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Literary Elements & Devices. Honors English 9 Mr. Bernstein BCHS. Simile – A figure of speech likening one thing to another by the use of “like” or “as.” Metaphor – A figure of speech in which one thing is spoken of as if it were another.
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Literary Elements & Devices Honors English 9 Mr. Bernstein BCHS
Simile – A figure of speech likening one thing to another by the use of “like” or “as.” • Metaphor – A figure of speech in which one thing is spoken of as if it were another. • Extended Metaphor – A metaphor in which the initial comparison between two unlike things is made, and then additional comparisons are made based on that relationship.
My faith is a steel bridge. My faith is as strong as a steel bridge.
Personification – Giving living characteristics to non-living things. Fog The fog comes On little cat feet. It sits looking Over harbor and city On silent haunches And then moves on. ~Carl Sandburg
Hyperbole – An extreme exaggeration (my backpack weighs a ton). • Alliteration – the repetition of the same beginning consonants (Sally sells seashells by the seashore). • Oxymoron – a combination of contradictory terms (tough love, jumbo shrimp, restricted access).
Irony – differences between appearance and reality. • Verbal Irony – words are used to suggest the opposite of what is meant. • Dramatic Irony – a contradiction between what a character thinks and what the audience knows to be true. • Situational Irony – an event occurs that directly contradicts the expectations of the characters.
When a thing or object actually represents a concept, emotion or idea. What might the following image symbolize for you? Symbolism
Character Types • Foil Character – Characters that reveal opposite traits. • Dynamic Character – A character that develops and grows during the course of the story. • Static Character – A character that does not change.
Character Types • Flat Character – A character that shows only one side, one part of his/her personality. • Round Character – A character that shows many different traits – faults as well as virtues.
Character Types • Protagonist – the main character, the most important character, someone who probably changes in some important way as a result of the story’s events. • Antagonist – a character who opposes the main character.
Character Types • Major Character – a character with a major impact on the story. Without this character, the story would be different. • Minor Character – a character with a minor impact on the story. Without this character, the story would essentially be the same.
Characterization • Direct Characterization – the author directly states a character’s traits. • Indirect Characterization – an author tells what a character looks like, does, and says, and how other characters react to him or her. It is up to the reader to draw conclusions about the character.
Plot – A series of related events that make up a story or drama. • Exposition – The part of a plot that give information about the setting, the characters and their problems or conflicts. • Inciting Incident – An event that signals the beginning of the main conflict. • Rising action – Multiple events leading to the climax.
Climax – A moment of great emotional intensity. The point of highest interest, or the moment in a series of actions when the protagonist and antagonist clash for the last time in an attempt to resolve the conflict. The major climax in a story or play usually marks when the conflict is decided one way or another. • Falling action – A series of events that lead to the resolution or end of the story. • Resolution – The ending where the audience discovers whether the conflict has been resolved. • Denouement – Anything that happens after the resolution.
Conflict – a problem or struggle in a story that triggers the action. • Human vs. Human – the main character struggles against an outside force. • Human vs. Self – a character in conflict with himself or herself. • Human vs. Nature – a character struggling against nature
More Conflict • Human vs. Society – a character has a problem with some element of society: the school, the law, the accepted way of doing things. • Human vs. Fate – the character must battle what seems to be an uncontrollable problem.
Theme • The central (main) idea of a work of literature. This is not usually stated directly in a work of literature. Readers must infer or establish an educated guess about the theme. • (THEME = subject + what the author is saying about that subject) • A theme statement avoids using “you” and is typically one complete sentence.
