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LITERARY ELEMENTS

 

Below is a list of Literary Elements, or the parts of a story.

 

When you examine and analyze your literary work for class presentation, ask the following questions. They will help you find the literary elements of your story. Theme The story's ideas? Author's attitude towards those ideas?

 

Author's "statement" about those ideas? The story's message or main point? Your attitude?

Conflict What people/forces/ideas/interests/values/institutions oppose each other? What decisions must the characters make? Between what two things is he/she deciding? What do these things represent?

 

Characterization What kinds of person/people are the character(s)? Their beliefs/hopes/dreams/ideals/ values/morals/fears/strengths/weaknesses/vices/virtues/talents? How do they conduct themselves? What do they say and do to reval themselves? What do others say and do about the? What are your opinions or feelings about them?

 

Classifications of types of characters include: protagonist, antagonist, foil, stereotype, flat, round, static, dynamic.

 

Symbolism What concrete, specific objects have been used to represent abstract ideas? What colors, names, settings, recurring objects have been referred to? What ideas do these represent?

 

Setting Setting refers to TIME and

 

PLACE: Time: of day, year, era/age? Place: city, country? Outside, inside? Rich and opulent or poor and simple? Stark and barren landscape? Rainy or sunny? Beautiful or adversarial? Dark or light? Dangerous or safe? The weather? how does all this affect meaning? What feelings (atmosphere) are evoked just by the setting?

 

Style The way the writer chooses to arrange his sentence structure (syntax) as well as the words (diction) he chooses. What is the overall effect of the way he writes? Simple, involved, poetic, colloquial, humorous, pedantic, child-like? How does it contribute to the author’s message and the overall effect the author wishes to create?

 

Tone The author’s attitude towards what (s)he is writing that translates into your attitude: or - what is the feeling of the whole work and the writing/artist's craft? Joyful? Melancholy? Fatalistic? Angry? Peaceful? Scary? Mysterious?

 

Figurative Language What kinds of comparisons are made that add layers to the meaning of the poem or story? •

 

A metaphor is a direct comparison: my love is a rose, or he was a snake. • A simile is indirect, mediated by "like" or "as": my love is like a rose, or he was as mean as a snake. • Allusion is a reference to another literary or artistic work or cultural icon/event.

 

IRONY Is the writer's meaning DIFFERENT (often the opposite)from what is actually stated or actually happening? Verbal What is SPOKEN or said (the words) is different/opposite from what is meant: • Overstatement (Hyperbole) • Understatement (Litotes) •

 

Double Entendre (pun): EX: "Sonny's Blues" Dramatic Does the audience/some characters know more than another character? Is one or more character(s) speaking/acting without knowledge others have, thus creating a double meaning? Situational

 

The EVENTS: do the events have a double meaning...the meaning of the situation as it actually happened versus the situation that we expected to happen or would normally happen? Does a set of circumstances turn out differently from what is anticipated or considered appropriate? Is the action/situation surprising or unexpected? Is there unexplained coincidence in the story? A surprise ending?

 

Cosmic (or: "irony of fate"; a form of situational irony) is the universe itself, the cosmos, ironic? Is the situation unjust to a person or group of people in a manner beyond their control? Is a good person in a bad situation due to circumstances beyond his/her control in such a way unfair/inappropriate tha this person must suffer? Is this person a victim of fate?

 

PLOT STRUCTURE Exposition Background information? About characters, setting, situation?

 

Complication When does the first conflict/problem ariseand develop ? What other problems start to arise and continue to develop? Crisis What is the moment of decision (internal dilemma resolved) for the main character? When is the character faced with his/her internal conflict and realizes she/he must make a decision?

 

Climax When does the character MAKE his decision and ACT on it? What actions results from this decision? What is the highest point of interest (in terms of action) in the story? When is the suspense (regarding what the character will do to solve the problem) over?

 

Resolution Tying up of loose ends Other plot devices/terms include: flashback, flashforward, time lapse, suspense, foreshadowing, cliffhangers, surprise endings, closed endings, open endings.

 

POINT OF VIEW Who is the narrator? Does the narrator tell the story in first person or third person? How much of the world can the narrator perceive (omniscient or limited)? How does the vantage point of the narrator affect the meaning of the story? How would the story change if the narrator changed? The story has an author, a narrator, and characters, not to be confused with each other. If the narrator and a character in the story are one and the same, you have a story told in first person. If they are separate, you have a story told in third person, of which there are three different types, depending on the amount of knowledge the narrator has about the inner feelings and thoughts of the characters.

 

First Person "I"; all is told/filtered through the storyteller's perception, an character in the story, but not always the main character. Can know the thoughts/feelings of the narrator (the "I") but no others.

 

Third Person Omniscient Use of third person pronouns (he/she/they), no "I" except in dialogue. All knowing, like God; can get more than one, often many characters' thoughts and feelings, as well as their actions and words.

Perspective is not limited to any one character, can perceive in many different vantage points.

 

Third Person Limited Omniscient 3rd person pronouns again, but perspective is limited to ONE character's thoughts, feelings, vantage point. Can not know anything in story other than what the one character knows.

 

Third Person Dramatic/Objective (as in play/drama). The only information we receive is what the characters say and do; cannot read anyone's mind, thoughts, feelings.

 

Unreliable Narrator This narrator is not limited to one type (1st or 3rd), but is unreliable and conveys information to the reader of which he/she (the narrator) is not aware. This could be because the narrator is a young child, going insane, naïve, old and senile, or other reason.

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Resources:

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Alison - English Literature Analysis

Allison - Diploma in English Language and Literature