COLAND SYSTEMS TECHNOLOGY COLLEGE, INC.

HIGH SCHOOL DEPARTMENT

SINSUAT AVENUE, COTABATO CITY
12
CREATIVE NON-FICTION

Quarter 3- Module 5:
The Literary Elements

A Self Instructed Module in

Creative Non-Fiction
Second Semester
School Year 2020-2021

Name:
Grade and Section:
Subject Teacher:

CREATIVE NON FICTION: Quarter 3; Module 3:Literary Genre: Poetry 1

 What I Need to Know

This module was designed and written with you in mind. This lays out the
foundational knowledge for studying Creative Non-Fiction. It features essential
information including the Literary Elements.

The module consists of different lessons, namely:

 Lesson 1- Literary Elements

After going through this module, you are expected to:

1. Read sample works and analyze the techniques used and the underlying
themes;
2. Write sample sentences/paragraphs about a personal experience utilizing
the different literary elements.

Lesson
Literary Elements
1

What makes a work fiction? Or drama? Or poetry? What delineates one

genre from the other? If one is interested to write poetry, how can he or she
tell that it indeed is poetry? These exciting questions will be answered as
you go through lesson 2 where you will be acquainted with the elements of
the aforementioned genres.

-PRE ASSESSMENT-

LEARNING TASK 1: Identification. Can you guess the literary elements described
below? Write your answer in your notebook.
Part A.
1. They are the events that happen in a story.
Answer:

2. It is the struggle that occurs between forces in the narrative.

Answer:

3. They can be people, animals, or even things that live in the story.
Answer:

CREATIVE NON FICTION: Quarter 3; Module 3:Literary Genre: Poetry 2

 4. It is the underlying truth that is conveyed by a literary work.
Answer:

5. It is the perspective from which the story is told.

Answer:

6. It basically refers to the time and place of the narrative.

Answer:

Part B.
1. It is the occurrence of the same sounds at the end of each line in poetry.
Answer:

2. It is the pattern that is created by the rhyming words in poetry.

Answer:

3. It is the term used to refer to the lines in poetry.

Answer:

4. It is the term which refers to a group of verses.

Answer:

5. It is the pattern created by stressed and unstressed syllables or words.

Answer:

What is It

ELEMENTS OF FICTION
A. Character
Characters are beings who live in the story. They can be actual
people from this planet to aliens from somewhere in the outer space. At
other times, they can be animals, and even inanimate objects; they can
even be supernatural presences or make-believe creatures like goblins,
fairies, dragons, or elves.
Characters are important in fiction because they are the ones with
whom the readers empathize. Readers also look for characters to root for or
against, to fall in love with, to care or to hate, and even dream to meet.
Readers come to know and understand the characters’ actions,
motivations, feelings and emotions through what they say, what they think,
how they act, and even through what other characters say about them. A
writer should therefore take this in consideration when creating the
characters to life.
Characters can be flat or round. A flat character is not sufficiently

CREATIVE NON FICTION: Quarter 3; Module 3:Literary Genre: Poetry 3

 developed, described very little, and plays very minor role in the narrative.
Sometimes they are simply stock characters or those known simply as the
“wicked stepmom,” or the “loyal servant.”
A round character, on the other hand, has a leading role in the
narrative. In contrast with a flat character, a round character is complex,
multi-dimensional, and well-developed that they seem “to come to life.”
These characters may undergo change through the circumstances where
they are placed, hence making them lifelike.
Characters can also be static or dynamic (also called developing). A
static character remains the same throughout the narrative while a
dynamic one undergoes change. The change can be brought by factors and
elements experienced by the character and may impact on his or her
attitudes, beliefs, or actions.

