English 300, Section 001
Dr. Susan Stewart

Elements and Devices of Fiction and Poetry

Visit Norton's site, http://www.wwnorton.com/introlit/glossary_a.htm, or http://www.galegroup.com/free_resources/glossary/index.htm for definitions

Elements of Fiction:

Theme

Plot

• Conflict (more below on conflict as a major literary element)
• Development or complication
• Turning point or climax
• Resolution or denoument
• Surprise/suspense
• Exposition
• Rising action
• Falling action

Character/Characterization

• Protagonist
• Antagonist
• Focalizer
• Secondary characters
• Round characters
• Flat characters
• Stereotypical characters
• Static characters
• Hero
• Villain
• Antihero

Conflict

• External conflicts
• Internal conflicts

Narrator and point of view

• First Person/Subjective Point of View
• Second-Person/Objective Point of View
• Third Person/Objective point of View
  • Omniscient
  • Limited Omniscient
  • Dramatic-Objective
  • Selective omniscient
  • Effaced narrator (dramatic point of view, objective point of view)
• Innocent eye
• Unreliable narrator

Setting and Atmosphere

Language

• Sentence Structure
  • Loose Sentence
  • Balanced Sentence
• Word Choice
• Imagery
  • Literal imagery
  • Figurative imagery
• Symbolism
• Irony
  • Verbal irony
  • Dramatic irony
  • Situational irony

Tone

Other helpful terms and devices

Foreshadowing
Flashback
Figurative language (see poetry)
Simile
Metaphor
Allegory
Myth
Archetype
Allusions

Poetry Terms

When you write your essay on poetry, you'll want to avoid writing about meter and other elements/terms associated only with poetry, for you'll be extremely limited on what you can write about.

Consider point of view (1st, 2nd, 3rd); speaker for poetry or narrator for literature; character, figurative language (used in both poetry and prose); diction and tone (word choice not genre specific), setting.