1. Literary Elements

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setting
the time and place of a story or play
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mood
A story’s atmosphere or the feeling it creates.
Mood is often created by a story’s setting.
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suspense
Uncertainty or anxiety the reader feels about what is going to happen next in a story.
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protagonist
Main character in fiction or drama
The character we focus our attention on.
Usually sets the action in motion
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antagonist
Character or force that blocks the protagonist from achieving his/her goal
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conflict
A struggle between two opposing forces
Internal
*person vs. self
External
*person vs. person
*person vs. nature
*person vs. society
*person vs. fate
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plot
A series of related events that make up a story
The plot of a story is framed by time.
Most stories are told in CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER – the order in which events unfold in real time.
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exposition
The background information needed to understand the story properly.
The characters, setting, and basic conflict are introduced.
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rising action
The basic conflict is complicated by the introduction of related secondary conflicts, including various obstacles that frustrate the protagonist’s attempt to reach his/her goal.
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11. climax (turning point)
The moment of great emotional intensity or suspense in a plot
the turning point, the moment that the outcome of the conflict is determined.
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falling action
Conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist unravels, with the protagonist winning or losing against the antagonist.
Might contain a moment of final suspense, during which the final outcome of the conflict is in doubt.
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13. Resolution ( or denoument)
We learn the final outcome of the story (conclusion).
Resolutions can be either positive or negative for the protagonist.
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PLOTLINE
CLIMAX
RISING ACTION
FALLING ACTION
EXPOSITION
RESOLUTION
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flash-forward
A scene that jumps ahead of the story to narrate an event that happens in the future
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foreshadowing
Hints in the story that certain events are going to happen later
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flashback
A scene that interrupts the story to introduce an event that took place in the past
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irony
Contrast:
between expectation and reality,
between what is said and what is really meant,
Between what is expected to happen and what really happens, OR
Between what appears to be true and what really is true
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Verbal irony
A writer or speaker says one thing but really means something completely different.
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Situational irony
Occurs when there is a contrast between what would seem appropriate and what really happens OR
Between what we expect to happen and what really takes place
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Dramatic irony
Occurs when the audience knows something important that a character in a play or story does not know.
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tone
Attitude a writer takes toward a subject, a character, or the audience
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Point of view
Vantage point from which a writer tells a story
In broad terms, there are 3 possible POV’s
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First-person pov
One of the characters is telling the story, using the pronoun “I”
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Omniscient pov
The person telling the story knows everything there is to know about the characters and their problems.
Omniscient = “all knowing”
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26. Third-person limited pov
The narrator, who plays no part in the story, zooms in on the thoughts and feelings of ONE character.
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connotation
all the meanings, associations, or emotions that have come to be attached to some words, in addition to their denotations.
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denotation
the literal definition of a word; the dictionary definition.
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