Unit 6 Click the mouse button or press the space bar to continue UNIT 6 Genre Fiction

Unit 6Unit 6

Click the mouse button or press the space bar to continue

UNIT 6Genre Fiction

Unit 6Unit 6

Introducing the Unit

Genre Focus: Genre Fiction

Literary Analysis Model:

The Happy Man’s Shirt retold by Italo Calvino

translated by George Martin

UNIT MENUUNIT MENU

Unit Menu

Wrap-Up

http://www.glencoe.com/

Unit 6Unit 6 INTRODUCTIONINTRODUCTION

Genre fiction is a flexible term used to group works of fiction that have similar characters, plots, or settings. Bookstores and libraries often shelve some of their fiction by genre categories—for example, romance, mystery, science fiction, and fantasy. Different from myths and folktales, genre fiction does not emerge from the oral traditions of cultures, nor is it usually rooted in history. Mysteries are often set in the present, fantasies in an indeterminate past or a distorted present, and science fiction in a distant future. This unit includes genres that reveal the unlimited potential of the human imagination.



The Extraordinary and FantasticImagine a world where extraordinary things

happen. Imagine traveling to distant galaxies or living in a world where dreams become real. The fantasy and science fiction stories in Part 1 will expand your imagination. As you read these tales, ask yourself: What makes these stories so appealing?



Trying to figure out the ending is part of the fun of reading mysteries. The mysteries in Part 2 offer devious schemes, clever criminals, and much that is uncanny and mysterious. As you read these mysteries, ask yourself: What clues do I have now? What do they suggest about how the story will end?

The Uncanny and Mysterious


Unit 6Unit 6

Unit 6Unit 6

This unit includes four kinds of genre fiction: science fiction, fantasy, modern fable, and mystery. Writers of these kinds of fiction use all of the techniques of good storytelling. The writers create unusual settings and characters, intriguing plot patterns, and use vivid descriptions to draw readers into imagined worlds or investigations. Often, writers of science fiction, fantasy, and mystery create characters who appear in subsequent works, where the story develops further. In this way, genre fiction writers create series.

GENRE FOCUS: GENRE FICTIONGENRE FOCUS: GENRE FICTION

What are science fiction, modern fables, and mystery?


Unit 6Unit 6

Types of Genre FictionScience Fiction

Science fiction is fiction that deals with the impact of science and technology—real or imagined—on society and individuals. Sometimes occurring in the future, science fiction commonly portrays space travel, exploration of the planets, and future societies or scientific and technological advances.



Unit 6Unit 6

Types of Genre FictionFantasy

Fantasy is a highly imaginative type of fiction, usually set in an unfamiliar world or a distant, heroic past. Fantasy stories may include people, but they often include gnomes, elves, or other fantastical beings or supernatural forces. The use of magic is common in fantasy stories.



Unit 6Unit 6

Types of Genre FictionFable

A fable is a brief, usually simple story intended to teach a lesson about human behavior or to give advice about how to behave. Themes in fables are often stated directly. Modern fables also focus on themes relating to human behavior, with little development of individual characters.



Unit 6Unit 6

Types of Genre FictionMystery

The genre of mystery includes a variety of types, all of which follow a standard plot pattern. Spy stories are often mysteries, as are tales of danger or adventure. A detective story usually follows a standard plot pattern—a crime is committed and a detective searches for clues that lead him or her to the criminal. Any story that relies on the unknown or the terrifying can be considered a mystery.



Unit 6Unit 6

Style and ToneStyle, Voice, and Diction

The expressive qualities that distinguish an author’s work, including word choice, sentence structure, and figures of speech, contribute to style. Voice, an author’s distinctive use of language to convey the author’s or narrator’s personality to the reader, is determined by elements of style. Diction, the writer’s choice of words, is an important element in the writer’s voice or style.



Unit 6Unit 6

Style and ToneAttitude

Tone is the writer’s attitude toward his or her subject. Tone is conveyed through elements such as word choice, punctuation, sentence structure, and figures of speech. A writer’s tone may be sympathetic, objective, serious, ironic, sad, bitter, or humorous.



Unit 6Unit 6

Style and ToneImagery and Description

Imagery refers to descriptive language that appeals to the senses. Authors carefully select details, creating “word pictures” that evoke an emotional response. Imagery can create new worlds for the reader or present a fresh perspective on this world. Description is a detailed portrayal of a person, place, thing, or event. Good description is especially important in genre fiction to help the reader imagine unfamiliar times and places.



Unit 6Unit 6

Style and ToneSensory Details

Authors use evocative words or phrases that appeal to one or more of the five senses—sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell—in order to create effective images.



Unit 6Unit 6


Unit 6Unit 6

Literary ElementAnalyzing Genre

What makes “The Happy Man’s Shirt” a modern fable?

