DepEd MIMAROPA

Curriculum and Learning Management Division

Senior High School

Creative Nonfiction
Module 2: Literary Elements

RO_MIMAROPA_SHS_Academic-
HUMSS_Creative Nonfiction_Mod2
Creative Nonfiction
Contextualized Self-Learning Module
Module 2: Literary Elements
First Edition, 2022
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Published by the Department of Education-MIMAROPA Region

Regional Director: Nicolas T. Capulong, PhD, CESO III
OIC, Office of the Asst. Regional Director: Atty. Suzette T. Gannaban-Medina

Development Team

Writer: Ma. Aivee M. Yambao & Karizza Joy I. Abacan

Editors: Mary Rose D. Dilay & Jestine P. Brual
Reviewers: Joseph F. Jambalos, Grace F. Perez
Illustrators: Louie J. Cortez, Jefferson Repizo, Ernesto S. Lerio
Layout Artist: Arvin Muleta
Management Team: Nicolas T. Capulong
Mariflor B. Musa
Freddie Rey R. Ramirez
Edna C. Oabel
Susana M. Bautista
Charity R. Agabas-Capunitan
Elmer P. Concepcion
Dindo Generato
Thervel M. Saez

Printed in the Philippines by ________________________

Department of Education – MIMAROPA Region

Office Address: Meralco Avenue, Corner St. Paul Road, Pasig City
Telefax: (02) 6314070
E-mail Address: [email protected]
 Lesson 2

Literary Elements

MELC : Create samples of the different literary elements based on one’s

experience (HUMSS_CNF11/12-Ib-d-4)

Objectives : At the end of this module, you should be able to:

1. identify various literary elements;
2. analyze how literary elements are used in texts; and
3. create samples of the different literary elements based on one’s
experience.

Let’s Try

Directions: Respond critically to the following questions by choosing the letter of the best answer.
Write your answer on the space provided before each number.

_______1. What is the technique used in presenting and revealing a character?

A. Character C. Antagonist
B. Characterization B. Protagonist
_______2. Which type of character does not evolve or show any changes as the story progress?

A. Round Character C. Static Character

B. Flat Character D. Dynamic Character
_______3. Which of the following is NOT a part of the setting?

A. Time C. Duration
B. Place D. Character
_______4. Which of the following elements of setting denotes the cultural surroundings?

A. Social milieu C. Change

B. Time D. Physical location
_______5. Which element of plot creates tension and suspense?

A. Rising Action C. Falling Action

B. Climax D. Resolution/ Denouement
_______6. Which of the following list shows the plot elements in the correct order?

A. Exposition, Falling action, Climax, Rising Action, Resolution

B. Exposition, Falling action, Rising action, Climax, Resolution
C. Exposition, Rising action, Climax, Falling action, Resolution
D. Rising action, Falling action, Exposition, Climax, Resolution
_______7. Which of the following statements used Oxymoron as a figure of speech?

A. She sells seashells by the seashore.

 B. We fit together; a beautiful disaster.
C. Roberto was white as a sheet after he walked out of the horror movie.
D. This is the beginning of the end.
_______8. Which among the following figures of speech is an implied comparison between two
different things that have similarities?

A. Metaphor C. Hyperbole
B. Simile D. Personification
_______9. What literary element refers to the use of language to create images in the mind of the
reader?

A. Diction C. Imagery
B. Figurative language D. Emotive language
_______10. Which among the following types of imagery is shown by the statement below?

“Silence was broken by the peal of piano keys as Karizza began practicing her concerto.”

A. Tactile Imagery C. Olfactory Imagery

B. Gustatory Imagery D. Auditory Imagery

Let’s Explore and Discover

CHARACTER AND CHARACTERIZATION

In writing texts, it is very important to develop plausible characters. Characters are the
participants in a text, usually a person but may also be a persona, identity or entity which
contributes to the development of the text.

On the other hand, characterization is how a writer develops his or her character through
actions, descriptions and dialogue. This may include presenting the family background, goals and
motivations and personality or attitude.

