CHILDREN'S LITERATURE SPRING 2009
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Literary Elements

My ideas about what these mean:

Simile- a figure of speech in which two fundamentally unlike things are explicitly compared, usually in a phrase introduced by “like” or “as.”

 

Metaphor- is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between two unlike things that actually have something important in common.

 

Assonance- identity or similarity in sound between internal vowels in neighboring words.

 

Personification- giving life like qualities to an inanimate object.

 

Antagonist- the bad guy in the story

 

Caricature- cartoon like features given to an individual

 

Climax- the height of the story when tension has been building up for the characters

 

Direct Characterization- a character is exaggerated in some way

 

Foreshadowing- ideas given about how the story will develop

 

Internal conflict- the person is struggling with something inside of himself or herself, which may be hindering an important decision or action

 

External conflict- an outside force is working against the individual causing turmoil or struggle within the story, may be affecting decision making

 

Prologue- The foreword of a story

 

Epilogue- The ending dialogue of a story.  An example of this would be in the story, Cupid Doesn’t Flip Hamburgers.  The story is all about love, and at the end of the story the characters Liza and Melody say in unison, “We love being friends.”

 

Point of View- This is when the story is told in either first or third person.

 

Structure- this refers to the way the story is organized.  Some stories may tell the resolution first, then backtrack throughout the story and meet back at the end again.  Others go in chronological order from beginning to end.

 

Climax- this refers to the height of the story when the solution to a problem occurs.

 

Theme-This pertains to what the story is about.  This may also relate to how one selects the story based on interests.

 

Protagonist- this is the villain in the story.  In the book The Prince of the Pond, the Hag was the protagonist, as she liked to eat little frogs and took pleasure in capturing them.  Pin was turned into a frog from her spell, and later lost his frogs and Jade as a result of her spell.

 

Hyperbole- over exaggeration within the story.  Example:  “Everyone is out to get me!”

 

Alliteration-this has to do with repetitive sounds that are at the beginning of words such as peter piper picked a peck…

 

Unity- points that are closely connected give the story flow.

 

Denouement- this is the falling action of the story not long before end of the story.

 

Dialogue- the interaction between people.  When characters are speaking to each other in the story instead of telling the story directly.

 

Onomatopoeia- whack, bang, boom!  Sounds within the story are an example of this literary element.

 

Mood/Tone- the way that the story projects feelings about the content.

 

 

   

 

 

 

                       

 



Literary Elements