Literary Elements Study Sheet
Characterization
Name: ?
Novel/Play/Story: “All Summer in a Day”
Margot is characterized as a loner that does not have friends, shown when she is described as
standing apart from everyone else. William is characterized as rude when he confronts Margot in
an aggressive way when he says, “What are you looking at?”
Conflict
Margot has a conflict with her classmates because she is different than they are. Margot shows she
is different because she doesn’t have any friends on Venus. The other kids don’t understand why
she loves the sun. Despite her differences, Margot stays hopeful throughout the story. She never
stops believing the sun will come out even though the other kids tell her it won’t.
Foreshadowing
When William is rude to Margot and says, “What are you looking at?”, it foreshadows that he will
continue to harass her and make her life difficult, like how he helped lock her in the closet so she
missed seeing the sun.
Irony
It’s ironic that Margot has been waiting for the sun on Venus for seven years and the one time it
comes out is the time she misses the chance to see it. You’d expect that, since it was so important to
her to see the sun, she’d get a chance to see it.
Setting
"All Summer in a Day" is set sometime in the distant future on the planet Venus, where it rains
continually for seven straight years.
Symbolism
In the story “All Summer In a Day”, the sun is a symbol of Margot's hope for happiness. The sun
also symbolizes everyone's missing happiness or hope for the one thing that's missing.
Theme
One theme of the story is that even if someone is different, treat them with respect. This was shown
in the story how the kids treated Margot poorly by locking her in a closet so she missed the sun
then realizing how horrible they’d been afterward.