Plot, Setting and Character


Lesson 5  Assignment 1-5


Target 

Assignment


Understand your purpose for reading


What changes do you make when you read something difficult?
Have you ever made a decision you regretted later?  What did you learn about yourself?
Leiningen Versus the Ants was written by Carl Stephenson in German in 1937, and translated by the author to English in 1938. This makes it a challenging read for today's students who live in a different world. For example, the origin of the text creates a few issues with word choice:
    • some words will be unfamiliar (so I have created a Quizlet review - flashcards, games etc- to help)
    • this selection was written before World War II. The attitude, behaviour and language reflects this. Some words or phrases are no longer considered appropriate - but due to the classic nature of this selection, these remain. Please be aware of these conditions, and when an attitude or word choice jars you, recognize and be grateful that society no longer deems these attitudes or this language appropriate.

This story is set in Brazil; many of the animals and land formations may be unfamiliar. Please check the Quizlet activities here

to ensure you understand the setting of this story. At a minimum, take a quick run through the 'Flashcards' so the terms will be familiar when you encounter them in the story.

All of that aside, this is a classic suspense story. I hope you enjoy it.

Story Elements

In review, the literary elements that contribute to the creation of an engaging story include:

  • setting
    • mood/atmosphere
    • time and place
  • characters
    • protagonist/antagonist
    • flat/round
    • dynamic/static
    • stereotypes
    • direct and indirect presentation
  • plot
    • introduction
    • inciting incident
    • rising action
    • climax
    • falling action
    • denouement/conclusion/resolution

Literary Devices

There are also literary devices that text creators use to make their stories more interesting.  These devices include:
  • theme
  • conflict
    • person vs person
    • person vs self
    • person vs environment
  • point of view
    • first person narrator
    • second person narrator
    • third person narrator
  • flashback
  • foreshadowing
  • suspense
  • style
    • irony
    • satire
    • symbol

At this point in your journey as an English Language Arts student, you have learned about all of these terms. However, students often only pay attention to these kinds of things until the bell rings for the next class.  If any of the above terms are not completely familiar, take a look at this short review of what each of these terms mean in the Short Story and Novel Terms 9 document. The rest of this course will presume that you know all of these terms.