Elements of a Story: Plot, Character, Setting and Theme
Elements of a Story: Plot, Character, Setting and Theme
TED-Ed · YouTube
Key points
By the end of the lesson, the learner can identify the main elements of a short story: plot, character, setting and theme.
By the end of the lesson, the learner can recognise and explain common figures of speech in poetry.
By the end of the lesson, the learner can appreciate written literature as a source of enjoyment and insight.
Audio narration — reads aloud, works offline
Transcript
[0:00] Written literature includes prose, such as short stories and novels, and poetry. Each has special elements that help us understand and enjoy it.
[0:50] In a story, the plot is the sequence of events, the characters are the people, the setting is the time and place, and the theme is the main message.
[1:40] A plot usually rises through a conflict to a climax, the most exciting point, and then settles in the resolution where the problem is solved.
[2:30] Poetry uses figures of speech. A simile compares using 'like' or 'as', as in 'brave as a lion'. A metaphor compares directly, as in 'time is money'.
[3:20] Personification gives human qualities to non-human things, as in 'the wind whispered'. These devices paint pictures in the reader's mind.
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