Literary Elements

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

An introductory part to a play, poem, or novel

To narrate, to inform, to argue

A division or type of literature. 

Perspective from which a story is told

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

Showing similarities between two things that have a common relationship

An exaggeration of truth

The time and place a story occurs

Anything that stands for or represents something else

The problem a character faces in a story

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

Writing or speech that is not meant to be taken literally

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

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

Using a word over and over for effect in writing

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

The general atmosphere created by the author’s words

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

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

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

Using several words that begin with the same or similar consonants

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

A sequence of events, the main events of a story

A tool used to make your writing stronger or more interesting

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

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

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

When an author describes a character and the character traits

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

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

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