for discovering Character T What are his or her THOUGHTS O What OTHERS say & think about him or her, and how they react to the character. A His or her APPEARANCE & environment. D What the character DOES (inward & outward behavior) S What the character SAYS or how the character SPEAKS.
VERISIMILITUDE Your final Characterization consideration should ALWAYS be about verisimilitude. This is the quality of truth or reality created by the author. It is what writers strive for how does a writer create a realistic character? The character should be plausible!
Setting More than just a backdrop, it bolsters and builds upon CHARACTERIZATION. Setting is critically important because it is the primary element that evokes MOOD. Setting also shapes symbols. Setting assists in suggesting irony and foreshadowing.
Setting Considerations Natural Elements: weather, seasons, flora & fauna; Manufactured Components: anything manmade (homes, other buildings, cars, machinery); Societal/Cultural: historic period, particular society, religion and other belief systems, other traditions, rituals, and practices; Geographic: country/region/state/town or city, rural vs. urban, etc.
PLOT Freytag is known for his analysis of the structure of ancient Greek and Shakespearean drama. According to Freytag, a drama is divided into five parts, or acts: exposition (inciting incident) rising action climax (or turning point) falling action dénouement or catastrophe (resolution) (depending upon whether the drama is a comedy or a tragedy) (A comedy is a drama in which the protagonist, or main character, is better off at the end of the story than at the beginning; a tragedy is the opposite.)
Freytag s Pyramid
Exposition In the exposition, the background information that is needed to understand the story properly is provided. Such information includes the protagonist, the antagonist, the basic conflict, the setting, and so forth. The exposition ends with the inciting incident, which is the single incident in the story's action without which there would be no story. The inciting incident sets the remainder of the story in motion beginning with the second act, the rising action.
Rising Action During rising action, the basic conflict is complicated by the introduction of related secondary conflicts, including various obstacles that frustrate the protagonist's attempt to reach his goal. Secondary conflicts can include adversaries of lesser importance than the story's antagonist, who may work with the antagonist or separately, by and for themselves.
Climax The third act is that of the climax, or turning point, which marks a change, for the better or the worse, in the protagonist's affairs. If the story is a comedy, things will have gone badly for the protagonist up to this point; now, the tide, so to speak, will turn, and things will begin to go well for him or her. If the story is a tragedy, the opposite state of affairs will ensue, with things going from good to bad for the protagonist. Do not confuse climax with crisis (the protagonist s moment of decision which will determine the nature of his/her outcome).
Falling Action During the falling action, the conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist unravels, with the protagonist winning or losing against the antagonist. The falling action might contain a moment of final suspense, during which the final outcome of the conflict is in doubt.
Resolution Also known as the Denouement or Catastrophe The comedy ends with a denouement (a conclusion) in which the protagonist is better off than at the story's outset. The tragedy ends with a catastrophe in which the protagonist is worse off than at the beginning of the narrative. Although Freytag's analysis of dramatic structure is based on five-act plays, it can be applied (sometimes in a modified manner) to short stories and novels as well.
Point of View Position or Perspective of the work s narrator Conditions affecting POV: Physical situation of narrator Proximity and involvement Reliability Qualifications and limitations Access to knowledge of plot, characters, etc.
More POV Considerations Narrator s intellectual and emotional position First Person more subjective Third Person more objective Limited Omniscient
As you write about POV How is the narration made probable? What are his/her qualifications? Is the story from his/her imagination? How does the narrator perceive time of the action? To what extent does he/she make the work interesting and effective?
CONFLICT The fifth and final consideration of the Narrative Big 5 ; It influences Character and Plot development; Setting and Point of View support it; The author s fabrication and approach to presenting CONFLICT indicates TONE; Discerning CONFLICT often becomes a shortcut to discovering at least one possible THEME in a literary work.
CONFLICT CONFLICT frequently becomes polarized as internal (or man vs. himself ) or external ( man vs. man or man vs. nature ); Works of literature seldom employ only one kind of conflict usually both internal and various forms of external conflict exist in a single work;
Writing about CONFLICT Frequently, rather than writing about CONFLICT separately, it will be better to use recognition of CONFLICTS to more articulately make observation and commentary on CHARACTERIZATION, SETTING, PLOT, and POINT OF VIEW;