ENG4U - Literary Elements and Techniques

Plot

The process of resolving conflict through a sequence of causal events

Characterization

The process of presenting the various aspects of a character’s personality, values, and beliefs

Setting

The physical environment and the cultural context which creates an atmosphere that can convey information about the character and theme

Point of View

The narrative perspective from which a story is told, which can intimately or detachedly convey different degrees of information about characters, plot, setting, and theme.

Style

The sentence structure that an author uses to influence the tone of a particular passage.

Theme

The main idea or underlying meaning of a piece of literature.

Imagery

Language that appeals to the senses

Denotation

The dictionary definition of a word

Connotation

Emotions and ideas that are associated with a word

Allusion

A reference to something in history or literature

Irony

A discrepancy between expectation and reality or between words and intention

Understatement

A statement which means less than intended

Hyperbole

A statement of exaggeration

Paradox

An apparent contradiction that conveys the truth

Simile

A direct comparison of two essentially unlike things, using “like” or “as”

Metaphor

A comparison of two unlike things

Personification

The attribution of human characteristics to a creature, idea, or object

Apostrophe

A direct address to an inanimate object or idea

Symbol

Anything that has a meaning of its own but also stands for something beyond itself

Tone

The attitude revealed toward the subject