ELEMENTS OF LITERATURE

Plot

Simply put, the plot is the sequence of events which make up a story. It is everything that happens from the
beginning to the end. Crafting a good plot is essential to a story being understood. Even though the story itself
might be mysterious, or purposefully written out of order, at the end of the story, the readers and listeners
should be able to grasp everything that happened. As the story unfolds, the audience should experience
emotional reactions, curiosity, and even an artistic appreciation for the story. Plot is the most basic, but also
the largest and most all-encompassing of the literary elements.

Setting

The setting of the story is the location in which the events take place. This backdrop could be in any geographic
location, and in any time period (real or imagined). Writing a compelling setting is one of the main elements
of literature, and the sign of a talented author. The setting helps to accent the mood and context of the story. It
helps the audience to understand the surrounding culture, landscape, and moment in time. A story set in a
speculative, totalitarian future will feel significantly different than a story set in rural America during the 1930s.

Character

A character is a person, animal, or any other being of significance in a story. Characters are the vehicles by
which the audience is able to travel through the plot and setting. Whatever the characters experience is
made known to the audience, and they are therefore able to feel and interpret the various situations in the
story.

Theme

Theme may be one of the more subtle elements of literature. The theme of the story is different from the
plot, because whereas the plot tells you what happened in the story, the theme tells you what the story was
really about. This is usually in terms of a single word or short phrase such as “Love”, “Jealousy”, “One person
can make a difference”, or “The dangers of greed”. Stories often have more than one theme. Themes are
central to the story, but often not explicitly stated by any of the characters. Rather, theme becomes apparent
by observing what the characters do, and how it effects them.

Mood

Mood is an overall feeling your audience can pick up from experiencing the story. It is usually influenced
greatly by the setting. If a story were to be set in a boardwalk dance hall during the 1920s, the mood of that
story might be raucous, frivolous, and perhaps a little seedy or dangerous. Meanwhile, a story set at the peak
of an uninhabited mountain might promote moods of loneliness, physical endurance, and isolation.

Conflict

To put it simply, conflict is the “problem” present in every story. It could manifest very literally as two
characters physically fighting with one another, or it could be a little more abstract, like an unreasonable
deadline on an important project. Characters in a story are going to have different objectives and
goals. These are likely to clash and become incompatible at some point in the story. When that
incompatibility is brought up, that is when you will find the conflict in the story.

There are four basic types of conflict in the elements of literature. They are:

Man against man: Meaning one character in the story is up against another character.
Man against nature: A character is at the mercy of the weather, the elements, the local fauna, or any other
aspect of nature. The character must overcome it in order to succeed.
Man against society: Rather than one enemy, the character is at odds with the entire social and/or
governmental structure of the story.
Man against self: Something in the characters tendencies or actions are thwarting the chances of
success. The character is either literally or figuratively self destructive.

Literary Genre
A literary genre is a category of literary composition. Genres may be determined by literary technique, tone,
content, or even length. Genre should not be confused with age category, by which literature may be classified
as either adult, young-adult, or children's. They also must not be confused with format, such as graphic novel
or picture book. The distinctions between genres and categories are flexible and loosely defined, often with
subgroups. The most general genres in literature are epic, tragedy, comedy, novel, short story, and creative
nonfiction. They can all be in the genres prose or poetry, which shows best how loosely genres are defined.
Additionally, a genre such as satire, allegory or pastoral might appear in any of the above, not only as a sub-
genre, but as a mixture of genres. Finally, they are defined by the general cultural movement of the historical
period in which they were composed. The concept of "genre" has been criticized by Jacques Derrida.

Literary Tradition

Literary tradition is the passing down of stories which give meaning to human experiences, according to
Literary Articles. Every linguistic group has a literary tradition, which is transmitted either orally or through
writing.

Literary traditions can be categorized as national, formal or periodic. For example, a national tradition is the
literary tradition of China; a formal tradition is China's poetic tradition; and a periodic tradition is China's
ancient literary tradition.

Each grouping of literary tradition has specific commonalities of form, subject matter, themes and worldview,
among other factors. Literary traditions of one time period potentially shape later literary traditions. For
example, the Western literary tradition was largely influenced by the Bible and by ancient Greek and Roman
literature.