Answer: It is one author’s modern retelling of an old folktale that has the main purpose of expressing a moral judgment related to current attitudes toward happiness.

LITERARY ANALYSIS MODELLITERARY ANALYSIS MODEL

The Happy Man’s Shirtretold by Italo Calvino translated by George Martin


Unit 6Unit 6

Literary ElementAnalyzing Genre

What elements of fantasy does the story have?

Answer: Its setting is an imaginary land.




Unit 6Unit 6

Reading StrategyEvaluating Author’s Purpose

What is the moral of the fable?

Answer: Happiness does not depend on external possessions but on a state of mind.




Unit 6Unit 6

Reading StrategyAnalyzing Style and Tone

What patterns in Calvino’s style do you notice, and what effects do they have?

Answer: Calvino uses repetition as the king continues to ask if people are happy; this technique builds suspense. The use of dialogue throughout adds drama and immediacy.




Unit 6Unit 6


What is Calvino’s tone toward his characters?

Answer: He uses an objective tone, which allows readers to identify with the characters.




Unit 6Unit 6


What is the effect of ending of the story with “The happy man wore no shirt”?

Answer: The simple, direct statement is surprising and makes the reader think.




Unit 6Unit 6

Reading CheckEvaluating

Would you say that Calvino’s stylistic choices were successful in “The Happy Man’s Shirt”? Explain your answer.

Answer: You will probably agree that Calvino’s style is successful, that his choices create a unified and memorable work of fiction. You may cite the appeal of the story’s structure, dialogue, word choice, and imagery.




Unit 6Unit 6

Unit 6Unit 6

• Imagery– Imagery paints “word pictures” in the

reader’s imagination.

• Sensory– Sensory details appeal to the reader’s

five senses.

• Voice– Voice tells the reader about the author’s

or narrator’s personality.

WRAP–UPWRAP–UP

Elements of Genre Fiction


Unit 6Unit 6

• Tone– Tone communicates the author’s or

narrator’s attitude toward the audience or the subject matter.

• Diction– Diction refers to the words the author

chooses.

• Style– Style refers to all the choices the author

makes and includes voice, diction, and tone.

WRAP–UPWRAP–UP

Elements of Genre Fiction


Unit 6Unit 6

Guide to Reading Genre Fiction

WRAP–UPWRAP–UP

• Identify the genre category.

• Evaluate your enjoyment as you read.

• Pay attention to characters, settings, plot development, and themes, as you do with other genres of fiction.

• Evaluate the consistency with which the author creates the imaginary world.

• Notice elements of the author’s style.


Unit 6Unit 6


Unit 6Unit 6

Literary FocusDescription

How does a fantasy or science fiction writer help you experience events and scenes that are imaginary? The writer might use imagery to create “word pictures” that evoke an emotional response. Or the writer might use sensory details, or evocative words or phrases that appeal to your senses of sight, sound, touch, taste, or smell.

LITERARY FOCUSLITERARY FOCUS

Unit 6Unit 6


Read the excerpt from Ray Bradbury’s “A Sound of Thunder” on page 1118 of your textbook. Notice how specific the details are in Bradbury’s description of an advertisement for a service that transports people back in time. When writers vividly describe places, things, people, and events, readers can imagine them as if they were real.


Unit 6Unit 6


Figurative Language


Figurative Language is language that uses figures of speech, or expressions that are not literally true but express some truth beyond the literal level. Figurative language includes simile, metaphor, and personification.

Unit 6Unit 6


Figurative Language


Simile A figure of speech that uses like or as to compare two seemingly unlike things is a simile. Similes can make descriptions understandable to readers. In the passage on the next slide, notice how the writer uses a simile to describe a fictitious place, known as the Dead Place.

Unit 6Unit 6 LITERARY FOCUSLITERARY FOCUS

How shall I tell what I saw? The towers are not all broken—here and there one still stands, like a great tree in a forest, and the birds nest high.

—Stephen Vincent Benét, from “By the Waters of Babylon”

Unit 6Unit 6


Figurative Language


Metaphor A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two seemingly unlike things is a metaphor. A metaphor suggests an underlying similarity between the two things compared. Unlike a simile, it does not use like or as. Notice how this metaphor gives a sense of the direction of time travel in the story:


Time was a film run backward.

—Ray Bradbury, from “A Sound of Thunder”

Unit 6Unit 6


Figurative Language


Personification A figure of speech that gives human qualities to an animal, an object, a force of nature, or an idea is personification. Writers use personification to explain, expand, and create vivid images.


The fluorescent light flickers sullenly, a / pause. But you command. It grabs / each face and holds it up / by the hair for you, mask after mask.

—Denise Levertov, from “People at Night”

Unit 6Unit 6


Figurative Language


Imagery Good descriptive writing uses imagery—language that appeals to one or more of the five senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. Imagery helps to create an emotional response in the reader. An example is on the next slide.


