Story: Sniper - Shickley Public School

* By: Madison Yantzie

* I chose the story “The Sniper” for this project

to demonstrate the 5 Elements of Literature. The elements are Plot, Characterization, Point of View, Setting, and Theme. All stories must contain these 5 things for it to be a good story. “The Sniper” contains all of these parts as my presentation will show.

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Exposition- Introduction of setting and characters, sets the mood and tone, provides background information

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Inciting Incident- Event that introduces the central conflict Rising Action- develops conflict and complications (events leading up to Climax)

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Climax- High point of interest or suspension

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Resolution- Central conflict is solved

Falling Action- Events following the climax

Dénouement- What follows the resolution and ties up the loose ends

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• Republicans and Free Staters were waging civil war • Republican Sniper and Free Stater Sniper on the rooftops

Exposition

• Free Stater Sniper watching Republican sniper • Free Stater Sniper shoots at Republican Sniper

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Republican Sniper shoots at enemy car and old woman on the street Free Stater shot Republican Sniper Republican Sniper cleans himself up

• Republican Sniper thinks of a risky plan to kill the other sniper • Republican Sniper puts the plan into action

Climax

• Republican Sniper dangles arm from the roof top • Drops his riffle in the street • Free Stater Sniper thinks he killed Republican Sniper

Inciting Incident

Element Plot for “The Sniper”

• Republican Sniper goes to see the Free Stater Sniper that he shot • The dead Free Stater • Republican Sniper was Sniper shoots the the Free Republican Stater Sniper Sniper’s brother

Resolution

Dénouement

* If you recall I previously explained what the

Dénouement is to a story. It is what follows the Resolution and ties up the loose ends of the story. The Dénouement of this story was the Republican Sniper goes to see the Free Stater Sniper that he shot and the dead Free Stater Sniper was the Republican Sniper’s brother. This would be the Dénouement because it ties up the loose ends and closes up the story.

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* Characterization is the process by which the writer

reveals the personality of a character. Characterization is revealed through direct characterization and indirect characterization. To further explain characterization I am going to explain an example from the story “The Sniper”. The character I selected was The Republican Sniper. His characterization was developed indirectly. The characterization was indirect because we are told some of The Republican Snipers thoughts. His actions are also described as well as what he is wearing.

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* Point of view, in general, is the narrative perspective

from which a story is told. Basically, you are using POV to determine how and from whom you want your readers to hear your story. The point of view is 1st, 2nd, or 3rd person. If you think the story is 3rd person then it is either omniscient or limited. Omniscient is when the narrator knows the thoughts and feelings of ALL the characters. Limited is when the story is written from one characters prospective. “The Sniper” is 3rd person limited because it is told entirely in The Republican Snipers prospective. For example “ He has been to excited to eat” This is an example of 3rd person limited because it told the reader the Republican Sniper’s feelings and none of the other characters.

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* The tone of the story is negative. “The Sniper” has

a negative tone because in parts of the story the main character the Republican Sniper gave the reader a cold feeling because the story said “He raised his rifle and fired” and later in the story the Republican Sniper never made reference to feeling bad about killing the people. The story was told by a narrator as if they were watching the whole story play out. For example “Suddenly from the opposite roof a shot rang out and the sniper dropped his rifle with a curse.” The narrator would be reliable because he/she is just stating what is happening and not so much their personal feelings.

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* Setting is where and when the story takes place. The

setting of “The Sniper” is in June as twilight is fading into night, this explains the time frame that the story takes place in. “The Sniper” was during a civil war, this is a key detail because the story probably would not have happened if there was not a war. Finally, the Snipers are on the rooftops, this plays a part in when the Republican Sniper creates his plan to kill the Free Stater Sniper. If the story did not tell us that the snipers were on the rooftops then the Republican Sniper’s plan would not have made sense to the reader. The setting affects the way the reader pictures the story and can also help to build the plot and understand the story.

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* The theme that pertains to “The Sniper” is: In

civil war we end up hurting the ones we love. The first part of the theme comes from the story revolving around a civil war. The second part came from the Republican Sniper finding out he killed his brother, and most people love their family. In the end I check to see if the theme held true to the entire story and it did, so in turn it is a good theme for the story.

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* In conclusion, I have use the story “The Sniper” to discuss the 5 Elements of Literature. The elements are Plot, Characterization, Point of View, Setting, and Theme. “The Sniper” contains all the parts as I have explained which is why I would consider “The Sniper” to be a very good story.

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