1. The Novel: Making A Literary Portfolio

2. Review - Elements of Fiction: Irony General definition: The contrast between what is expected to happen and what happens. Types of irony Situational Verbal Dramatic

3. Review - Situational Irony A situation where one thing is expected to happen and the opposite actually occurs. Example: A person who is afraid of heights goes to work building skyscrapers.

4. Review - Verbal Irony One expresses a meaning by using words that carry the opposite meaning. Example: In the middle of a blizzard someone says, “What a beautiful day!” This is sometimes called sarcasm.

5. Review - Dramatic Irony This usually occurs in a drama or a play. The audience (or reader) knows something that the main character does not know.

6. Review - Symbol A symbol is a person, place, thing, or event (something concrete) used to represent a concept or an idea (something abstract).

7. Elements of Fiction - Conflict What is conflict in the plot of a novel? This is a struggle between the opposing forces. The struggle builds until it reaches a crisis or turning point, which is the climax of the novel. There are 5 main types of conflict:

8. Conflict: Person vs. Person Problem with another character

9. Conflict: Person vs. Society Problems with the laws or beliefs of a group.

10. Conflict: Person vs. Nature Problem with a force of nature such as a blizzard or high wind

11. Conflict: Person vs. Self Problem with deciding what to do or think.

12. Conflict: Person vs. Fate Problem that seems to be uncontrollable

13. Elements of Fiction - Theme Definition – The statement about life the writer wants to convey to the reader. Sometimes the writer makes a clear statement about the theme; other times the reader has to make an inference or reasonable guess. There may be more than one theme -

14. How to Understand the Theme Find the “big ideas” or general topics Courage Family Friendship Growing up Freedom Prejudice What does the author want the reader to understand about the “big idea”? If the story is about “family,” is the author saying “it is important to stick together as a family”??? The theme is a statement!!!

15. Example – Identify the Theme from “Eleven” by Sandra Cisneros Looking at what a character says/does will help you identify the theme: “I’m eleven today. I’m eleven, ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, and one, but I wish I was one hundred and two. I wish I was anything but eleven, because I want today to be far away already, far away like a runaway balloon, like a tiny o in the sky, so tiny-tiny you have to close your eyes to see it.” What is the “big idea”? Growing up------- What is a theme statement for this selection? Growing up can be frustrating (She wants to be way grown up - 102, not just 20!)

16. Check for Understanding On a piece of paper, do the following activity. Identify general topics and suggest a theme statement for your assigned novel.