1. Literary
Elements
A literary element (or element of literature) is
an individual aspect or characteristic of a
whole work of literature.

2. Alliteration
• The repetition of initial consonant sounds in words.
• Example: Sally sells sea shells by the sea shore.
Allusion
• A brief, usually indirect reference to a person, place, or
event--real or fictional
• Example: Chapter 1, page 1 of The Outsiders when Ponyboy
references the actor Paul Newman.

3. Assonance
• The repetition of vowel sounds in the first syllable of
words, though they may not rhyme
• Example: (peach, tree)
Consonance
• The repetition of consonant sounds in the first syllable
of words, though they may not rhyme.
• Example: (fast, lost)

4. Hyperbole
• An exaggeration or overstatement.
• Example: “I’ve told you a million times”
Idiom
• An expression of two or more words, which mean something
other than the literal meanings of the individual words.
• Example: bull in a china shop, bite off more than you can chew

5. Imagery
• Words or phrases that appeal to one or more of the five senses
(sight, touch, taste, hearing, smell) and help to create a vivid
description for the reader.
• Example: Visual -
The sun was shining on the sea,
Shining with all his might:
He did his very best to make
The billows smooth and bright -
And this was odd, because it was
The middle of the night.
(Lewis Carroll)
Metaphor
• A comparison between two seemingly unlike things
without using the words “like”, “as”, “than”, or
“resembles.”
• Example: America is a melting pot, Her home was a prison

6. Onomatopoeia
• Words or phrases that sound like the things they are
describing.
• Example: (hiss, zoom, bow-wow)
Personification
• Giving human qualities or characteristics to non-human objects
• Example: The flowers begged for water, Lightning danced across the sky.

7. Repetition
• Repetition occurs when a word or phrase used more
than once. Repetition can create a pattern.
• Example: "What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny compared
to what lies within us.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Rhyme
• Repetition of the same or similar sounds at the end of
words or lines
• Example:
Hickory, dickory, dock.
The mouse ran up the clock. The clock struck one, And down
he run, Hickory, dickory, dock.

8. Rhythm
• The arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables into
a pattern.
• Example: The rhythm pattern in a Limerick Poem
1. There was an old man from Peru, (A)
da DUM da da DUM da da DUM (3 DUMS)  Rhythm
2. who dreamed he was eating his shoe. (A)
da DUM da da DUM da da DUM (3 DUMS)  Rhythm
3. He awoke in the night (B)
da DUM da da DUM (2 DUMS)  Rhythm
4. with a terrible fright, (B)
da da DUM da da DUM (2 DUMS)  Rhythm
5. and found out that it was quite true. (A)
da DUM da da DUM da da DUM (3 DUMS)  Rhythm

9. Ms Moran’s Limerick
There once was a kid in the class
who tried to give Ms Moran sass.
She spoke with a frown,
And sent him right down,
To the office where his detention would pass.

10. Simile
• A comparison of one thing to another, using the words "like,"
"as," or "as though.”
• Example:
• Shrek: Ogres are like onions. Donkey: They stink? Shrek: Yes. No! Donkey:
They make you cry? Shrek: No! Donkey: You leave them out in the sun, they
get all brown, start sprouting little white hairs. Shrek: No! Layers! Onions
have layers! (Shrek, 2001)
Stanza
• An arrangement of a certain number of lines, usually
four or more, sometimes having a fixed length, meter,
or rhyme scheme, forming a division of a poem