Lake Shore High School

Literary Elements – basic building blocks of literature

1.     Plot: this is the gist of the story

a.     Initiating conflict: Part of the exposition. Involves the characters and establishment of setting.

b.      Climax: It is a decisive moment or a turning point in a storyline at which the rising action turns around into a falling action. Thus, a climax is the point at which a conflict or crisis reaches its peak that calls for a resolution or denouement.

c.     Resolution / Denouement: The final part of a play, movie, or narrative in which the strands of the plot are drawn together and matters are explained or resolved.

 

2.     Overall Conflict: this conflict seems to “drive” the entire story

a.     Man vs. self (time)

b.    Man vs. nature

c.     Man vs. man (society)

May also be referred to as Internal/external

 

3.     Diction: Author’s / Speaker’s word choice

a.     Tone: author’s/speaker’s attitude

b.    Mood: audience reaction / atmosphere

 

4.     Point of View: who is the narrator? Is it first or third? The POV greatly influences the story and how it is read.

 

5.     Setting: Overall Environment. Often, the setting acts as another character, usually the antagonist.

 

 

6.     Character/Characterization (includes speaker/narrator): development of personality/ “character”.

a.     Physical appearance

b.    Thoughts/ beliefs/ morals

c.     Actions

d.    Say (dialogue)

e.     Opinions of others

Types of Characters include: protagonist, antagonist, foil, stereotype, round, flat, static, and dynamic.

 

 

7.     Theme: subject (friendship, racism, prejudice, love, family bonds, good vs. evil)

 

8.     Thematic Statement: author’s/speaker’s message about the theme (subject). Ex. Love is dangerous, love is fickle. Also known as main idea, gist, key idea, central idea.

 

9.     Style/Structure: order of points, events, word choice. It is the way the writer chooses to arrange sentence structure (syntax) as well as the words (diction). What is the overall effect? How does he/she write? Simple? Involved? Poetic? Humorous? Stoic? How does this style contribute to the overall message?

Follows the cycle: Description, Action, Dialogue.

 

 

LITERARY TECHNIQUES - enhances the basic narrative/literature

SETTING

1.     Backstory: given early on, story that precedes events in the story that is being told.

PLOT

1.      Backstory:

2.     Cliffhanger: narrative ends unresolved, to draw the audience back to a future episode for the resolution.

3.     Flashback: altering time sequences, taking characters back to the “beginning”.

4.     Flashforward: (Prolepsis) a scene that temporarily jumps the narrative forward in time. Usually surrounding events that are expected.

5.     Foreshadowing: deliberate, yet implicit hints towards future events in the narrative.

6.     Frame story: story within a story.

7.     Plot twist: unexpected change in the direction or expected outcome of the plot.

8.     Poetic Justice: virtue (good trait) is rewarded, or vice (bad trait) is punished, by an ironic twist of fate related to the character’s own conduct. Karma

9.     Unreliable Narrator: narrator is not sincere, or introduces a bias which is ultimately misleading.

Narration

1.     1^st person

2.     2^nd person: text written in the style of a direct address

3.     3^rd person

4.     Unreliable

STYLE / FIGURES OF SPEECH

1.     Allegory: a symbolic story

2.     Alliteration: repetition of the same letter/sound at the beginning within closely connected words.

3.     Repetition: repeating the same word/phrase for impact.

4.     Hyperbole: an exaggeration not meant to be taken literally, but figuratively (for effect).

5.     Imagery: when the author appeals to at least one of the 5 senses.

6.     Metaphor: direct comparison of two seemingly unlike “things”. DON’T CONFUSE WITH SYMBOLISM!!!!!!

7.     Simile: comparison using “like” or “as”.

8.     Onomatopoeia: word that sounds the same as, or similar to what the word means.

9.     Oxymoron: a term made of two words that deliberately or coincidentally imply each other’s opposite.

10.                        Paradox: an extended oxymoron in phrase or sentence form. A phrase that describes an idea composed of concepts that conflict. “In order to have peace, we must have war.”

11.                        Parody: using humor or wit to make fun of (SNL).

12.                        Satire: using humor, irony, wit to attack, make fun of people’s stupidity/flaws.

13.                        Pun: play on words.

THEME

1.     Irony: series of strange/twisted events.

2.     Symbolism: commonly or repetitive tangible item representing an intangible concept.

CHARACTERIZATION

1.     Personification: using similes/metaphors to give “living” qualities to “non-living” things.

 

"A&P"