LITERARY ELEMENTS

The key to understanding literary pieces is to understand literary elements.

Literary elements are the components that make up a literary piece. Similar to food
and cooking, they are the ingredients that make up a literary work.
A. Elements of Fiction. Characters, setting, plot, conflict, point of view, and
theme are six key elements for writing fiction.
1. Characters. Characters are the people, animals, or aliens in the story. Readers
come to know the characters through what they say, what they think, and how they
act.
E. M. Forster, an English novelist, identified that characters are either flat or
round. Flat characters do not play important roles in the stories. They often have only
one or two traits with little description about them. A flat character may even be a
stock character, which is a stereotypical figure that is easily recognized by readers,
for example, the mad scientist or the evil stepmother.
On the other hand, the round characters play an important role, often the lead
roles in stories. They are complex, dimensional, and well-developed. The stories are
about them; therefore, pages of writing will be about them. They often change by
going through a life-changing experience as the story unfolds.
When discussing stories with other readers and writers or when writing an
analysis of a story, fictional characters can be described as static or developing. Static
means the character stays the same throughout the story. They do not change.
Developing, also called dynamic, means the character changes. The change may
impact the character’s beliefs, attitudes, or actions. The change may be small or
large. This change occurs because the character experiences an epiphany, an insight
about life.
2. Setting. Setting is where and when the story takes place. It includes the following:
• The immediate surroundings of the characters such as props in a scene: trees,
furniture, food, inside of a house or car, etc.
• The time of day such as morning, afternoon, or night.
• The weather such as cloudy, sunny, windy, snow, or rain, etc.
• The time of year, particularly the seasons: fall, winter, summer, spring.
• The historical period such as what century or decade the story takes place.
• The geographical location including the city, state, country, and possibly even
the universe, if the writer is writing science fiction.
Setting can function as a main force that the characters encounter, such as a
tornado or flood, or a setting can play a minor role such as setting the mood. Often

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times, the setting can reveal something about the main character as he/she functions
in that place and time period.
3. Plot. Plot is the order of events in the story. The plot usually follows a particular
structure called Freytag’s Pyramid. Freytag’s Pyramid has five parts: exposition,
rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement, also known as resolution.

Freytag’s Pyramid by Gustav Freytag, a German playwright

Exposition is an introduction to the characters, time, and the problem. At the

point where exposition moves into rising action a problem, sometimes called an
inciting incident, occurs for the main character to handle or solve. This creates the
beginning of the story.
Rising action includes the events that the main character encounters. Each
event, developed in separate scenes, makes the problem more complex.
Climax is the turning point in the story. Usually, it is a single event with the
greatest intensity and uncertainty. The main character must contend with the
problem at this point.
Falling action includes the events that unfold after the climax. This usually
creates an emotional response from the reader.
Denouement or resolution provides closure to the story. It ties up loose ends
in the story.
4. Conflict. Conflict is the struggle between two entities. In story writing the main
character, also known as the protagonist, encounters a conflict with the antagonist,
which is an adversary. The conflict may be one of six kinds:
• Character vs. character
• Character vs. nature or natural forces
• Character vs. society or culture

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 • Character vs. machine or technology
• Character vs. God
• Character vs himself or herself
5. Point of View. Stories are generally told in one of two points of views:
• First-person point of view
• Third-person point of view
First-person point of view means that one of the characters in the story will
narrate–give an account–of the story. The narrator may be the protagonist, the main
character. Writing in first-person point of view brings the readers closer to the story.
They can read it as if they are the character because personal pronouns like I, me, my,
we, us, and our are used.
Third-person point of view means that the narrator is not in the story. The third-
person narrator is not a character. Third-person point of view can be done two ways:
• Third-person limited
• Third-person omniscient
Third-person limited means that the narrator limits him/herself by being able
to be in one character’s thoughts. Whereas, third-person omniscient means the
narrator has unlimited ability to be in various character’s thoughts. Writing in third-
person point of view removes readers from the story because of the pronouns he, she,
it, him, her, his, hers, they, them, and theirs.
6. Theme. A theme is not the plot of the story. It is the underlying truth that is being
conveyed in the story. Themes can be universal, meaning they are understood by
readers no matter what culture or country the readers are in. Common themes
include coming of age, circle of life, prejudice, greed, good vs. evil, beating the odds,
etc.