B. Setting
Simply put, setting answers the question “where” and “when” about
the narrative. Answers to these questions give rise to the two types of
setting: the physical and chronological setting.
Physical setting refers to where the story takes place. It can be very
general like in a farm, a school, or a laboratory; or it can be specific, like “in
the Metropolitan Naga Cathedral,” or “at McDonald’s Diversion Road
branch.”
The chronological setting can also be general or specific, as during
the “Christmas season,” or “during the early morning of December 16 in
2019.”
Sometimes, the setting is immaterial to the story, as when the writer
wants to be universal and not limited by time and space.
Aside from the chronological and physical setting, it also includes
the following:
a) the immediate surroundings of the characters such as props in
a scene: trees, furniture, food, inside of a house or car, etc.,
b) the weather such as cloudy, sunny, windy, snow, or rain, etc.,
and
c) the geographical location including the city, state, country, and
possibly even the universe, if the writer is writing science
fiction.

C. Plot
Plot is the order of events in the story. Writers usually follow a
particular
plot structure, called “Freytag’s Pyramid,” although this is not always the
case, as some may opt to start from the middle part or ending part and go
backwards to where the events began.
Freytag’s Pyramid is named after the German playwright of the
1800s, Gustav Freytag, and has the five-part plot structure which includes
the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement, also
known as resolution
CREATIVE NON FICTION: Quarter 3; Module 3:Literary Genre: Poetry 4
 Climax

Exposition Denouement
or Resolution

i. Exposition introduces the characters, time, and the problem.

This occurs at the start of the story up to the point where an inciting
incident happens for the main character to handle or solve. The
exposition creates the beginning of the story.

ii. Rising action includes the happenings that the main character
encounters. As each event develops, more complications arise, making
the problem more complex for the character.

iii. Climax refers to the turning point in the story. This is usually a
single event with the greatest intensity and uncertainty. Here the main
character contends with the problem hence creating the peak of
interest for the readers.

iv. Falling action are the events that unfold after the climax. The
resulting events after the climax create an emotional response from the
reader.

v. Denouement or resolution provides closure and ties up loose

ends in the story.

D. Conflict
Conflict is the struggle between opposing forces or entities. The main
character encounters a conflict which may be an adversary or any other
force to contend with.
Generally, there are two types of conflict: external and internal.
External conflict could be man against nature (a mother and her child
evacuating at the height of typhoon Yolanda), or man against man (a
student being harassed by a bully classmate). Internal conflict could be
man against society or culture, or man against himself or herself.

CREATIVE NON FICTION: Quarter 3; Module 3:Literary Genre: Poetry 5

 Readers might find external conflict more exciting than internal
conflict, but it is worthwhile to think that in real life, people experience
more of the latter than of the former.

E. Point of view
Who is telling the story? How is the story told? Point of view answers
these questions.

There are three different types of point of view which writers use in telling
fiction.
a) First person point of view means that the story is told from the
viewpoint of one of the characters who may be the protagonist or main
character in the narrative. Here, first person personal pronouns are
used like I, me, my, we, and our. By using this point of view, readers
may feel an affinity and empathy for the narrator as the narration can
include the narrator’s motives, thoughts and feelings. On the other
hand, this view may be limited as it cannot say for certain other
characters’ thoughts, feelings, and motives.
b) The second person point of view which is seldom used, speaks to the
reader as if the reader is the protagonist. At other times, the narrator
may use apostrophe, a figurative language where the speaker talks to an
absent or unidentified person. The second person pronouns are used
here like you and your.
c) The third person point of view is classified into third person limited
and third person omniscient. In both types of view, the narrator is not a
character nor in the story. In third person limited, the narrator is
limited only to one of the character’s thoughts. In third person
omniscient, the narrator is “all- knowing” and “all-seeing” and knows
various characters’ thoughts. This view uses third person pronouns like
he, she, it, and they.

F. Theme
Theme is the underlying truth conveyed by the author through the
story. Themes are usually universal which means that they are understood
by readers across cultures, eras, or nationalities. Some common themes
include coming of age, circle of life, prejudice, greed, good vs. evil, and
beating the odds. Theme is different from the moral or lesson of a narrative.

