Literary Craft Definitions 1
A point of view which uses the pronouns “I” and “me” in order to tell a story from the narrator’s perspective. The storyteller is either the protagonist relaying their experiences or a peripheral character telling the protagonist’s story.
First Person Point of View
Ever since my mom died, I cry in H Mart. For those of you who don’t know, H Mart is a supermarket chain that specializes in Asian food. The “H” stands for han ah reum, a Korean phrase that roughly translates to “one arm full of groceries.”
“Crying in H Mart”
What city does Mr. Chavez live in?
Reno
What is the name of Han Solo’s ship?
The Millennium Falcon.
The main character in a story is also known as the____.
Protagonist
A literary device that uses descriptive language to create mental images for the reader.
Imagery
Three hundred twenty light years away, a sun-like star, HD 240430, stands accused of eating at least fifteen of its own earth-like planets. A clue to the future of our solar system, maybe. In order for us to have stopped talking, Papa, to talk again someday, the cosmos must cooperate. The earth and the sun must wander neither too close nor too far from each other. All the dust, gas, emptiness, and angular momentum in outer space must safely balance out the astronomical volumes of ache in our hearts for you to ask about my day and for me to say that I bought a T-shirt with holes all over because moth-eaten clothes are à la mode in 2020.
“How Do I Talk to My Father about Constellations?”
What state did Mr. Chavez grow up in?
California
What species is Chewbacca?
Wookie
The physical location, time, and social milieu of a story.
Setting
The narrative event which launches the story. Something happens to the protagonist, or they make a decision which triggers the conflict in the narrative. From there on out, the protagonist is attempting to resolve whatever conflict which was introduced during this beginning moment in the story.
Inciting Incident
Sometimes, I limp. Whether it’s from the cold, or a run, or just existing, I limp. Sometimes, people ask me about it. Same with when we used to go to bars and I’d show off the noise my jaw makes, from a league basketball game where a 6’2” 200-lb. dude pump faked me, and I jumped, in all my 5’9” 150-lb. glory, just to land chin first on the top of his head. I think of the scars that have faded into my skin, I think of all the streetball games where the scores have been forgotten, but the feeling remains.
“Pleasure Spiked with Pain: A Love Story to Basketball”
What hand does Mr. Chavez write with?
Left hand
What is Baby Yoda’s real name?
Grogu
A point of view which uses the pronoun “you” to address the reader. Implies the reader is the either the protagonist or a character in a story, and that the events happening in the story are happening to them.
Second Person Point of View
An object or event that can take on the burden of an emotion or an abstraction. It is a device that is used as a metaphor in place of the emotion or abstraction to create meaning for an audience.
Objective Correlative
When I saw England for the first time, I was a child in school sitting at a desk. The England I was looking at was laid out on a map gently, beautifully, delicately, a very special jewel; it lay on a bed of sky blue - the background of the map - its yellow form mysterious, because though it looked like a leg of mutton, it could not really look like anything so familiar as a leg of mutton because it was England - with shadings of pink and green, unlike any shadings of pink and green I had seen before, squiggly veins of red running in every direction. England was a special jewel all right, and only special people got to wear it.
“On Seeing England for the First Time”
How many brothers does Mr. Chavez have?
3
Who was Anakin Skywalker’s Padawan?
Ahsoka Tano
The highest point of tension in the story, at which a decision or discovery is made that changes a protagonist forever. It is the point of no return in the story.
Climax
A story organized according to a nonlinear principle and usually without a strict cause-and-effect structure. These stories are organized by juxtapositions of image, action, dialogue, language, and idea rather than linear continuity.
Modular Narrative
“YOU KNOW,” Yaneth says, “I saw the devil once.” Yaneth is my grandmother’s nurse, and she says this as she wipes my grandmother’s chin with a napkin.
I’m sitting across from them, at the kitchen table in my grandmother’s Bogotá apartment. Right where I would sit after birthdays and Sunday dinners listening to my grandmother tell me about all the ghosts that used to haunt her, and every demon that would — she promised — someday devour me.
I pause, “Do you mean the actual devil?”
“A Man Walks In and Takes Off His Hat”
What state did Mr. Chavez go to graduate school in?
Virginia
Who built C-3PO?
Anakin Skywalker
The setting of scene at the beginning of a story where no major changes or decisions unfold.
Instead what happens is the introduction of principal characters, the story’s time period, and the tone of the story. Most importantly, we learn or are introduced to what the protagonist wants in the story.
Exposition