2A+Literary+Elements


 * Motif** is a recurring element that has symbolic significance in the story. Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes. The motif can be an idea, an object, a place, or a statement. Vision is a motif used in The Giver. Jonas has pale eyes that can see deeper than most people. He can see color that others can't. Other people don't see life like Jonas sees it. The vision symbolizes being able to experience emotions and senses. (Throughout Book)


 * Internal Conflict** is when an entity is in conflict with his, her, or itself. Jonas has internal conflict throughout the book as soon as he starts receiving memories from the Giver. He is torn between what he has always known and what he experiences in the memories. He wants the Community to change, but he knows life is safe with the way things have always been. (Throughout Book)


 * Man vs. Society** is a class of themes in fiction in which a main character's, or group of main characters', main source of conflict is social traditions or concepts. Jonas wants to change the society or the Community so that people feel love and have memories. He wants his family to love him, and he wants the people to have emotions when they "release" someone. (Throughout Book)


 * Symbols** are objects, characters, figures, or colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts. In The Giver, the sled is a symbol of Jonas's journey. In the beginning, the sled symbolizes fun as Jonas collects memories. It is also the first symbol of pain that Jonas experiences in a memory. At the end the sled symbolizes the journey to freedom and into a new life full of emotion. (Pg. 72, 108, 178)


 * Flashback** is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened prior to the story’s primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory. Jonas learns about the meaning of the Ceremony of Release through a flashback in the form of a video shown by The Giver. He sees the identical twin put to death by Father and knows the true meaning of "release". (Pg. 148 - 150)


 * Characterization** is the process of conveying information about characters in fiction. Characters are usually presented through their actions, dialect, and thoughts, as well as by description. The characters in The Giver take on the characteristics of their assignment. Only Jonas and the Giver, along with Gabriel, have their own emotions that make them individuals. Father, Mother, Lilly, The Elders, and all other characters in the book, behave exactly as their assigned description forces them to. They become their assignment. (Throughout Book)


 * Foreshadowing** is a literary device in which an author drops subtle hints about plot developments to come later in the story. Jonas is apprehensive about the Ceremony of Twelve. This foreshadows his future feelings about the society where he lives. (Pg. 4)

C**limax** of a **n**arrative work is its point of highest tension or drama in which the outcome is made known. The climax of The Giver is when Jonas realizes that his father kills a newchild to "release" it from the community. He refuses to go home and knows that he cannot live like this any more. He makes a plan to get away. (Pg 148 - 155)


 * Point of View** is the related experience of the narrator — not that of the author. The Giver is told from Jonas' point of view. Every scene is described as Jonas sees it. (Throughout Book)


 * Setting** is a term in literature usually referring to the time and location in which a story takes place. The Giver takes place in a Utopian Society where everyone behaves in the same unemotional way and everything is always done the same way year after year. (Throughout Book)

Literary Elements. (2007). In //Wikipedia// [Web]. from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literary_elements