Literary Elements

What parts make up a a story?

Looking For A Rain God

Story Grammar
Setting Characters Plot Climax Theme Resolution Denouement

Time and place are where the action occurs Details that describe:
Furniture Scenery Customs Transportation Clothing Dialects Weather Time of day Time of year

Setting

Elements of a Setting
Location
Life

Era

Place

Time

Physical

Setting
Atmosphere Day

History

Mood

Feelings

Word Choice

Weather

Use as activator to activate prior know ledge. Write the w eb on the board or overhead and students cre ate one at their seats. Then as class share and fill in.

The Functions of a Setting

To create a mood or atmosphere To show a reader a different way of life To make action seem more real To be the source of conflict or struggle To symbolize an idea

Setting
Setting in a short story refers to the place or geographical location where the story takes place. Setting also relates to a particular time that is referred in the story. Setting includes the environment or physical space, the atmosphere or situation that causes an event to take place, and the socio-cultural contexts of the people involved or portrayed in the story.

Setting Of The Rain God

The story Looking for A Rain God is set in the village of Kgotla and the surrounding areas, Africa. The story is set in the periods before and after 1958. Before 1958, the land is rich with trees, flowing plants and vegetation. Wild figs and berries are available to be plucked as and when the needs arise.

Elements of Character
Fully Developed
Relatives

Friends

Main

Minor
Not Fully Developed

Protagonist

Character

Flat

Co-Main

Antagonist

Enemy

Types of Characters
People or animals Major characters Minor characters Round characters Flat characters

Characterization A writer reveals what a character is like and

Factors in Analyzing Characters
how the character changes throughout the story. Physical appearance of character Personality Background/personal history Motivation Relationships Conflict Does character change?

Characters
The main character in the short story is Mokgobja who is than seventy years old. The other characters (minor) are:

- Ramadi - Tiro - Nesta - Neo - Boseyong

Mokgobja - authoritative - emotional/sensitive - impractical ( believes in dogmatic practices) - unwise - irresponsible - irrational - insistent - determined - selfish, self-centred - disillusioned - inhuman

Ramadi - unrealistic/impractical (down-to-earth) - disheartened - conspirator/ accomplice (in murdering the two children) - inhuman - irrational - determined - sensitive - desperate - easily to be convinced or influenced

Tiro - unsympathetic - impractical - inhuman - unwise - not assertive, emotional - disillusioned - determine - guilt-conscious - easily to be convinced or influence

Nesta - unsympathetic - impractical - inhuman, conspirator in murder - unwise - not assertive/ follows blindly/ emotional - disillusioned/ feels despair/ feels desperate - determined - selfish, self-centred - easily to be convinced or influenced

Neo and Boseyong - innocent, nave - playful - childish - happy - excited - obedient - living in their own child-world

Plot is what happens and how it happens in a narrative. A narrative is any work that tells a story, such as a short story, a novel, a drama, or a narrative poem.

Plot

Parts of a Plot
Inciting incident event that gives rise to conflict (opening situation) Development- events that occur as result of central conflict (rising action) Climax- highest point of interest or suspense of story Resolution- when conflict ends Denouement- when characters go back to their life before the conflict

Diagram of Plot
Climax

Introduction Inciting incident/ Opening situation

Denouement

Special Techniques of Plot

Suspense- excitement or tension Foreshadowing- hint or clue about what will happen in story Flashback- interrupts the normal sequence of events to tell about something that happened in the past Surprise Ending- conclusion that reader does not expect

Plot
Exposition
The story unfolds with the description of the land which is fertile and rich before 1958. The people enjoy the fertile land and water is available at various places for them to quench their thirst. The land is filled with trees, flowing plants and vegetations. Wild figs and berries are available to be plucked as and when the needs arise. But all this changes after 1958, as a seven-year drought hits the land.

The landscape, which looks green and fertile, changes forms to become an open dry-land and the places providing water vanish. The land transforms into thorny bushes, withering trees and the grounds are barren. The seven year drought changes everything, rain becomes a rarity.

