Literary Elements

An exaggeration of truth

The use of words that imitate the sound associated with something, sound words

The general atmosphere created by the author’s words

A scene that takes the story line back in time from the current point

When something is described as though it were something else (without using “like” or “as”)

An introductory part to a play, poem, or novel

A sequence of events, the main events of a story

An indirect reference to a well-known person, place, event, or object in a literary work

A concluding part added to a literary work that often foreshadows the future of the story

Repeating the same vowel sound in words close to each other in writing

A literary work’s central message, concern, or purpose – the moral to the story

Written or spoken conversation between two or more people that propels the action

Using words or phrases that appeal to one or more of the five senses

A division or type of literature. 

When an author describes a character and the character traits

Showing similarities between two things that have a common relationship

The problem a character faces in a story

When the reader or audience knows something that a character does not

To narrate, to inform, to argue

A tool used to make your writing stronger or more interesting

Using several words that begin with the same or similar consonants

Using a word over and over for effect in writing

Perspective from which a story is told

The time and place a story occurs

Writing or speech that is not meant to be taken literally

Anything that stands for or represents something else

A figure of speech using “like” or “as” to make a direct comparison between two unlike ideas

Necessary parts of literature –something a story cannot do without!

An outcome that turns out to be very different from what was expected

An author’s use of clues to hint at what might happen later in the story

Expressing the exact opposite of the literal meaning of what is being said, sarcasm

A type of figurative language in which a nonhuman subject is given human characteristics