Elements of Poetry
Rhyme

This is the easiest feature to identify in a poem. If the last word in the first
line of poetry rhymes with the last word in the second line, or the third, you can
easily identify a pattern. Rhyme does not depend upon spelling; it is a matter of
CREATIVE NON FICTION: Quarter 3; Module 3:Literary Genre: Poetry 6
 sound, or pronunciation.

Rhyme Scheme
When you can identify a repeating pattern of similar-sounding words at the
ends of the lines, then you have a rhyme scheme. Simply assign a letter of the
alphabet (starting with A, of course) to each word at the end of a line of poetry;
rhyming words are given the same letter. Sometimes a pair of words nearly
rhymes; you assign the same letter to each of these words also.

Rhythm
Rhythm (or meter) is a slightly more difficult aspect of poetry for some
students. There is a natural rise and fall in our language: we stress certain
syllables and words more than others in order to emphasize meaning. In poetry,
these patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables or words form a rhythm or
meter. There is a name for each of the common patterns. In your study of poetry,
it is not necessary to memorize and agonize over these lists of terms. They are
presented here merely for your information and as a starting point in
understanding the rhythm of poetry.
There were rules in writing poetry in the past. Poets arranged lines (also
called verses) into groups called stanzas. Usually the poems were quite neat and
evenly- shaped - the lines were roughly the same length, the stanzas all contained
a pre- determined number of lines. The rhyme schemes were regular, and the
rhythm was identifiable.
Nowadays, modern poets break all of these rules because they feel that their
poetry will be stilted and artificial if they cannot write freely, hence the term free
verse. At first glance it appears that all of the conventions of poetry have been
thrown away when you read such poetry, but in many ways free verse is more
difficult to write. The poet creates his or her own form, although the poem must
still sound like a poem; otherwise, it is prose. The poet is free to choose whether or
not to use rhyme or a natural rhythm which does not follow a set pattern.
Poetry, even more so than the other genres of literature, employs figurative
language to the best effect. Poets use literary devices as tools to create images or
vivid word pictures, for the reader. Figures of speech require fewer words to
express these images, and this “compact” feature lends itself especially well to
poetry, where there is usually a limit to the length of a verse. The topic on
figurative language will be discussed in the succeeding lessons.

Elements of Drama
Drama is pretty much similar in certain narrative aspects to fiction, like the
presence of characters, plot, setting, conflict, and theme. Since drama is intended
for performance, it has particular elements, though, which are distinct from other
genres. This includes presentation elements like venue, costumes, set design,
lighting design, and music.

CREATIVE NON FICTION: Quarter 3; Module 3:Literary Genre: Poetry 7

 -FINAL ASSESSMENT-

LEARNING TASK 2: Read the following selection then identify the narrative
elements present in the text. Write your answers in your notebook.

Aries – The Ram

Athamas, the legendary king of Thessaly, had two children, Phrixus and
Helle. He had remarried and Ino, the children’s stepmother, began to treat them
very badly. They were treated so cruelly that Hermes took pity on them and sent a
magical ram to take them away and escape their stepmother’s wrath.
Mounted on the ram’s back, the children flew over land and sea to the east.
Unfortunately, Helle failed to get a good hold on the fleece of the ram and as they
flew over the strait that separates Europe and Asia, she fell off and was drowned
in the sea far below. That sea is called Hellespont to this day in honor of her
memory.
Phrixus landed safely at Colches, which is on the edge of the Black Sea. In
gratitude for his safe deliverance, Phrixus sacrificed the ram and gave its Golden
Fleece to the king of that country.
In honor of the ram’s great sacrifice in saving the children, Zeus placed the
ram’s constellation, Aries, in the night sky. (adapted from “Constellation Legends”

1. CHARACTERS

2. SETTINGS

3. CONFLICT

CREATIVE NON FICTION: Quarter 3; Module 3:Literary Genre: Poetry 8

4. POINT OF VIEW

5. PLOT

EXPOSITION:

RISING ACTION:

CLIMAX:

FALLING ACTION:

RESOLUTION:

6. THEME

CREATIVE NON FICTION: Quarter 3; Module 3:Literary Genre: Poetry 9