Literary Elements Falling Action - the events that follow the climax

Used when you're writing a story, because these are the - leads to the resolution
fundamental building blocks, this is necessary for a story to Conclusion - the end of the story where all the
make sense and drive the story forward, it is very essential loose ends are tied up
to a story. Theme - the underlying meaning of a story
- the message the writer is trying to convey through the story
5 Major Literary Elements and often the theme of a story is a broad message about life
Character - any person, animal, or figure represented in a - the theme of a story is important because it is part of the
literary work reason why the author wrote the story in the first place.
- these characters are essential to a good story, especially
the main characters because they have the greatest effect
on the plot or are the most affected by the events of the Literary Genres
story. A genre is a particular
Setting - the time, duration, and place an author chooses to type of literature,
write about painting, music, film, or
- the place of a setting can be a real location or a fantasy other art form which
made up location, the time of a setting can be the past, people consider as a
present, or future class because it has
Conflict - a struggle between opposing forces in a story special
- born when a character acts to confront opposing forces characteristics.
- it is the challenge main characters need to solve to achieve
their goals, if there is nothing to overcome, there is no story, 1. DRAMA - a
conflict in a story creates and drives the plot forward. story put into
● Types of Conflict action told by
Man against man - involves stories where actual
characters are against each other representation
Man against nature - an external struggle of persons by
positioning the character against an animal or a persons, with
force of nature, such as a storm or tornado or imitation of
snow language,
Man against self - the struggle is internal, and a voice, gesture,
character must overcome their own nature or dress, accessories or
make a choice between two or more paths—good surrounding
and evil; logic and emotion conditions.
Plot - the sequence or chain of events within a story; a It is a story told in
description of what happens and why it happens, allowing a dialogue by
story to unfold performers in front of
● Plot Elements an audience.
Exposition - occurs at the beginning 2. POETRY
- introduces the main character, setting, and basic Poetry is a literary work in verse writing of high quality, great
situation needed to understand the story beauty, a piece of art, with emotional sincerity or intensity, a
Rising Action - the main parts of the story which graceful expression showing imagination and deep feeling
includes the problem with beautiful and elegant quality. It is a profound insight that
- it is usually set as 3-5 main events enables a poet to idealize reality and to see the things or
Climax - the turning point of the story situations in a particular way, to express his feelings of his
- usually the most exciting or surprising part of the own accord and to represent them in such a way as to
story delight the readers.
 - Contains no realistic elements
3. PROSE: Fiction and Nonfiction - Events can never happen in
Fiction refers to any work of prose reality
that has imaginary elements. Although
fiction can be inspired by actual events
and people, it is usually the work of a
writer’s imagination.
Nonfiction refers to stories that are
5. Traditional
based on events that actually happened
Literature
in reality, and whose characters are
- Traditional literature
actual people.
encompasses books
rendered from oral tradition ---
stories that have been passed
down for ages (Kiefer, 2007) and
as a result are commonly shared
throughout the world. This
literature includes folktales, myths, fables, and legends.
Genres of
● MYTHS
Prose
- These are stories that explain the creation of the universe,
and the origin of natural phenomena
- These involve stories about gods and supernatural beings

Genres of Nonfiction
- writing that tells about real people, places, or events.
Genres of Fiction
- information in narrative nonfiction is organized in
1. Realistic Fiction
chronological order.
- Characters are made-up but could be real people
- Types of narrative nonfiction are biography, autobiography,
- Events are made-up but could be real events
essay, memoir, diary.
- Takes place in the modern time; right here, right now
1. Autobiography
2. Historical Fiction
- the writer’s account of his or her own life, told from a first
- Historical fiction books take place during a certain time in
person point-of-view. It generally focuses on significant
the past.
events and how those events and people affected him or her.
- Often the setting is real, and the characters are made-up or
2. Biography
fictional.
A biography is an account of a person’s life written by
- Sometimes the setting is fictional and the characters are
another person.
real.
The writer usually reaches his or her subject to present
- Story reconstructs events of past age, things that could
accurate information, and ideally strives for a balanced
have or did occur.
treatment, highlighting weaknesses as well as strengths,
3. Science Fiction
failures as well as achievements.
