Elements of Style

Participant Point of View

Also called first-person point of view, using first-person pronouns (I, me, my, we, us, our).

Innocent-eye Narrator

A special type of participant narrator who is naïve, such as a child or developmentally disabled individual.

Stream of Consciousness

An unbroken flow of thought and awareness capturing exactly what goes on in a character's mind.

Nonparticipant Point of View

Also called third-person point of view, using third-person pronouns (he, him, she, her, they, them).

Omniscient Narrator

A third-person narrator who can enter the minds of all the characters.

Selective Omniscient Narrator

A third-person narrator who limits omniscience to the minds of a few characters or a single character.

Objective Narrator

A third-person narrator who records only what can be seen and heard, acting like a camera or fly on the wall.

Second-Person Point of View

A rarely used narrative technique using second-person pronouns (you, your) to directly involve the reader.

Reliable Narrator

A narrator who can be trusted to tell the truth and be objective.

Unreliable Narrator

A narrator who cannot be trusted to tell the truth or be objective.

Protagonist

A story's main character who generates the plot and can embody the theme.

Antagonist

The character or force in conflict with the protagonist.

Round Character

A complex, fully developed character, often prone to change.

Flat Character

A one-dimensional character typically not central to the story.

Characterization

The process by which an author presents and develops a fictional character.

Static Characters

Characters who do not experience basic character changes during the course of the story.

Dynamic Characters

Characters who experience changes throughout the plot of a story.

Antihero

A central sympathetic character with significant personal flaws.

Symbolic Character

A caricature that is representative of certain kinds of people.

Conflict

The basic tension, predicament, or challenge that propels a story's plot.

Complications

Plot events that plunge the protagonist further into conflict.

Rising Action

The part of a plot in which the drama intensifies, rising toward the climax.

Climax

The plot's most dramatic and revealing moment, usually the turning point.

Falling Action

The part of the plot after the climax when the conflict is resolved.

Chronological Plot

A linear telling of events in order.

Backward Plot

Starting at the end and working toward the beginning.

Forward Plot

Starting at the beginning and working toward the end.

Circular Plot

A reflection that begins anywhere, goes to the end and beginning, and returns to the start.

Flashbacks

Looking back into time.

Historical Plot

Grounded in a real historical time period.

In media res

Beginning more or less in the middle of events.

Projections

Looking forward into time.

Fragmented Plot

Going back and forth in time with combinations of chronologies.

Atmosphere

Physical and external descriptions that help us better understand the setting.

Mood

The underlying feeling or atmosphere produced by a story.

Social Context

The significant cultural issues affecting a story's setting or authorship.

Setting

The story's time and place.

Ahistorical Setting

Not grounded in any real historical period; imaginary or fantasy.

Visual Imagery

Sensory impression of sight.

Aural Imagery

Sensory impression of sound.

Olfactory Imagery

Sensory impression of smell.

Tactile Imagery

Sensory impression of touch.

Gustatory Imagery

Sensory impression of taste.

Symbol

An image used repeatedly that carries multiple layers of essential meaning.

Allegory

A work of fiction in which symbols, characters, and events represent metaphysical, political, or social situations.

Diction

A writer's use of language, including word choice and figures of speech.

Informal Diction

Personal writing style using everyday words like bug, folks, or kid.

Formal Diction

Academic or literary writing style using elevated words like germ, relatives, or superior.

Colloquial Words

Conversational language, often featuring dialect.

Slang

Highly informal language.

Jargon

The special language of a profession or group.

General Diction

Broad words like look, walk, sit, dog, or boy.

Specific Diction

Precise words like gaze, stride, slump, black Labrador retriever, or tall boy.

Monosyllabic Words

Single-syllable words.

Polysyllabic Words

Words with more than one syllable, making passages more complex.

Denotative Words

Words with strict dictionary meanings.

Connotative Words

Words with emotional meanings.

Cacophonous Words

Harsh-sounding words like maggot.

Euphonious Words

Pleasant-sounding words like butterfly.

Abstract Words

Non-material words representing a thought.

Concrete Words

Real, actual, and specific words.

Tone

The manner of expression showing the author's attitude toward characters, events, or situations.

Syntax

The arrangement, ordering, grouping, and placement of words within a sentence.

Telegraphic Sentence

A sentence shorter than five words.

Short Sentence

A sentence approximately five words long.

Medium Sentence

A sentence approximately eighteen words long.

Long Sentence

A sentence longer than 30 words.

Declarative Sentence

A sentence that makes a statement.

Imperative Sentence

A sentence that gives a command.

Interrogative Sentence

A sentence that asks a question.

Exclamatory Sentence

A sentence that provides emphasis or expresses strong emotion.

Simple Sentence

Contains one independent clause.

Compound Sentence

Contains two independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction or semicolon.

Complex Sentence

Contains an independent clause and one or more subordinate clauses.

Compound-Complex Sentence

Contains two or more independent clauses and one or more subordinate clauses.

Loose Sentence

Has its main clause at the beginning, followed by subordinate constructions.

Periodic Sentence

Organized so that the complex thought is not completed until the very end.

Convoluted Sentence

A periodic sentence where subordinate elements split the main clause from the inside.

Balanced Sentence

Features two or more words or constructions with the same form, length, and function.

Central Pause

A division in a balanced sentence where elements play against each other.

Antithesis

Balanced phrases or clauses expressing opposed ideas.

Parallelism

Two or more words, phrases, or clauses having the same grammatical form and relationship.

Inverted Word Order

Rearranging main sentence elements into an order other than subject-verb-object for emphasis.

Juxtaposition

Placing normally unassociated ideas, words, or phrases next to each other for surprise or wit.

Rhetorical Question

A question requiring no answer, used to draw attention to a point.

Repetition

Using words, sounds, and ideas more than once to enhance rhythm and emphasis.

Anaphora

The repetition of the same term beginning successive clauses.

Epistrophe

The repetition of the same term at the ending of successive clauses.

Symploce

Combining anaphora and epistrophe by repeating words at both the beginning and ending.

Anadiplosis

Using the same term at the end of one clause and the beginning of the next.

Epanalepsis

When the same word appears at both the beginning and the end of a sentence or clause.

Polysyndeton

Placing a conjunction after every term in a series except the last.

Asyndeton

Separating terms in a series with commas without using conjunctions.

Alliteration

Repeating the same sound or consonant at the beginning of successive or related words.

Onomatopoeia

Using a word that, when pronounced, imitates the sound it names.

Assonance

Repeating vowel sounds in the stressed syllables of words close to each other.

Chiasmus (Antimetabole)

A rhetorical device where the positions of key terms are reversed in balanced clauses.

Zeugma

A pun where one verb has two different meanings with objects that complement both.

Metaphor

An implied comparison between two things of unlike nature.

Simile

An explicit comparison between two things of unlike nature.