Accomplishing Characterization

Like any other elements of writing, characterization requires specificity. Observe how the
following contrast in character descriptions:

A B
My best friend is awesome. She is a Aside from the philanthropic nature of
petite lady with dark brown eyes. She is my sister, she is also one the most
very helpful and generous. I always generous people I know. She doesn’t talk
know I can count on her whenever I a lot but when she does, every word that
needed her. comes out of her mouth makes sense.
She is the type of person who wouldn’t
think twice of helping you when you are
in need.
 What have you noticed with how the two different characters above were characterized? Was
it the same or not?

Ringo and Kashyap (2020) identified two ways in which characterization can be
accomplished:

1. Directly, when you describe a character in a specific manner such as ‘What does he or she
look like?’, ‘What type of clothes does he or she wear?’, and ‘What are her parents like?’ In
the example given above, the character in A was directly characterized by describing what
she looks like.
2. Indirectly, when you describe a character through his or her behaviors, speech and
thoughts such as ‘What kind of language or dialect does he or she use?’, How does his or her
manner of speaking reflect his or her attitude?’, and ‘How does his or her actions reflect his
or her traits?’ In example B, the character was described by her actions and how she
communicates her thoughts making it an indirect description.

Protagonist vs. Antagonist Characters

Nearly all stories have protagonist (the main character) and antagonist (the opposing
character. When characters clash with each other, it adds more excitement to the readers.

The protagonist is usually the hero or heroine who often gets the interest and empathy of
the readers. Most of the times, it is usually a well-developed character and is more relatable.

On the other hand, an antagonist, often dubbed as ‘villain’, is the character who creates the
conflict. It is the antagonist’s role to create obstacles for the protagonist.

Dynamic vs. Static Characters

The concept of dynamic and static characters is based on character development. One can
say that a character is dynamic if he or she goes through some changes throughout the course of
the story.

A static character is the opposite of a dynamic character. While dynamic character exhibits
changes, static character remains consistently the same as the story progresses.

Round vs. Flat Characters

Like dynamic and static characters, round and flat characters are also tied on character
development. A round character is a well-developed character showing complex and contradicting
traits. He or she is usually a main character in the story with several sides of his or her personality.

Flat character, as the name suggests, is a character which can be described as plain. He
or she is usually a minor character and is characterized in one or two traits only.

SETTING

Setting, like character, is also an important element of any literary text. It tells where the
story happens in a particular time (spatial and temporal aspects of a text). Imagine the setting
being the stage and the objects as props. It may also include the environment of the story, which
can be made up of the physical location, climate, weather, or social and cultural surroundings.
Setting can change throughout the plot and may be an actual place but you can describe them in
such a way that your readers can create an image in their minds and make them feel something
while imagining.
 The setting can involve a number of elements.

1. Physical location – it refers to the physical realities of where the story takes place,
including geography, landscape and other factors
2. Time – refers to the particular details of time
3. Social Milieu – this refers to the social world whether wealthy or poor, or homogenous
or diverse
4. Change – setting can also be affected by how it changes, either over time or suddenly.

Literal Description vs. Experiential Description

One of the challenging parts of literary writing is how to describe the setting. It is through
this that a writer makes his writing credible and believable. Remember that setting is not only a
place and time that characters interact with. It also provides atmosphere and mood which the
readers may feel while reading. It is also important to note that even the smallest details matter
and that each object you put in your setting has its own function.
Graville (2016) identified two approaches in writing setting – the literal description (factual
– how it looks, smells, sounds) and experiential description (how it feels).
Literal description greatly depends on observing details and requires specificity. Take a look
at the example below.
…Martin Luther King Jr. High School …is one of the biggest high schools in New York City.
It is in a gloomy rectangular brown brick building resting on an elevated concrete deck
at Amsterdam Avenue and Sixty-sixth Street—a structure that in an architectural drawing
might have looked monumental but in real life looks like a giant rusting lunchbox
teetering on a rock.

Notice how the writer used the highlighted phrases. These are descriptions which are
observable and specific which means a writer may use strong verbs and vivid imagery in describing
setting.
On the other hand, experiential description provides a sense of feelings to the readers. See
the example below.
The ritual was always the same. Run into the lake, scream, and run back out.
The salt seeped into the sores of our scraped knees and lingered. And if the
stinging sensation didn’t bring you to tears, the brine flies did.