- Literary genre in which a background of science or
3. Essay
pseudoscience is an integral part of the story. Many of the
- a short piece of writing that is set around a specific topic or
events recounted in a science fiction story are within the
subject. The piece of writing will give information surrounding
realm of future possibility like robots, space travel,
the topic but will also display the opinions and thoughts of
interplanetary war, or invasions from outer space.
the author.
4. Fantasy
4. Memoir
- Fantasy is completely made-up with characters such as
talking animals and humans with magical powers.
- a narrative, written from the perspective of the author,
about an important part of their life. Memoir authors choose
a pivotal moment in their lives and try to recreate the event
through storytelling. The author’s feelings and assumptions
are central to the narrative. Memoirs still include all the facts
of the event, but the author has more flexibility here because
he/she is telling a story as he/she remembers it, not as
others can prove or disprove it.
5. Diary
- a form of autobiographical writing that keeps record of the
diarist’s activities and reflections. Written primarily for the
writer’s use alone, the diary has a frankness that is unlike
writing done for publication.
- In addition to their revelation of the diarist’s personality,
diaries have been of immense importance for the recording
of social and political history.
Literary Techniques
• it is a specific, deliberate constructions of language or
specific strategies which an author uses to convey meaning
Types of Literary Techniques
Alliteration - repetition of consonant sounds within close
proximity.
Anthropomorphism - refers to a nonhuman entity
consciously behaving like a human.
Blank verse - non-rhyming poetry, usually written in iambic
pentameter.
Creative license - exaggeration or alteration of objective
facts or reality for the purpose of enhancing meaning in a
fictional context.
Dialogue - where characters speak to one another; may
often be used to substitute for exposition.
Dramatic irony - where the audience or reader is aware of
something important, of which the characters in the story are
not aware.
Exposition - where an author interrupts a story in order to
explain something, usually to provide important background
information.
Figurative language - any use of language where the
intended meaning differs from the actual literal meaning of
the words themselves. There are many techniques which
can rightly be called figurative language, including metaphor,
simile, hyperbole, personification, onomatopoeia, verbal
irony, and oxymoron.
Foreshadowing - where future events in a story, or perhaps
the outcome, are suggested by the author before they
happen.
Hyperbole - a description which exaggerates.
Imagery - language which describes something in detail,
using words to substitute for and create sensory stimulation,
including visual imagery and sound imagery. Also refers to
specific and recurring types of images, such as food imagery
and nature imagery.
Irony (a.k.a. Situational irony) - where an event occurs
which is unexpected, and which is in absurd or mocking
opposition to what is expected or appropriate.
Metaphor - direct relationship where one thing or idea
substitutes for another.
Onomatopoeia - where sounds are spelled out as words; or,
when words describing sounds actually sound like the
sounds they describe.
Oxymoron - contradiction in terms.
Paradox - where a situation is created which cannot possibly
exist, because different elements of it cancel each other out.
Parallelism - use of similar or identical language, structures,
events, or ideas in different parts of a text.
Personification (l) - where inanimate objects or abstract
concepts are seemingly endowed with human
self-awareness; where human thoughts, actions and
perceptions are directly attributed to inanimate objects or
abstract ideas. (Not to be confused with anthropomorphism.)
Personification (ll) - where an abstract concept, such as a
particular human behavior or a force of nature, is
represented as a person.
Repetition - here a specific word, phrase, or
structure is repeated several times, to emphasize a particular
idea.
Simile - an indirect relationship where one thing or idea is
described as being similar to another. Similes usually contain
the words "like" or "as”.
Symbolism - the use of specific objects or images to
represent abstract ideas. This term is commonly misused,
describing any and all representational relationships, which
in fact are more often metaphorical than symbolic. A symbol
must be something tangible or visible, while the idea it
symbolizes must be something abstract or universal.
Verbal irony - where the meaning is intended to be the
exact opposite of what the words actually mean. (Sarcasm is
a tone of voice that often accompanies verbal irony, but they
are not the same thing.)