Literary Elements Review

The perspective from which a story is told.

• theme

• point of view

• symbolism

• connotation

Answer explanation

Examples: 1st person -- events are told by one character, using the pronoun "I."

3rd person limited -- events are told through the eyes of one character using pronouns such as he, she, they.

3rd person omniscient -- events are told by someone outside the story, who can read everybody's mind, also using he, she, they.

The message an author is trying to convey throughout the novel.

• structure

• dialogue

• theme

• figurative language

Answer explanation

Examples: "Be true to your own values" (Mulan)

"Family loyalty is very important" (Moano)

"Appearances can be deceptive" (Shrek)

"True friends stick together when times get tough" (Finding Nemo)

Something that stands for something else. Can be a person, place, or thing that comes to represent an idea.

• symbolism

• alliteration

• setting

• plot

Answer explanation

Examples: dove = peace

owl = wisdom

mountain = problem

blanket = safety

gold wedding band = eternal love

tomb = death

wild horse = freedom

Words spoken by characters in a story.

• connotation

• denotation

• dialogue

• point of view

Answer explanation

Dialogue, which is typically contained in quotation marks, provides information about the speaker as well as the plot.

Language that means something different from what the words literally (actually) say.

• plot

• summary

• characters

• figurative language

Answer explanation

Examples:

Similes -- two things compared using like or as (She was as sweet as candy).

Metaphors -- two things compared NOT using like or as (Her eyes were priceless jewels).

Personification -- things or animals that are given human qualities (The wind shrieked, and the house groaned).

The narrator and how he/she/they feel about the events, setting, and characters in the story.

• tone

• visual

• mood

• flashback

Answer explanation

Examples:

Scared, zany, fantastical, enthusiastic, bossy, cynical, annoyed

The way the reader is made to feel when reading a story.

• mood

• attitude

• setting

• drama

Answer explanation

Mood may be conveyed through setting, plot, tone, and theme.

Examples: content, sad, frustrated, questioning, nostalgic

When a story refers characters, events, or language from other stories, real people, places, and historical events.

• dialogue

• allusion

• foreshadowing

• plot

Answer explanation

Example:

Jack huffed and puffed, but he could not blow the house of cards down.

When Matt walked across the playground, he felt like George Washington crossing the Delaware.

When the author hints about what will happen later in the story.

• foreshadowing

• climax

• resolution

• characterization

Answer explanation

Example:

"Be back by midnight or else there will be big trouble," warned the Fairy Godmother.

Tim found a four-leaf clover. Today would be his luck day!

The beginning of the school year was quiet, but the teacher new she had to be prepared for the quiet to end.

When the sequence of a story gets interrupted, allowing readers to travel back in time and relive a key event in a character's life.

• symbolism

• figurative Language

• allusion

• flashback

Answer explanation

Example:

Megan touched the book, in an instant, she was back in her old bedroom reading with her mom.

Andrew slipped into a dream. Suddenly, she was six years old again and running through the golden fields of her father's farm.