LITERARY
ELEMENTS
ELEMENTS
OF A STORY
AKA the Plot Pyramid
Plot= sequence of events in
a story.
EXPOSITION
 The
background information of a
story
 Introduces setting, situation and
characters
Inciting incident
Sparks
the conflict;
event that sets the
conflict into motion
CONFLICT
Major
problem of the
story that must be solved
by the end. Struggle
between opposing
forces: external and
internal.
RISING ACTION
The
events of a story
building suspense
What leads up to the
climax
CLIMAX
The
turning point of the
story
Highest point of
emotional intensity
(for characters!)
FALLING ACTION
The
events winding
down in the story
Leading towards the
resolution
RESOLUTION
The
final outcome of a
story
resolves the major
conflict of the story
Terms
Essential for
Telling and
Understandi
ng
Short Stories
THEME
A
central idea or statement
that unifies and controls and
entire literary work.
Basically, the moral or
message of the story.
Must ALWAYS be in sentence
form. NEVER just one word.
SYMBOLS
A
word, place,
character, or object that
means something
beyond what it
concretely means.
EX: a dove =peace
IMAGERY
Creating“mental
pictures”
by using lots of colorful
language that actually paints
a vision, employing your five
senses.
 EX:
The sun erupted from its slumber
showering the morning with blazing
shades of crimson and burnt
orange.
TONE
 Author’s
attitude toward a subject
 Described as an adjective: ex.
humorous, angry, delighted, mockserious
MOOD
 The
feeling or atmosphere a writer
creates in a work.
SETTING
Time
and place of the
action of a story.
CHARACTERIZATION
The
way of describing
characters and revealing
their personalities.
DYNAMIC CHARACTER
Characters
change
that undergo
STATIC CHARACTER
Characters that do not change.
Allusion
Indirect
reference to another
literary work or famous person,
place, or event.
Foreshadowing:
 Use
of hints or clues to indicate events
and situations that will occur later in the
plot. Creates SUSPENSE and prepares
reader for what is to come.
Suspense:
Excitement or tension readers feel as they
become involved in the story and eager to
know the outcome.
IRONY
 Difference
from what is expected;
contrast between appearance and
reality.



Situational: contrast between what a
reader expects and what actually
happens.
Dramatic: reader knows more than the
character
Verbal: says one thing means another
NARRATION
STYLES
FIRST PERSON POV
The
narrator is a
character in the story
and tells everything in his
or her own words. (I)
THIRD PERSON LIMITED
The
narrator tells only
what one character
thinks, feels, and
observes.(he/she)
3rd PERSON OMNISCIENT POV

An
(omniscient= all-knowing)
observer that tells the
story and knows it all (almost
like a God like character).
Sees into the minds of more
than one character.
I’ll Try not to
Torture you with
More Notes for
a While