Chapter 7

Open Ending

A children's novel that leave matter unresolved, by suggesting two or more possible interactions and leaving it up to the reader to decide what happened.

Stereotyped Characters

When the characteristics have their basis in a recognized cultural or social shorthand, the stock characters are said to be stereotyped.

Mystery

Stories in which some sort of mystery or puzzle is introduced early on that gets children involved in trying to figure out what has happened. Mysteries include detective stories, suspense novels, and talks of supernatural; and they are marked by suspense and fast-paced action.

Contemporary Realistic Fiction

Stories set in the here and now. They can dal with serious issues, or can be funny stories.

Plot

A series of events that tell the story, actions that are linked by cause and effect, so that a narrative ties all the pieces of the story together.

Personification

A type of figurative language, which means that nonhuman objects or animals are invested with human characteristics.

Characterization

Are a crucial part of any children's novel, because they serve as a link between the reader and the story. The link is established when the child reader is able to identify with action, motives, and feelings of the main character in a story.

Parallel Structure

Builds two progressive plots simultaneously.

Setting

Can either function as a backdrop or as an integral part of the story. As the the name suggests, backdrop setting are created from vivid descriptive details that may be interesting in and of themselves, but the story could be easily moved to another setting without losing much.

Literary Genres

Children's book can be categorized by genres and subgenres, and it it's important for a critic to identify the genre of any book under consideration.

Progressive Plot

Conflict is introduced early in the book and carried through until there is a climax and resolution near the story's end. It generally follows the same general pattern of action. 1. Presentation of brief background that sets the stage 2. Introduction of conflict 3. Development of conflict 4. Climax or turning point 5. Resolution

Sound Devices

Enrich the language of his novel though: alliteration, assonance, consonance, onomatopoeia, rhythm, allusion, and diction.

Literary Devices

Enrich the language of the novel and evoke emotional responses in the reader.

Illustrated Novels

In the first half of the twentieth century, most children's novels were accompanied by illustrated, either in black and white or as full-color plates tipped in between pages of text.

Conflict

Is a major element of plat that keeps the story moving and stirs the interest of the reader who wants to find out what happens next and how the conflict will be resolved. Stories with little or no conflict are dull and slow moving, and inspire reader to say that nothing happened in the book. Character vs. character- Conflict between two groups dives the plot. Character vs. nature- Popularized in survival stories. Character vs. society- Need not involve conflict with society at large; instead it ma be society in microcosm, viewed on a child's scale, such as the society of a neighborhood or school. Character vs. self- Can be developed as an inner conflict a character faces, centered on moral dilemmas a child reader can easily grasp.

Narrative Structure

Is about two things: the content of a story and the form used to tell the story.

Diction

Is another aspect of an author's style that enriches that manner in which a story is told. Sometimes referred to as the author's voice diction injects prose with the flavor of a particular time and place by using words and grammatical structures native to the story's setting and characters. Author's Voice- Diction can appear as distinctive in both dialogue and narrative. In dialogue, an author uses diction to approximate the way spoken language sounds.

Antagonist

Is another character opposite of the protagonist, nature, society, or self.

Episodic Plot

Is made up of a series of conflicts that are introduced and resolved, usually chapter-by-chapter. Episodic plats are generally easier for newly independent readers, who often have difficulty sustaining concentration when they first begin to read chapter books.

Theme

Is often one of most elusive aspects of fiction, but it is an important one, because it answers the question: What is the story about? Theme is more than what happened in a story. Theme reflects the overall idea the author was trying to get across to readers in the fist place.

Tone

Is the reflection of the author's attitude toward the story. It corresponds to the tone of voice in spoken language; however, since we can't hear a tone of voice in writing, the author conveys this sense though style.

Foreshadowing

It builds anticipation, causing readers to make prediction about what will happen later in the story

Style

Language dictates style in all writing, With respect to fiction, we look at both the literal and metaphorical way and metaphorical ways an author uses language.

Allusion

Makes reference to literature or historical events that are part of our common cultural heritage. It is less frequently used as a device in children's books simply because children typically do not have the necessary background to recognize and appreciate it.

Chronological Order

Most children's novels follow a direct linear pattern, which events occurring in chronologic order.

Narrative Order

Refers to the sequence in which the events take place.

Figurative Language

Refers to the use of words in a nonliteral way.

