Literary Elements

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Literary Elements
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Foreshadowing

• The use of clues to suggest events that will
  happen later in the plot

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Theme

• The idea about life revealed in a work of
  literature
• Example The theme of Amigo Brothers was true
  friendship can overcome any obstacle.

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Symbolism

• A person, place, a thing, or an event that has
  its own meaning and stands for something beyond
  itself as well
• Example A dove is often used to symbolize peace.

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Allusion

• A reference to a statement, a person, a place, or
  an event from literature, history, religion,
  mythology, politics, sports, or science
• Example Was the ticking package, gaily wrapped
  with ribbon and bright paper, a Trojan gift?

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Metaphor

• An imaginative comparison between two unlike
  things in which one thing is said to be another
  thing
• Example My soul is an enchanted boat.

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Simile

• A comparison between two unlike things, using a
  word such as like or as
• Example He flopped around like a fish out of
  water.

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Irony

• A contrast between expectation and reality.
• Example Watching it rain, he said, "Lovely day
  for a picnic."

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Mood

• The overall emotion created by a work of
  literature

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Analogy

• Showing an idea by relating it to something more
  familiar or similar in detail
• Example Some people live their lives like a
  sheet of scrapped paper blown along a windy
  street they are carried this way and that with
  no apparent effort or ability to control their
  direction.

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Personification

• A figure of speech in which a nonhuman thing or
  quality is talked about as if it were human
• Example The sun smiled down on the emerald-green
  fields.

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Imagery

• Language that appeals to the senses
• Example I took a walk around the world toEase
  my troubled mindI left my body laying
  somewhereIn the sands of timeI watched the
  world float to the darkSide of the moonI feel
  there is nothing I can do
• --"Kryptonite" by Three Doors Down

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Characterization

• The process by which the writer reveals the
  personality of a character.

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Rhyme Rhythm

• Rhyme is a pattern of words that contain similar
  sounds. A matching of sounds.
• Rhythm A movement with uniform recurrence of a
  beat or accent."
• In its crudest form, rhythm has a beat with
  little or no meaning.

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Repetition

• A technique in which a sound, word, phrase, or
  line is repeated for effect or emphasis.

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Variation

• The restatement of a concept or term using
  different words.
• Example Unferth spoke, Ecglafs son.

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Alliteration

• Repeated consonant sounds occurring at the
  beginning of words or within words. Alliteration
  is used to create melody, establish mood, call
  attention to important words, and point out
  similarities and contrasts.
• Example We were wide-eyed and wondering while we
  wait for others to waken.