In this excerpt, there is no observable and specific details used. The writer focused on
describing how the saltwater would feel when it touched your scraped knees.
PLOT

Plot, in literary writing, is the careful arrangement of facts and information gathered by the
author. Like any other literary texts, it has a beginning, a middle and an end. It is what makes a
story a story. It also allows reader to follow the perspective of the author and shows how a story
unfolds and develops.

Elements of Plot

A good story follows a certain sequence of elements whether fiction or nonfiction. Typically,
a writer follows the structure of a traditional plot where the story ascends at the beginning reaching
its highest point and descends as it moves towards its ending. The following are the elements of a
traditional plot.

1. Exposition
All stories must start with a beginning. Exposition introduces the main characters,
established the setting and presents the conflict of the story.
 2. Rising Action
One effective way of catching your reader’s interest is by making them feel mixed
emotions. Rising action allows the writer to put the lead character in a conflict, either with
himself, another character, society or nature.

3. Climax
Climax is the point where readers feel the most exciting and intense emotions. This
is where the main event happens and may provide a sudden twist or turn of event to the
readers.

4. Falling Action
After the climax, the story must eventually come to an end. Falling action is the
point where the story starts to wind down slowly. The lead character must take an action
or make a decision to resolve the conflict.

5. Resolution / Denouement
The resolution, also called denouement, is the conclusion of the story. At this point,
conflicts have been resolved by the lead character.

Below is an example of a plot diagram of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. Take
note how each element is explained in the diagram.

Tybalt kills Mercutio, then Romeo

Climax kills Tybalt. The Prince arrives and
orders that Romeo be banished
from Verona.

Romeo and Juliet meet at the Paris will soon be married to

Capulet feast and instantly fell Juliet and the Capulets do not
in love. They secretly marry know about Juliet’s secret
one another. marriage. Juliet decides to fake
her death with a potion the friar
gives her.

Resolution /
Exposition
Denouement

Romeo shows his admiration for Romeo arrives at the Capulet burial vault
Rosaline; normal conversations in ready to drink the poison the Apothecary
Montague and Capulet families; send him. He drinks the poison and dies.
Mercuto makes fun of Romeo Juliet wakes up, finds Romeo dead, and
because of Rosaline’s intent to kills herself with a dagger. Both families
never marry. agree to stop the hatred after the tragedy.
 Source: https://www.scribd.com/doc/130732/Plot-Structure-of-Romeo-and-
Juliet
FIGURES OF SPEECH

Figures of speech are poetic devices that when use, creates another different meaning for
a word or phrase. You have probably heard phrases like ‘eat like a pig’, ‘leaves are dancing’ and
‘raining cats and dog’. You will notice that in these phrases, meanings are suggested and not
literal. That’s how figures of speech functions; it makes a familiar word or phrase unfamiliar.

Commonly Used Figures of Speech

Below are some of the most commonly used figures of speech in writing.

FIGURES OF
DEFINITION PURPOSE EXAMPLE
SPEECH
At the funeral, she cried
buckets of tears.
Exaggerating or Makes an ordinary (Using the phrase
Hyperbole over emphasizing feeling intense and ‘buckets of tears’ to
an idea remarkable mean cried a lot or hard
makes this sentence
exaggerated.)
You are such a doll,
Making an implied
Provides a fresh way darling!
comparison
of thinking or (There is implied
between two
Metaphor understanding comparison made
different things
specific aspects of between the pronoun
that have
the world. ‘you’ and ‘doll’ in this
similarities
sentence.)
Makes an explicit
or direct
comparison Look at that man, he
between two eats like a pig.
Makes more vivid
Simile different things (The ‘man’ is directly
description
that have compared to a pig in
similarities by terms of eating.)
using the words
‘like’ and ‘as’
There was a deafening
Joining two silence in the room
contradictory Provides a striking when he entered.
Oxymoron words for and contrasting (The words ‘deafening’
dramatic or witty effect and ‘silence’ are two
effect words which have
opposite meaning.)
A statement that
seems to Makes reader ponder
I must be cruel to be
Paradox contradict itself an existing idea in a
kind.
and yet contains fresh perspective
the truth
The fire greedily
devoured the forest.
An animal, object
Provides deeper (The use of the phrase
Personification or idea is given
meaning to a word ‘greedily devoured’ gives
human qualities
human-like attribute to
the subject ‘fire’.)
 The Palace declared a
state of national
Replacing the
calamity.
name of a thing
Use for creating (In this sentence, it is not
Metonymy with something
symbolic meaning the Palace who declared
else related to that
a state of national
thing
calamity but rather the
President.)
Using part of
The job needed another
something to
Makes an ordinary pair of hands. (The
represent the
Synecdoche idea or object quite phrase ‘pair of hands’
whole, or the
extraordinary refers to a laborer or an
whole to represent
employee.)
a part

