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Terms
Resources:
Definitions provided by Elements of Literature, Second Course. Holt, Rhinehart & Winston, 2003.
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Literary Devices and Terms
A literary device is any tool used in literature to help
the reader understand the story and its character(s).
There are two types of literary devices used by
authors, literary elements and literary techniques.
Literary terms provide structure to the literature. All
literary elements are evident in all literature that
creates a story.
Literary techniques are specific to each author.
Authors choose which of the techniques to employ.
Literary terms are not devices. They are simply terms
used to understand literature.
Literary Elements
Literary elements are common literary
devices found in all literature.
Point of view
Setting
Character/Characterization
Theme
Plot
Conflict
Point of View
Point of view is the vantage point from which a story is
told.
First Person: The narrator is a character, often the main character, of the
story. This character reveals personal thoughts and feelings but is
unable to tell the feelings of others unless he or she is told by another
character. The first person narrator refers to him or herself as “I.”
Third Person Objective: The narrator is an outsider, not a character.
The third person objective reports what is happening (seen and
heard), but cannot tell the reader what characters are thinking.
Third Person Limited: The narrator is an outsider, not a character. The
third person limited reports what is happening as well as the thoughts
of one specific character.
Omniscient: This is the all-knowing narrator. The omniscient point of
view sees everything and hears everything, and is able to see into the
minds of multiple characters.
Exposition & Setting
Exposition: The introductory material which gives the setting,
creates the tone, presents the characters, and presents other
facts necessary to understanding the story.
In other words, the exposition exposes you to all the important
background info.
Setting generally provides the time and place of a specific
scene or chapter, the entire story, a play or a narrative poem.
Setting can also include the mood of the time period, situation
or event.
Setting can also be the social, political, environmental or
emotional climate.
Setting can also include the emotional state of a character.
Characters
The term character refers to a person or an
animal in a story, play or other literary work.
Major characters are almost always round, or
three dimensional. They have good and bad
qualities. Their goals, ambitions and values
change as a result of what happens to him or her.
A character who changes as a result of the events
of the story is referred to as DYNAMIC.
Types of Major Characters
Protagonist: The main character in the story.
Usually the one who faces the main conflict.
Antagonist: The character or force that
opposes the protagonist.
Foil: A foil is a character that contrasts with
another character (usually the protagonist) in
order to highlight various features of the main
character's personality.
Minor Characters
Almost always flat or two-dimensional
characters.
They are usually all good or all bad. Such
characters can be amusing in their own right,
but lack depth.
Flat characters are sometimes called STATIC
characters because they change very little or
not at all through the literary work.
Characterization
Characterization is the way a writer
reveals the personality of a character.
Resolution
Exposition
Plot Map
Literary Techniques
Alliteration
Onomatopoeia
Imagery
Metaphor
Simile
Hyperbole
Personification
Allusion
Symbol
Alliteration