Flashcards › Literary Elements You Must Know

dialogue characters in the act of speaking; inner dialogue (inner thoughts) and speech directed towards other characters. Used to show basic nature and build conflict conflict the big problem the character must solve; there is internal and external conflict the macguffin all the characters are willing to do anything to get it. Ther are ten commonly used macguffins: It could be a place to go, a secret to hide, a jewel, a person or animal, body parts, ancient magic artifcats, technology, non-living materials like special stones, a resource like fuel or food, or a speical weapon like the sword in the stone. chekov's gun a trick where a detail is introduced early in the story, but its importance does not become clear until later in the story foreshadowing a hint or clue that tells the reader what will happen next in the story Point of View the type of 'camera' the writer is using to tell the story. First Person Point of View The narrator uses the "I" pronoun. It is easy to write and shows a lot of emotion. Great for action scenes but limited to one character's inner thoughts. Third Person Omniscient We can read the inner-thoughts of many characters in a story; most often used by writers Third Person Objective No inner-thoughts. Lots of action and dialogue; often hard for the reader to understand motifs repeating patterns or ideas in a story. For example, Tom Sawyer 'shows-off' at least three times in the novel. themes what the writer is trying to say about life; the topics found in a story Hemingway's Iceberg Theory Ernest Hemingway, a writer who made the best dialogue, says his trick is to leave something important out of the dialogue imagery words that help us see pictures in our minds when we read. Bierce uses very dark words and imagery in "Owl Creek Bridge" characterization anything a writer does to show a character's basic nature basic nature the personality a character has; they could be shy, rude, etc. the quest a theme in which characters travel a long way to get what they want loss of innocence/coming of age the theme is that characters begin to grow older and more mature. The learn more about life. (Tom Sawyer) the noble sacrifice a character gives up his life to save others (A Tale of Two Cities) good versus evil characters try to stop evil f tragic flaw/downfall a character who has a perfect life loses it all because of his basic nature the eternal love story character romance character change / reversal of fortune the character changes from someone who has very little into someone of importance (Think Cinderella) Revenge a character only wants to kill that which has hurt him (MOBY DICK) The big mystery a character must find the answer to a difficult question or puzzle symbols some thing or some person stands for something else: (Dark Woods equals Fear and Danger) setting where a story takes place The tricks writers use to add flavor and beauty to their writing. Learn them, master them!