IMAGERY

Readers like to be moved. They draw more interest in literary texts which they believe are
more imaginative yet realistic. In doing so, a writer must utilize image-forming devices.

Imagery are words that appeal to all our bodily senses – sight, hearing, smell, touch and
taste and even bodily sensations and movements. When a reader’s senses are touched, their
imaginative mind works. This can be done through the use of descriptive words.

For example, one may describe a lemon as yellow, sour-smelling and tasting and with a
smooth, bumpy skin. For someone who have never seen a lemon, a picture will be painted in his
mind creating the image of the fruit. Take a look at the excerpt below from Manuel A. Arguilla’s
short story ‘How my Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife’. Notice how the descriptive words enhance
its meaning and created the image of a smoke fading from a lighted tobacco.

He had laid the roll of tobacco on the windowsill once more. I watched the
smoke waver faintly upward from the lighted end and vanish slowly into the
night outside.
Types of Imagery

The following are the types of descriptive imagery used in writing. Observe how the
highlighted words are used in creating vibrant and graphic descriptions.

IMAGERY DEFINITION EXAMPLE

The glow of the forest fire gave all
Visual (Sight) The mind can see it
the trees a red hue.
The waves slapped gently against
Auditory (Hearing) The mind can hear it
the shore, over and over.
I was awakened by the strong
Olfactory (Smell) The mind can smell it
smell of a freshly brewed coffee.
The stench of the dirty canal made
Gustatory (Taste) The mind can taste it
bile rise in my throat.
The sweltering summer heat
Tactile (Touch) The mind can touch it
soaks her dress in sweat.
ACTIVITY 1
Directions: Below is an image captured in March 2017. Imagine yourself being the person in the
photograph. Construct a sentence describing what would you see, feel, hear, touch and taste.
Write your answer inside the circle provided. Tip. The use of describing words will be helpful in this
task.

What would I
see?

What would I What would I

hear? smell?

Image taken by
What would I What would I
Ma. Aivee M. Yambao
feel? taste?

ACTIVITY 2

DIRECTIONS: Read and understand the poem below. Identify its elements using the table given.

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

BY WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

 A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the milky way,

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed—and gazed—but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

Title
Author
Characters

Setting

Plot
 Figurative
language

Imagery

Let’s Do More

ACTIVITY 3

Directions: Recall one memorable event in your life. Write an outline/draft of your own short story
with maximum of 15 sentences. Use the table below before proceeding to the actual write up.
Provide a title for your story.
Characters

Setting

Events

_________________________________________

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ACTIVITY 4

Directions: Use all the images featured below to create a short literary piece (it may be a poem,
short story or drama). Make sure to use all the literary elements we have discussed in this module.
Remember to be as realistic as possible. Provide an interesting and catchy title.
 _____________________________________
(Title)

_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
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____________________

RUBRIC:

Indicators 5 pts. 4 pts. 3 pts.

All elements are There are 3 – 4 There are 1 – 2
included in the elements included elements included
Elements short story in a in the short story in the short story
thorough yet in a thorough yet in a thorough yet
concise way. concise way. concise way.
Each element was Some elements are Many elements
fully explained. fully explained. lack explanation.
Sentences are well Sentences are well- Sentences are
Content
written. A deep written but lacks weak and often
understanding is depth. incorrect.
evident.
There are no (or There are few There are no
Mechanics limited) errors errors throughout several errors
the plot diagram.
 throughout the plot throughout the
diagram. plot diagram.

Source: https://www.rcampus.com/rubricshowc.cfm?code=FXCW993&sp=yes&

Let’s Sum Up
DIRECTIONS: Using the given graphic organizer, list down the literary elements that you have
learned from this module. Provide brief description for each.

Literary
Elements