A Northern Light Literary Elements

A Northern Light Literary Elements

Genre

YA mystery, historical novel

Setting and Context

1900, northern Hermiker County, New York

Narrator and Point of View

Mathilda "Mattie" Gokey

Tone and Mood

Mysterious, Adventurous

Protagonist and Antagonist

Protagonist: Mathilda Antagonist: The mysterious murderer and Mathilda's father

Major Conflict

The death of Grace Brown

Climax

The main climax in the novel is immediately after the death of Grace Brown, when "Mattie" reads the letters Grace wrote to her lover, and "Mattie" realizes how she died.

Foreshadowing

Grace's behavior foreshadowed that she might be pregnant, which was the reason she was killed by her lover. Therefore, her pregnancy indirectly foreshadowed her death and cause of death.

Understatement

The understatement of Grace's pregancy is huge, as it is percieved as something positive from the world around, but is a negative twist in the life of Grace and her lover.

Allusions

N/A

Imagery

The imagery of "Mattie" when she leaves the town, looking for a better life is an important image in the book, as it shows that she moved on from everything that happened in the towns she lived in.

Paradox

N/A

Parallelism

There are two parallel stories told at the same time, the old and the new "Mattie" and parallels and opposites alike can be drawn between the two perspectives.

Metonymy and Synecdoche

N/A

Personification

N/A

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