Literary Elements
and Devices
Plot
The action or sequence of events in
a story.
It is usually a series of related
events that build up on one
another as the story develops.
Plot Line
Climax
(Crisis, turning point, point
of no return)
Falling
Action
Exposition
Resolution
Exposition – The background or situation
surrounding the story. This is usually
where we meet characters and see the
setting.
Inciting Incident--the action or situation that
triggers the conflict.
Rising action - the series of struggles that
builds a story toward a climax.
Climax – the most intense (turning) point in a
story.
Falling action – part of the story that works
out decisions reached during the climax.
Resolution – is part of the story in which the
problem is solved. Also called denouement.
Non-linear Plot
• A plot become non-linear through
the use of literary techniques (e.g.
Flashback, foreshadowing, parallel
plot, sub-plot). It may be hard to
follow and somewhat disorganized.
Sub-plot
A plot within a plot that relates to the
main plot.
Parallel structures
Two or more major plots that occur
within a story and usually intersect
Foreshadowing
The use of clues to hint at
events that will occur later in
the plot.
Flashback
An interjected scene that takes
the narrative back in time
from the current point the
story has reached.
Setting
• Both the time and place of a literary
work. The setting can be very
specific (i.e. in a character’s
bedroom at 9 pm), or more general
(i.e. in the United States during the
1920s). Sometimes the reader even
has to infer the setting by the details
given.
Conflict
The problem or struggle in a story
that triggers the action.
There are 5 basic types of conflict.
External Conflict
Any struggle or problem that
involves the character and any
other person, thing or unknown
force.
–
–
–
–
Man v. Man
Man v. Nature
Man v. Society
Man v. God (Fate)
Internal Conflict
Any struggle or problem that is
going on within the character.
Man v. Self
Types of Conflict
Man v. Man
Man v. Self
Man v.
Society
Man v. Fate (God)
Man v. Nature
Characterization
Is the method an author uses to
reveal characters and their
personalities.
There are two types of
characterization
Direct Characterization – In which a writer
tells us directly what a character is like or
what their motives are.
Indirect Characterization – In which a writer
shows us a character but allows us to
interpret for ourselves the kind of person we
are meeting.
• Speech
• Appearance
• Private thoughts
• Actions and
• How others in the story feel about them.
Antagonist and Protagonist
Protagonist - Main character
Antagonist - The person or thing
working against the protagonist
Static vs. Dynamic Characters
• Static characters change little over
the course of the narrative. Things
happen TO these characters, but
little happens IN them.
• Dynamic characters change in
response to the experience(s)
through which he or she passes.
Motivation
• A reason or reasons that explain a
character’s thoughts, feelings,
actions, or behaviors. It is why the
character does what he or she does.
Point of View
• The perspective from which a
narrative is told. There are 4 main
types.
1. 1st person is when the narrator is
actually one of the characters in the
story and uses 1st person pronouns.
We know only what this character
knows and observe only what
he/she observes.
P.O.V. cont’d
2. 3rd person limited is when the
narrator is not a part of the story,
but zooms in on the thoughts and
feelings of only one character. We
observe the action through eyes and
feelings of this one character.
3. Omniscient (all knowing) is when
the narrator is not a part of the
story, but knows everything there
is to know about the characters and
their problems. Almost like a god is
telling the story.
P.O.V. cont’d
4. Objective Point of View
With the objective point of view,
Theme
The statement about life, people, or
human nature that the author is
trying to get across in a story.
– In most cases the theme will be
implied rather than directly told.
– What is a theme from Green Eggs and
Ham?
Suspense
The uncertainty or anxiety we feel
about what is going to happen
next in a story.
Dialogue
A conversation between characters
that may reveal their traits and
advance the action of a narrative.
Quotation marks indicates a
speaker’s exact words.
Diction, Denotation, Connotation
• Diction is word choice. An author
chooses words to create a specific
effect. Diction helps create mood and
tone.
• Denotation is the specific dictionary
definition of a word. It is “literal.”
• Connotation is the feelings or attitudes
a word brings about in people. These
reactions can be positive, negative, or
neutral.
Mood
Mood is the emotions that the reader
feels while reading. Some literature
makes you feel sad, others joyful, or
angry, etc.
Tone
Tone is the attitude that an
author takes toward the
audience, the subject, or
the character. Tone is
conveyed through the
diction and syntax
(author's words and
details).
Satire
A literary work that
ridicules the foolishness
and faults of individuals,
an institution, society, or
even humanity in general.
Irony
The general term for literary
techniques that portray
differences between appearance
and reality, or expectation and
result.
There are three kinds of irony:
Dramatic irony, in which the reader or
the audience know more than the
characters in the story.
Verbal irony, in which the writer says
one thing and means another: “The
best substitute for experience is being
thirteen”
Situational irony, in which there is a
great difference between what is
expected to happen and what actually
happens.
The End…for
now…