Processes and literacy
Point of View
The point of view refers to a specific mode of narration. In other words, who is telling the story? The narrator is always defined by two things: first the distance from the story which is revealed by the pronouns used in the story and second, how much the narrator reveals about the characters in the story.
First Person Narrator: This type of narrator is very to identify because the story will be told with the pronoun «I». It usually is the protagonist or someone directly involved in the events. This type of narrator has a limited perspective because he may only tell what he sees. He cannot reveal unspoken thoughts of the other characters.
Second Person Narrator: This type of narrator is rarely used because of its difficulty and clumsiness. It makes the reader quite uncomfortable. The story is narrated from your perspective. One may find this type of narrator in books where You are the hero and the text feels more like a series of directions to follow.
Third Person Narrator: The third person narrator tells the story of another person. There are three types of third person narrator:
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Omniscient: This type of narrator gives the reader access to all the thoughts and feelings of all the characters.
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Limited: This type of narrator is limited to the thoughts and feelings of one character, usually the protagonist. The reader must infer the other characters’ thoughts and feelings from their behavior or the dialogues.
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Objective: This type of narrator only describes the behaviors and dialogues of the characters. The thoughts and feelings are never revealed. Think of the objective of a camera filming a scene. The interpretation is left entirely to the reader.
Direct quotations
A direct quotation is a report of the exact words used by an author or a speaker. Contrarily to an indirect quotation, a direct quotation must be placed between quotation marks.
For example: Barack Obama said, “Yes we can.”
It is common for direct quotations to be introduced by a signal phrase, such as Barack Obama said or J.K. Rowling wrote.
Direct quotations are useful when one means to refer to the exact words someone said. They can be used as evidence in a trial or simply to support one’s argumentation.
In some cases, when necessary, it is possible to slightly modify a direct quote. When doing so, one has to bear in mind that the meaning of the original quote needs to be respected and brackets need to be added in order to make the changes as clear as possible.
For example:
Original quote: J.K. Rowling said, “Reading is also a process and it changes you.”
Modified quote: J.K. Rowling wants her readers to understand that “[r]eading is also a process and it changes [them].”
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Indirect quotations
An indirect quotation involves paraphrasing someone else’s words. In effect, it presents what the person said without using their exact words.
Unlike a direct quotation, an indirect quotation does not require the use of quotation marks.
For example: It was Martin Luther King who said he had a dream.
Indirect quotes are useful to refer to something someone
Mixed quotations
It is also possible to use a mixed quotation in the form of an indirect quotation making use of a direct quotation, even partially.
For example: When he refers to some media as being “fake news”, Trump undermines the work of most media.
Character Types
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Protagonist
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The protagonist is the main character of the story. He is central to the action of the story. In a short story there is usually only one protagonist. In a novel there can be more than one.
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Antagonist
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The antagonist is the force which opposes the protagonist. Usually it is another person but it can also be an element of nature, even an object. In other words, the antagonist is an obstacle that the protagonist must overcome.
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Flat
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A flat character is notable for revealing just a few personality traits, very often only one. This character never changes throughout the story.
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Round
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This character is well developed. He demonstrates a variety of traits and sometimes these traits can be contradictory. In other words this character has a complex personality.
Dynamic
A dynamic character is a character who will be influenced to change by the events of the story. Most dynamic characters are major characters because they are influential in solving the conflict.
Static
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A static character is not changed by the events in the story. He remains the same.
Hero
Historically the hero is the type of character who embodies only admirable and positive traits like courage, bravery, strength, etc. Over the years, the hero has developed into a character who has certain flaws.
Anti-hero
The anti-hero is usually the protagonist who struggles with values. It is very easy to dislike an anti-hero, because he has none of the traits of a traditional hero.