But the giant squid is real, growing up to lengths of at least 60 feet, with eyes the size of dinner plates and a tangle of tentacles lined with long rows of sucker pads.

—William J. Broad, from “One Legend Found, Many Still to Go”

Unit 6Unit 6

Literary FocusStyle and Tone


Tone and the author’s style contribute strongly to the appeal of many mysteries. Writers may adopt a detached, no-nonsense tone or create a sense of danger or foreboding.

Unit 6Unit 6



Style

Style is the distinctive way that an author uses language and the expressive qualities to distinguish his or her work. Word choice, the length and arrangement of sentences, the use of figurative language and imagery, and dialogue all contribute to an author’s style. In the passage from “The Witness for the Prosecution” below, Christie uses relatively short sentences and few modifiers.


Indeed, as a solicitor, Mr. Mayherne’s reputation stood very high. His voice, when he spoke to his client, was dry but not unsympathetic.

“I must impress upon you again that you are in very grave danger, and that the utmost frankness is necessary.”

Leonard Vole, who had been staring in a dazed fashion at the blank wall in front of him, transferred his glance to the solicitor.


“I know,” he said hopelessly. “You keep telling me so. But I can’t seem to realize yet that I’m charged with murder—murder. And such a dastardly crime too.”

—Agatha Christie, from “The Witness for the Prosecution”


“The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, and the family ruin was eventually completed by a gambler in the days of the Regency.”

—Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, from “The Adventure of the Speckled Band”

Notice the longer, more complex sentences in the example below.

Unit 6Unit 6



Diction

An important element of an author’s style or voice is diction, a writer’s choice of words. Good writers choose their words carefully to convey a particular meaning or feeling. Look for unusual word choices in the passage on the next slide, in which Jimmy Valentine is being released from prison.


“[Jimmy] had on a suit of the villainously fitting, readymade clothes and a pair of the stiff, squeaky shoes that the state furnishes to its discharged compulsory guests.”

—O. Henry, from “A Retrieved Reformation”


Figurative Language

Language or expressions that are not literally true but express some truth beyond the literal level are called figurative language. Figurative language includes figures of speech such as metaphor and simile. Here, a detective employs metaphor and simile to comment on a crime scene where a safe has been robbed.



“That’s Dandy Jim Valentine’s autograph. He’s resumed business. Look at that combination knob—jerked out as easy as pulling up a radish in wet weather.”

—O. Henry, from “A Retrieved Reformation”


Suspense

Suspense is a feeling of curiosity, uncertainty, or dread about what is going to happen next. In this example from “The Witness for the Prosecution,” a lawyer introduces an incriminating fact, contributing to the suspense:



“Are you not aware, Mr. Vole, that Miss French left a will under which you are the principal beneficiary?”


Tone

Tone is a writer’s or speaker’s attitude toward the subject matter. In this passage, Sherlock Holmes uses a cheery, friendly tone as he meets a new client. Notice how the tone changes when the client speaks.



“‘I am glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot coffee, for I observe that you are shivering.’

‘It is not cold which makes me shiver,’ said the woman, in a low voice, changing her seat as requested.

‘What, then?’

‘It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror.’”



Mood

Mood is the emotional quality of a story. This description of a country house creates a dreary, ominous mood:



“The building was of gray, lichen-blotched stone, with a high central portion, and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, thrown out on each side.“


Unit 6Unit 6

As you read, record examples that you feel exemplify the author’s style, voice, tone, or diction within each work. This diagram shows how a Three-Pocket Book should look.

Keep Track of Your Ideas

Unit 6Unit 6

1. Write these labels on the pockets:

2. Write your notes on index cards and keep them organized using the pockets.

• Form and Structure

• Language

• Sound Devices

Unit 6Unit 6

► Literary Terms

Handbook

► Reading Handbook

► Foldables

► Writing Handbook

► Business Writing

► Language Handbook

► Test-Taking Skills

Handbook

► Daily Language

Practice

Transparencies

Unit 6Unit 6 REFERENCEREFERENCE

► Grammar and Writing

Workshop

Transparencies

Unit 6Unit 6

To navigate within this Presentation Plus! product:

Click the Forward button to go to the next slide.

Click the Previous button to return to the previous slide.

Click the Section Back button to return to the beginning of the section you are in. If you are viewing a feature, this button returns you to the main presentation.

Click the Home button to return to the Chapter Menu.

Click the Help button to access this screen.

Click the Speaker button to listen to available audio.

Click the Speaker Off button to stop any playing audio.

Click the Exit button or press the Escape key [Esc] to end the chapter slide show.

Presentation Plus! features such as the Reference Handbook, Literature Online, and others are located in the left margin of most screens. Click on any of these buttons to access a specific feature.

HelpHelp

Documents

Unit 6 Click the mouse button or press the space bar to continue UNIT 6 Genre Fiction