Suspense

Rises questions into the reader's mind: What will happen next? Why did the character do that?

Science Fiction

Sometimes called speculative fiction, these are stories set in an imaginary world that operates by the laws of science, rather than by magic. Children's science fiction often deals with ethical issues by taking sine aspect of contemporary life and projecting it into a future time.

Stock Characters

Sometimes these characteristics are immediately recognizable because we've seen them countless times in other books and on television.

Historical Fiction

Stories set in the past. Setting is generally integral. The author must bring unfamiliar events and everyday experiences to life and offer enough historical context for child reader so that they understand the time period.

Realism

Stories that could happen in the real world.

Sports Stories

Stories that feature a child or sometimes an entire team playing a specific sport. The best books in this genre have plenty of descriptive passages that make play-by-play action an integral part of the plot.

Horror

Stories that set out to scare the reader. This is an especially popular genre with many children, something that many adults find puzzling. But the attraction of most horror for children is that they can identify with the central them, which is powerlessness, and find comfort in seeing a child facing his fears and overcoming more power forces, such as zombies, vampires, and psyche killer.

Fantasy

Stories that take place in an imaginary world created by the author. The author creates the rules by which the world operates and must remain consistent to them. He or she must also make the world believable enough that readers will be able to suspend disbelief when they enter it. Fantasy is further subdivided into high fantasy and low fantasy. High fantasy is set in a completely imaginary world. Low fantasy is set in the real world but introduces magical elements.

Survival Stories

Stories that tell of a character's struggle to survive, either physically or emotionally. In most survival stories, character must make life-of-death decisions that determine their fate.

Cliffhanger

Suspense that occurs at the end of a chapter, and it propels reader directly into the next chapter so that they can find out what happens.

Flashbacks

The author disrupts a linear chronology to recount events that occurred at an earlier time, usually to give readers insight into a character. Seems to occur in the present, since they are part of a story being told in the present.

Simile

The comparison of two dissimilar things, generally with the words "like" or "as".

Protagonist

The main character into situations in which she comes into conflict with something or someone else (antagonist).

Rhythm

The pattern of words in a sentence, which gives it a particular flow, or cadence. Note the way Henkes uses rhythm in the following sentence to give readers a playful sense of somersaulting downhill: "Summer afternoons on the hill smelled of heat and dirt and grass and weeds and laziness."

Understatement

The presentation of something as being smaller, worse, or less important than it actually is.

Hyperbole

The use of exaggeration, it is not to be taken literally.

Onomatopoeia

The use of words that sound like their meaning. An example is when Blaze's father allows him to help attach canvas to frames. "The staple gun had a nasty little kick that jolted Blaze's arm, and it made a whooshing noise that reminded Blaze of getting a vaccination."

Round Characters

Well-developed characters.

Point of View

The vantage point from which the action in the story is viewed and related. The author may choose to tell the story from inside a character's head or by looking over a character's shoulder or by viewing the entire scene from a distance. First Person- Tells the story from inside the character's head. IT is readily identifiable due to the use of the pronoun "I" by the narrator. Third Person Omniscient- Allows for much grater freedom and flexibility, in that the author can move around inside the story and enter the thoughts and feelings of any of the characters. The disadvantage is that it can make the story more difficult for young readers, as they have difficulty following transitions from on character to the next. Third Person Limited- The author uses third person but sticks to the viewpoint of one character, is easier for young readers to comprehend. Third Person Objective- Uses third person but does not enter the mind of a character at all. Rather, action is described completely by means of outside observation. This point of view used effectively in realistic animal stories that dramatize action in the natural world. It becomes more challenging when used with human characters, because it requires readers to make their own connections between explicit actions and implicit emotions.

Flat Characters

They are usually defined by one or two characteristics alone and therefore seem to be one-dimensional or flat.

Dynamic Characters

Those who grow and change over the course of a novel.

School Stories

Unique to children's and young adult literature. Traditionally, school stories were set in boarding schools, and the setting served as a microcosm for society at large; but today we see many children's novels set in public school classrooms, where the teacher, classmates, and occasionally the principal are the many characters.

Graphic Novel

Use sequential art and words in accordance with comic-book conventions to tell a story. Popular with teenagers, many publishers are beginning to develop graphic novel lines for children, as well.