Learning about the main elements of literature

Remember the 7 main literary elements?  SPCT SPN     Setting - Plot - Character - Theme (the first four) and
Style - Point of View - Narrative.

Style and Substance gives a good overview of these elements and they are reviewed as they are applied to the many stories and poems in the text.  But it is not enough for you to fully understand them.  Don't forget that these will apply to your own first language's literature.  You may have studied these 7 elements already in your native language and with your native literature.

For the purposes of English,  it is helpful to do a little more reading in English about these elements.  This will help you to speak and write about them in English.  This is quite easy to do now via Google.  Just Google, for example,  "literature  theme"  or "literature plot"  and you will get many results, some good, some not.

Here are some useful websites to further elucidate these main elements.


Theme:

Theme in Literature   (a slideshow)

What is a theme in literature

101 Common Themes


Setting:


What is setting?    (a very good website about the other elements as well)

The Use of setting in literature    (a slideshow)

How to analyse setting in literature


Plot:


The basic plots in literature

Plot Diagram   (try the neat activity on this page)

Plot in literature  (a detailed power point presentation)


Character:


A short article on characterization

Another short article about character

A quiz on characterization terminology


A Glossary of Literary Terms:     Here


There is never enough time to learn everything there is to know about what we want to to know about.   A good learners goals should be to:

*  achieve sufficient understanding
*  improve understanding
*  gain new ideas and insights
*  connect what you learn to your life and the world