Focus Question (9/28)

Focus Question: How does knowing about literary elements impact understanding a story?

Literary elements consist of characters, point of view, time, place, plot, mood, theme and the list goes on. Literary Elements can greatly alter a story. They can make or break the emotional connection, engage or disengage a reader. The reader is usually unaware of the impact that literary elements but think of any good book that you have read. Why did you like it so much? I'm sure most of you responded with you had a real connection with one of the characters, the action in the book or the amount of symbols and metaphors in the book. When we build these sort of emotional connections we understand the story more because we are  engaged and interested in what the book can offer for us.

When I think about literary elements I think about the story that professor Caszatt-Allen told in class about the little boy who wrote to the author of Higher Power of Lucky, Susan Patron. The little boy was a reluctant reader but some how made an emotional connection to the Higher Power of Lucky wrote to the author about how much enjoyed the book and proposed a new idea for a second book. The fact that the boy made a connection to the book and enjoyed it made him understand the book. If the little boy had not liked the book he may not have understood what was happening. Think about any book that you didn't understand fully, it was most likely because you did not make an emotional connection to the characters, plot, or time. Making a connection to literary elements strengthens a person's ability to understand the story.