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You’ve got style, babe…

You know, my Washingtonian darlings, you won’t start school until Monday, August 31. And you will complain, although I have it on good authority you’re actually excited to be back. It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me.

Anyway, one of my favorite cousin’s sons has already started ninth grade English. I’m not sure if he’s in honors or not, but my cousin asked me if I could help him with an assignment. Apparently, his class is reading Alas, Babylon and Lord of the Flies. I have never read Alas, alas, but I am fascinated and fond of Lord of the Flies.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Lord of the Flies by William Golding

He asked me to help him develop questions based on stylistic elements of literature. Um, yeah. That was kind of like asking me to pull apart the richness of a thick, gooey, chocolate cake with chocolate chips, chocolate frosting, and a side of chocolate–LOTF is so rich with symbolism, motifs, allusions, allegory, foreshadowing and all-around awesomeness of writing, it’s almost impossible to pull it all apart–but not totally. This is the challenge of discussing amazing literature–novels, short stories, poetry–all deep and interesting texts that connect us as humans. Lord shows us that we, in our deepest hearts, can be cruel, savage, and bloodthirsty bullies. It also shows us that evil may take many forms, but it can be fought: when it’s left unchecked, our society and connections fall apart.

Oops. This wasn’t about me writing a thesis paper on Lord of the Flies. It was about finding and understanding literary terms, so you can apprecitate, understand, and desire reading:

Fairly comprehensive glossaries of literature terminogy: http://classiclit.about.com/od/literaryterms/Glossary_Terms.htm

http://www.virtualsalt.com/litterms.htm

Embrace your literary style.

Ooo-ooo– another literary terms website that, well, rocks: http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/lit_terms/

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Watch and Learn

1. Exposition: The setting, characters and background.
2. Rising Action: What events lead the character to the climax of the story.
3. Climax: What event changes everything in the plot for the characters?
4. Falling Action: What events lead to the resolution/ending of the story?
5. Resolution: The ending. Try to determine what “kind” of ending the story has —
Email me if you have questions.
Yours in viewing, Mrs. L