The Rising Action Stage

The people experience the real torture of drought. With no rain the air becomes dry and moisture-less, burning the skin. There is no way of escaping from the intense heat. The people hope for a good down pour, but only slight rain comes in November. It helps loosen up the earth and then the rain is gone. The sun is cruel and each day passes with the sun sucking up the moisture from the earth and leaves it moisture-less. Mokgobja, Ramadi, Tiro and Nesta are affected by the prolonged dry spell.

They feel despair and become desperate with the fear of starvation and the rain not falling. The emotional intensity builds and the womenfolk let out the signs of coming to their breaking-point. The men are affected by the wailing and actions of the two women Mokgobja recalls an ancient act to make the rain fall. He manages to convince the others of the effect of the ritual and rain will fall. The others agree with him.

Conflict is a struggle between opposing forces Every plot must contain some kind of conflict Stories can have more than one conflict Conflicts can be external or internal
External conflict- outside force may be person, group, animal, nature, or a nonhuman obstacle Internal conflict- takes place in a characters mind Conflict in the story

Conflict

They perform the ritual and the two children are sacrificed. Their bodies are spread across the land.

Falling action stage

There is still no rain. At night there is total silence. During the day, the sun reigns to blaze and devour heat. The family decides to return to the village. The villagers suspect something is wrong as the two girls are missing. The family tells them that the two girls have died. However, the villagers are not convinced.The police question the family members. The mother of the two children is not able to hold on any more and tells the truth. They have sacrificed the two little girls to the rain god.

Ending
Ramadi and Mokgobja are both charged and sentenced to death for committing ritual murder. They have to face the consequences of their actions.

Theme
A central message, concern, or insight into life expressed through a literary work Can be expressed by one or two sentence statement about human beings or about life May be stated directly or implied Interpretation uncovers the theme

Humanity Humanity is about caring for one another, and protecting the innocent from troubles and dangers. Humanity is against the killing of children or any person. Human sacrifice is the thing of the past and is not practical in modern times, as there is law and order. Moreover, it is morally and legally wrong to kill someone. Human rights and laws provide for the protection of children and individuals. There is no excuse to kill others in the name of sacifice.

Life is precious
The theme also deals with suicide and tribal murder.The moral issue on the life is no one has the right to take his or her life.Life is the gift of Theme the God and it is precious.In the story,two men murder two kids in the ritual to please the rain god.The value of life is discussed as a theme in the story.

Moral Values
It is important to be practical and act rationally . The story teaches us to be practical and learn to solve problems carefully.There is a need for us to be realistic in life. It is important for a person to be able to handle situations even under trying conditions. This is the reality ofliving in a society. In the story, the adults are not practical and act irrationally. They think it is fine to kill the two innocent children. Mokgobja is over seventy years old and decides to take the lives of the two children to make the rain fall and for the adults to continue living. There is a need for us to find solutions to problems by thinking rationally and practically.

It is important to appreciate the gift of life

The story teaches us to appreciate the gift of life. The gift of life is divine. As humans we have a moral obligation to protect life and not to end it by committing suicide. It is also against the law to take ones life or to kill others. In the story, two innocent and precious lives are lost because of an irrational act of sacrificing children. It is also a brutal act. Life is too precious. Mokgobja and Ramadi are sentenced to death for murdering the two children. The sentence is a stern reminder to others that it is against the law to carry out cold blooded murder in the pretext of tribal customs, rituals and cultural practices. The story teaches us to appreciate the gift of life.

Language
The writer uses a narrative style to tell the story. The writer uses the narrative style to share the experiences the characters undergo. The writer uses language and other literary elements or devices effectively. The other literary devices or elements are imagery, symbolism, irony and figurative language

IMAGERY
Imagery is chosen words or phrases that involve our five senses. These words and phrases give us a picture-like experience in our mind. The writer also uses words that work on the five senses of the readers. This provides a wholesome experience to the readers. In Looking for a Rain God the sense of sight, the sense of hearing and the sense of touch, are clearly notable through the use of words and phrase.

Sense of hearing
The writer uses words and phrases that refer to sound such as rain, hear the proclamation, insect singing, rustling, chattered, soft tones, scolded, high- pitched wailing, low mournful note, frenzy, whispering, deathly silence, murmur, and broke down. These words make the readers experience the events in the story in specific contexts.

THE END