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Literary Elements 7 th Grade. Alliteration. The repetition of the same or very similar consonant sounds in words that are close together. Ex. C areless c ars c utting c orners c reate c onfusion. Allusion.
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Alliteration • The repetition of the same or very similar consonant sounds in words that are close together. • Ex. Careless cars cutting corners create confusion.
Allusion • A reference to a statement, a person, a place, or an event from literature, history, religion, mythology, politics, sports, or science. • Ex. In The Simpsons Principal Skinner looks out of the window of his office at a spooky house as he discusses a tormented relationship with his mother. This is an allusion to the Norman Bates character in the movie Psycho.
Atmosphere • The overall mood or emotion of a work of literature. • Ex. Things that love night do not love nights such as these….wrathful skies…sheets of fire…bursts of horrid thunder….roaring wind and rain. (If this were the opening of a story the atmosphere would be dark or ominous).
Autobiography • The story of a person’s life, written or told by that person. • Ex. Former President Clinton wrote a book about his life called My Life.
Biography • The story of a real person’s life, written or told by another person. • Ex. Diana was a book written about Princess Diana by her former butler.
Static Character • A character which does not change much during the course of the story. • Ex. Voldemort, a character in the Harry Potter series, remains evil throughout all seven books.
Dynamic Character • A character that changes as a result of the story’s events. • Ex. Ebenezer Scrooge from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is a dynamic character. When we first meet him he is mean, bitter, and greedy; however, after meeting three ghosts he becomes generous, kind, and loved.
Motive • Any force that drives or moves a character to behave in a particular way. • Ex. An elderly woman has left her entire fortune to her three nephews Hugh, Lou, and Stu. She is found murdered. Hugh and Stu are running a landscaping business and are multimillionaires. Lou lost his job and his car was repossessed. Which would you arrest? Who had motive?
External Conflict • The character struggles against some outside force. • Ex. In the novel Twilight, when Edward and his family fight and kill James, this is an external conflict.
Internal Conflict • A struggle that takes place within the character’s own mind. • Ex. In the novel Twilight when Bella doesn’t want to go and meet James because she knows he will kill her; however, if she doesn’t go she will risk losing her mother. No matter what she chooses she will put innocent people at risk.
Dialect • A way of speaking that is characteristic of a particular region or group of people. • Ex. South: Ya’all South: Fixin to South: Twixt North: Yins North: About to North: Between
Dialogue • A conversation between two or more characters. • Ex. “How are you?” I asked. “Alive!” old man Hernandez exclaimed.
Drama • A story written to be acted for an audience. • Ex. The movie Mean Girls started as a novel entitled Queen Bees and Wanna Bees, but was adapted to be performed by actors.
Fiction • A prose account that is made up rather than true. • Ex. The book Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is a work of fiction.
Figure of Speech • A word or phrase that describes one thing in terms of something else and is not literally true. • Includes: Simile, Metaphor, Personification, Hyperbole, and Idiom • Ex. I am stuck between a rock and a hard place (Idiom meaning I have to make a difficult decision).
Flashback • An interruption in the action of a plot to tell what happened at an earlier time. • Ex. Photograph by Nickelback This is where I grew up I think the present owner fixed it up I never knew that we ever went without The second floor is hard for sneaking out Remember the old arcade Blew every dollar that we ever made The cops hated us hangin’ out Somebody went and burned it down
Foreshadowing • The use of clues that suggest events that will happen later in the plot. • Ex. Sam wished that he could rid himself of the sick feeling in his gut that told him that something terrible was going to happen, and happen soon.
Imagery • Language that appeals to the five senses. • Ex. The pitter-patter of rain echoed against the window and contrasted with the sound of my brother slurping his soup.
Irony • A contrast between expectation and reality. • Ex. An ambulance driver rushes to the scene of an accident only to run over the victim who crawled out the burning car.
Metaphor • An imaginative comparison between two unlike things in which one thing is said to BE another. • Ex. “The streets were a furnace and the sun was the executioner.”
Nonfiction • Prose writing that deals with real people, events, and places without changing any facts. • Ex. A book written about the Great Depression would be considered factual and thus nonfiction.
Onomatopoeia • The use of words whose sounds echo their sense. • Ex. Buzz, sizzle, rustle, boom, tweet
Personification • A figure of speech in which a nonhuman or nonliving thing or quality is talked about as if it were human or alive. • Ex. Fear knocked on the door. Faith answered. Oreo: Milk’s favorite cookie
Setting • The time and place in which the events of a story take place. • Ex. There is no lake at Camp Green Lake. There was once a very large lake there, the largest lake in Texas… now it is a flat, dry, wasteland. During the summer the daytime temperature hovers around ninety-five degrees in the shade…if you can find any shade. Holes by Louis Sachar
Simile • A comparison between two unlike things using a word such as like, as, than, or resembles. • Ex. As alike as two peas in a pod As big as a boat As annoying as nails scratching against a chalkboard Silent like little cat feet
Suspense • The uncertainty or anxiety you feel about what will happen next in a story. • Ex. When a serial killer is on the loose and a young woman returns home alone only to find her door unlocked and slightly open.
Symbol • A person, place, thing, or event that has its own meaning and stands for something beyond itself as well. • Ex. The lightning bolt scar on the forehead of Harry Potter: It is just a scar, but it is symbolic of the great battle he has survived, a badge of honor, and an outright symbol of love (that his mother loved him so much she sacrificed her life). It is also symbolic of Harry’s emotional sensitivity in that when hatred is direct toward him the scar hurts.
Theme • The truth about life revealed in a work of literature. • Ex. Harry Potter is ABOUT magic, but it’s themes are deeper… The value of humility The occasional necessity of rebellion The dangers of greed The power of love and friendship
Tone • The attitude that a writer takes toward the audience, subject, or a character. • Ex. Favorable tone toward the library: “Miss Marple opened doors to fabulous new places which I was only too happy to explore.” Unfavorable tone toward the library: “Our instruction consisted of Miss Marple waving Dewy Decimal signs around while exclaiming how our educational futures depended on being able to reshelve books correctly.”