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 B. Elements of Poetry
1. Stanza. The grouping of lines into organizational units in poetry is known as
a stanza. Some poetic forms, such as the couplet, are identified by how many lines
constitute a stanza. A couplet has two lines per stanza; many poems are composed
of a series of couplets rather than a single couplet.
• Monostich. A one-line stanza. Monostich can also be an entire poem.
• Couplet. A stanza with two lines that rhyme.
• Tercet. A stanza with three lines that either all rhyme or the first and the third
line rhyme—which is called an ABA rhyming pattern. A poem made up of
tercets and concludes with a couplet is called a “terza rima.”
• Quatrain. A stanza with four lines with the second and fourth lines rhyming.
• Quintain. A stanza with five lines.
• Sestet. A stanza with six lines.
• Septet. A stanza with seven lines. This is sometimes called a “rhyme royal.”
• Octave. A stanza with eight lines written in iambic pentameter, or ten syllable
beats per line. The more lines a stanza has the more varieties of rhyme and
meter patterns. For example, “ottava rima” is an eight-line stanza with the
specific rhyme scheme in which the first six lines have an alternating rhyme
pattern and a couplet as the final two lines.
2. Rhythm. Rhythm is the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of
poetry. Everyday speech has rhythm, yet poets make conscious choices to arrange
and highlight particular rhythms and rhythm patterns to create meter. Meter refers
to specific syllabic patterns in the rhythm of a line of poetry. Learning to scan the
rhythm and meter of a poem, a process referred to as scansion, focuses analysis on
the line-by-line structure. A foot is the basic unit of rhythm, usually composed of two
or three syllables, used in scansion. Four major types of feet are found in most
verse: anapest, dactyl , iamb , and trochee :
Foot Names Syllable Arrangements Examples
Anapest X X / X X / X X / X X /
dactyl / X X / X X / X X
Take her up tenderly
iamb X / X / X / X / X /
The falling out of faithful friends.
X / X / X /
renewing is of love
trochee / X / X / X / X / X
Less frequently occurring types of feet in poetry are pyrrhic and spondee.
Foot Names Syllable Arrangements Examples

pyrrhic X X / / XX // XX X / X
My way is to begin with the beginning

spondee / / XX/ / XX / /

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 The number of feet in a line of poetry determine its length. Although a line
may be of any length, common line lengths in verse include tetrameter, pentameter,
and octameter.
Line Length Number of Number of Examples
Names Feet Syllables
tetrameter four eight How dreary to be somebody!
How drear | y to | be some | body
pentameter five ten Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Shall I | compare | thee to | a sum | mer’s
day?
octameter eight sixteen And the silken sad uncertain rustling of
each purple curtain.
And the | silken | sad un | certain | rustling |
of each | purple | curtain.

3. Rhyme. Rhyme is created when two words are similar in sound, as found in the
words ‘dog’ and ‘fog.’ End rhyme occurs when the last words in two lines of poetry
rhyme. Rhyming between two words within the same line is called internal
rhyme. Slant rhyme (or approximate rhyme) is the term used to refer to the
suggestion of a rhyme that is not exact, as found in the words ‘laugh’ and ‘taught.’
The larger pattern of rhyme in a poem is referred to as the rhyme scheme.
Rhyme schemes are commonly indicated by a letter pattern where a different
represents a new rhyme, as in abab cdcd efef gg. The effectiveness of a poem’s rhyme
scheme is shaped not only by the repetition of, but the variation between, the types
of rhyme and meter. Analysis of poetry frequently looks at the occurrence of
‘repetition and variation’ as a linked literary device.
4. Tone. The poet's attitude toward the poem's speaker, reader, and subject matter,
as interpreted by the reader. Often described as a “mood” that pervades the
experience of reading the poem, it is created by the poem's vocabulary, metrical
regularity or irregularity, syntax, use of figurative language, and rhyme.
5. Imagery. Imagery is a literary device used in poetry that uses vivid description that
appeals to a readers’ senses to create an image or idea in their head. Through
language, imagery does not only paint a picture, but aims to portray the sensational
and emotional experience within text. Imagery can improve a reader’s experience of
the text by immersing them more deeply by appealing to their senses. Imagery in
writing can aim at a reader’s sense of taste, smell, touch, hearing, or sight through
vivid descriptions. Imagery can be created using other literary devices like similes,
metaphors, or onomatopoeia.
6. Figurative language. Figurative language refers to the use of words in a way that
deviates from the conventional order and meaning to convey a complicated meaning,
colorful writing, clarity, or evocative comparison. It uses an ordinary sentence to refer
to something without directly stating it.

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 There are several types of figurative languages that are used in modern
writing. They include:
a. Simile. A simile is a figure of speech that compares two unlike things and
uses the words “like” or “as” and they are commonly used in
everyday communication. A simile is used with the aim of sparking an interesting
connection in the reader’s mind.
b. Metaphor. A metaphor is a statement that compares two things that are
not alike. Unlike similes, metaphors do not use the words “like” or “as.” Such
statements only make sense when the reader understands the connection between
the two things being compared.
c. Hyperbole. Hyperbole is an exaggeration that is created to emphasize a
point or bring out a sense of humor. It is often used in everyday conversations without
the speaker noticing it. The exaggeration is so outrageous that no one would believe
that it is true. It is used to add depth and color to a statement.
d. Personification. Personification is the attribution of human characteristics
to non-living objects. Using personification affects the way readers imagine things,
and it sparks an interest in the subject.
e. Synecdoche. Synecdoche is a type of figurative language that uses one part
to refer to the whole, or the whole to refer to the part. For example, a set of wheels
can be used to refer to a vehicle and a suit to refer to a businessman. When referring
to a car as a set of wheels, the wheels are only a part of the car and not the whole
thing. Similarly, a typical businessman wears a suit alongside other accessories such
as a watch and a briefcase.

f. Onomatopoeia. Onomatopoeia is a language that names something or an

action by imitating the sound associated with it. They add some reality to the writing.

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