The Elements of Literature

in Ambrose Bierces An Occurrence at Owl

Creek Bridge

We will be analyzing each of these in the short story, An
Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. Click here to read the
story before learning about the different elements!

Character
Point of View
Setting
Plot
Theme
Tone

What are the elements of
literature?
Feeling confident? Test your knowledge here!

Character is somebody or something that takes part
in the action of the literary work.

Name some characters from the short story. How
would you describe some of them?
Character

Point of View is the perspective, or vantage point,
from which a story is told. It is the relationship of
the narrator to the story.
First-person is told by a character who uses the first-
person pronoun I.
Third-person limited point of view is the point of
view where the narrator uses third-person pronouns
such as he and she to refer to the characters.

What point of view is the story told from?
Point of View

The setting of a literary work is the time and place of the
action. The setting includes all the details of a place and
time the year, the time of day, even the weather. The
place may be a specific country, state, region, community,
neighborhood, building, institution, or home.
Details such as dialect, clothing, customs, and modes of
transportation are often used to establish setting.
In most stories, the setting serves as a backdrop a
context in which the characters interact. The setting of a
story often helps to create a particular mood, or feeling.

Is there more than one setting in the short story? What are
they?
Setting

Plot is the sequence of events. The first event causes the
second, the second causes the third, and so forth.
In most novels, dramas, short stories, and narrative poems, the
plot involves both characters and a central conflict.
The plot usually begins with an exposition that introduces the
setting, the characters, and the basic situation. This is
introduced and developed. The conflict then increases until it
reaches a high point of interest or suspense, the climax. The
climax is followed by the falling action, or end, of the central
conflict.

What is the central conflict of the short story? How is it
resolved?
Plot

The theme of a literary work is its central message,
concern, or purpose. A theme can usually be expressed as
a generalization, or general statement, about people or
life. The theme may be stated directly by the writer
although it is more often presented indirectly. When the
theme is stated indirectly, the reader must figure out the
theme by looking carefully at what the work reveals
about the people or about life.

What do you think the central theme of the story is?
Theme

Tone is a reflection of a writers or speakers attitude
toward a subject of a poem, story, or other literary
work. Tone may be communicated through words
and details that express particular emotions and that
evoke and emotional response from the reader.
For example, word choice or phrasing may seem to
convey respect, anger, lightheartedness, or sarcasm.

How would you describe the overall tone of the
short story? Does it shift at some points?
Tone

Peyton Farquhar was a well-to-do planter, of
an old and highly respected Alabama family.
Being a slave owner and like other slave owners
a politician he was naturally an original
secessionist and ardently devoted to the
Southern cause...

Tone

Setting

Theme

Character
What element is being
discussed in that selection?

The selection outlines Peytons character as a white,
Southern slave owner in the Civil War, which may or
may not have significance in the later parts of the
story.
Correct!

The selection also somewhat outlines the setting of
the story, but there is something that is more
relevant here.
Could be! Good guess!

Tone is described as being the attitude of the
speaker.
Can you point out a selection in the story that could
contain hints of its tone?
Try again!

While the Civil War as a theme is very interesting,
there are other elements at play here.
In fact, the Civil War isnt really the most important
theme in this story. Can you figure out what is more
important than the historical context?
Try again!

Definitions:
http://www.clintweb.net/ctw/littermsppt.ppt

Citation