Literary Tools

Question 1

Theme

What should I be looking for?

Answer 1

1. What message is the author trying to tell the reader?
2. How does the author try to get his/her message across?
3. What events or facts seem to make the message clear?
4. How is the main character related to the message?
5. Are there other messages that the author seems to be sending to us?

Question 2

Setting

What should I be looking for?

Answer 2

1. Where does the story happen?
2. Why is the setting important to the messages the writer is sending us?
3. In what way does the setting make the message (theme) clear?
4. How are the setting and the conflict related?
5. In what ways are the victims of, or master of, the setting?

Question 3

Characters

What should I be looking for?

Answer 3

1. What are the characters like (describe them)?
2. What makes the characters good messengers for the author’s message?
3. How are the characters sympathetic / unsympathetic?
4. What actions by the characters help the author send the message?
5. What characteristics come out as the characters interact with each other?

Question 4

Plot

What Should I be looking for?

Answer 4

1. Where does the story begin?
2. Why does the story (plot) take place in the setting?
3. How does the story reveal the traits of the characters?
4. What choices / conflicts set a path for the story to follow (rising action)
5. Can you create a timeline for the plot?
6. Where does the conflict(s) get the greatest (climax)?
7. What happens after the conflict has reached a peak? (Falling action)
8. How does the story end? (denouement) {day-noo-mon)

Question 5

Literary Devices #1

Things writers use to tell their story

Answer 5

1. Imagery - words appealing to the physical senses.
2. Foreshadowing - Events that hint at something similar, but bigger, coming later.
3. Diction - the way the characters speak that reveals who they are.
4. Allusion - A reference to something well known outside the story.
5. Metaphor - A comparison that makes the point clear.
6. Simile - A comparison using like or as.

Question 6

Literary Devices #2

Things writers use to tell their story

Answer 6

7. Flashbacks - a memory in the story that helps explain.
8. Motif - A re-occurrence of an object, idea, person, etc. that reinforces the theme.
9. Metonymy - Like a symbol on steroids - an object that so completely symbolizes that it embodies it fully. (Washington stands for the US govt.)

Question 7

Literary Devices #3

Things that writers use to tell their story

Answer 7

10. Verbal Irony - The actual meaning is different from what was said. Example: “Florida looks like a whole lotta laughs.” - when really trouble is brewing.
11. Situational Irony - Ironic that the plot / outcomes surprises the readers.
12. Dramatic Irony - Ironic that we (the audience) know something that the characters in the story do not.

Question 8

Literary Devices #4

Things that writers use to tell their story

Answer 8

13. Character types: protagonists, antagonists, dynamic, static, round, flat, and stock.
14. Archetype - A “typical” character that embodies the tone: evil (Darth Vader), simple (Lennie), loving father (Mufasa)
15. Foil - a role that any character where he she is used by the author to bring out good or bad qualities of another character
16. Confidant - A character who other characters share details. Authors use confidants to reveal information.

Question 9

Story Development (1 and ONLY)

Stories worth reading have a high point.

Answer 9

1. Exposition - Background information that EXPOUNDS on something in the story to help the reader understand what’s going on.
2. Rising action - The characters are following the course of the story, the conflict is building.
3. Climax - The high point, turning point, most intense part of the conflict that sends the story in another direction.
4. Falling action - the aftermath of the conflict, high point; the result.
5. Denouement - how the characters deal with the results of the conflict.