Literary Elements

noun | a type of literary device used in fictional and narrative literary works; includes setting, plot, characters, theme, conflict, and archetypes.

Characters

Setting

Plot

Characterization

Theme

Conflict

Character Development

Archetypes

Literacy Progression

Standard 3  

Progression 

objectives in chronological order with shifts bolded

PK.3.R.2  Students will describe characters in a story with guidance and support. 

PK.3.R.3  Students will tell what is happening in a picture or illustration with guidance and support.

Pre-K and Kindergarten students are beginning to learn about the terms character and setting. In these grade levels, students should describe characters (people or animals in the story) and the setting (where and when the story happens) with support from the teacher.  

In early childhood texts, literary elements are often found in pictures or illustrations. As students in Pre-K and Kinder describe these pictures and illustrations, they will often have conversations about literary elements, laying the foundation for identifying those elements in later grade levels.

K.3.R.2  Students will describe characters and setting in a story with guidance and support. 

K.3.R.3  Students will tell what is happening in a picture or illustration.

1.3.R.3  Students will find textual evidence when provided with examples of literary elements and organization:

• setting (i.e., time, place)
• plot
• main characters and their traits in a story 

In 1st through 3rd grades the literary elements task shifts from describing to finding textual evidence when provided with examples. The teacher may identify the setting of a story as a house in the woods, and ask students to find evidence in the text to support this. Evidence may include key ideas, key words, or illustrations.

In 1st grade students are concentrating on the main character and their character traits. 2nd grade readers expand that to include all characters and begin learning about characterization. Characterization moves beyond describing traits to including character behaviors, actions, and opinions.

In 3rd grade, students begin learning about theme, the central meaning of a literary work. When given the theme of friendship, for instance, students may cite the loyalty of Wilbur and Charlotte from Charlotte’s Web as evidence.  

2.3.R.3  Students will find textual evidence when provided with examples of literary elements and organization:

• setting (i.e., time, place)
• plot
• characters
• characterization

3.3.R.3  Students will find textual evidence when provided with examples of literary elements and organization:

• setting (i.e., time, place)
• plot
• characters
• characterization
• theme

4.3.R.3  Students will describe key literary elements:

• setting
• plot
• characters (i.e., protagonist, antagonist)
• characterization
• theme 

In 4th and 5th grades the literary elements task shifts from finding evidence when given an example to describing key literary elements. As students closely read texts, they will describe the setting, plot, characters, characterization, and theme. Including evidence in the description is appropriate and important to deepen literary conversations. 

4th grade is the first time that protagonist and antagonist are listed in the standards. This is where students begin to refine their knowledge of characters, moving beyond just identifying and describing, to classifying characters as a protagonist, the central character, and the antagonist, the character who stands in opposition to the protagonist.

5.3.R.3  Students will describe and find textual evidence of key literary elements:

• setting
• plot
• characters (i.e., protagonist, antagonist)
• characterization
• theme

6.3.R.3  Students will analyze how key literary elements contribute to the meaning of the literary work:

• setting
• plot
• characters (i.e. protagonist, antagonist)
• characterization
• theme
• conflict (i.e. internal and external) 

In 6th and 7th grades the task shifts from describing literary elements to analyzing how those elements contribute to the overall meaning of the work. Using close reading, students may analyze how the setting of the North Woods of central Canada contributes to the theme of survival in Hatchet. Students may discuss how the meaning of the work changes if Hatchet were to be in an urban setting instead. 

6th grade is where internal and external conflict are introduced. Students may read the short story “Sometimes a Dream Needs a Push” by Walter Dean Meyer to analyze the character’s internal struggle to achieve a dream.

In 8th grade students shift their analysis from analyzing the literary elements themselves to analyzing how authors use those elements. 

7.3.R.3  Students will analyze how key literary elements contribute to the meaning of the literary work:

• setting
• plot
• characters (i.e. protagonist, antagonist)
• characterization
• theme
• conflict (i.e. internal and external)

8.3.R.3  Students will analyze how authors use key literary elements to contribute to the meaning of a text:

• setting
• plot
• characters (i.e. protagonist, antagonist)
• characterization
• theme
• conflict (i.e. internal and external)

9.3.R.3  Students will analyze how authors use key literary elements to contribute to meaning and interpret how themes are connected across texts:

• setting
• plot
• characters (i.e. protagonist, antagonist)
• character development
• theme
• conflict (i.e. internal and external)
• archetypes

In 9th-12th grade, students will now read multiple texts dealing with similar themes. Students will write analyses that compare and contrast how different texts embody the same or similar themes, discussing which literary elements contributed to the theme.

Students now focus on character development which is more nuanced than characterization (identifying direct / indirect characterization). Character development is the process of growing or changing throughout the story. Students will analyze and describe how characters change over the course of the text and discuss what causes that change.   

Beginning in the ninth grade, students will be introduced to archetypes. Students will learn that across literature there are certain character “types” that are repeated (e.g., the loyal friend, the romantic hero, the wise, and magical teacher). Students will identify those archetypes and use that knowledge to make predictions about the text and discuss the overall impact of those archetypes on the piece as whole.

10.3.R.3  Students will analyze how authors use key literary elements to contribute to meaning and interpret how themes are connected across texts:

• character development
• theme
• conflict (i.e. internal and external)
• archetypes

11.3.R.3  Students will analyze how authors use key literary elements to contribute to meaning and interpret how themes are connected across texts:

• theme
• archetypes