Narrative Elements: Literary Terminology

Message or main idea presented in a statement

• theme

• moral

• setting

• plot

a command to the reader based on the theme or themes

• moral

• irony

• diction

• foil

suggesting, hinting, indicating, or showing what will occur later in a narrative

• theme

• point of view

• foreshadowing

• symbolism

where an object represents an idea

• second person

• symbolism

• situational irony

• foreshadowing

a comparison without like or as

• mood

• tone

• simile

• metaphor

a comparison with like or as

• mood

• simile

• metaphor

• tone

created by the author's word choice: a general feeling or emotion felt by the reader

• mood

• tone

• metaphor

• simile

created by the author's word choices: the author's attitude toward the subject matter

• metaphor

• simile

• mood

• tone

narrator is a character in the story (I, we, etc...)

• second person

• first person

• third person

• setting

narrator talks to the audience (you, your, etc...)

• third person

• first person

• second person

• theme