LITERARY ELEMENTS
LITERARY ELEMENTS
• Characters: individuals who take part in the action
• Climax: point of greatest intensity
• Conflict: problem in a writing• Dialect: way of speaking particular to a group or
region• Dialogue: conversation between or among
characters.• Expository texts: short, nonfiction work about a
particular subject that gives information, discusses ideas, or explains a process
Literary Elements
LITERARY ELEMENTS• Fiction: narrative prose about characters and
events from the author’s imagination• All works of fiction share the basic elements of setting,
plot, characters, dialogue, point of view, themeHistorical Novels: fictional stories with real historical settings
-allow reader to imagine what it was like to live in a culturally different time or foreign setting.
LITERARY ELEMENTS
• Idiomatic expression: phrases that mean something different from their individual words and help a writer to show a character's personality• Ex: “raining cats and dogs” used to describe
heavy rain• Informational text: texts including expository,
persuasive and procedural texts
LITERARY ELEMENTS• Literary nonfiction: combine personal examples
and ideas with factual information• ex.: personal essays and biographies• Novellas: intermediate works of fiction that are
longer than short stories but are concise and focused than novels. • Novels: extended works of fiction that are usually
organized into segments called chapters• Novels can include subplots in addition to the
main story line and may explore a number of characters in depth
LITERARY ELEMENTS
• Personal essays: convey the writer’s thoughts and feelings about an experience or idea• Perspective: the author’s point of view on the
subject, including the opinions that the author expresses and the source of the author’s information—whether general research, for example , or personal experience• Persuasive texts: written to influence the opinions
or actions of an audience• Ex: editorials, speeches, debates, and reviews
LITERARY ELEMENTS
• Plot: progression of events in a work of fiction.• Point of view: perspective from which a story is
told. The voice and persona of the narrator can affect the tone and plot of a text. • 1st person: the story is a told by a narrator who
participates in the action of the story• 3rd person: story is told by a narrator outside the story
LITERARY ELEMENTS
• Procedural texts: explains a process. These texts often include visuals to help illustrate steps. Ex: instructions, recipes, and manuals • Purpose: author’s reason for writing. It may be to
persuade, to inform, to entertain, or to describe• Resolution: conclusion• Setting: time and place a story takes place
LITERARY ELEMENTS• Short stories: brief narratives, with carefully
limited action that allows the writer to focus on one main plot complication• Theme: underlying meaning or insight that an
author conveys in a story• Tone: expresses an author’s attitude toward the
subject and the reader. It is conveyed through choice of words and details• Universal theme: one that applies to all people in
all cultures
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
• Hyperbole- an overstatement or exaggeration• He weighs a ton.
• Imagery- vivid, descriptive language that appeals to one or more of the senses (most commonly visual)• Metaphor- a comparison saying one this IS
another thing (without like or as)-he’s a night owl
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
• Irony- an expression, situation, or event-verbal:“Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here! This is the war room!” -situational: a life guard drowns-dramatic: Romeo and Juliet• Onomatopoeia- words that sound like their
meaning (swoosh, zip, pop)• personification- assigning human qualities to non-
human things
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
• Simile- a comparison among two things using the words like or as• Understatement- saying less than you mean
-Albert Einstein is perhaps fairly intelligent
TEST!!!
• Thursday, 9/12• This powerpoint is on my website under handouts• Go to Klein Home Page• Handouts