Sixth Grade
Worksheets
What Are Literary Elements?
What are these literary elements your teacher is talking about? Sure, you enjoy reading. But have you really taken time to think more deeply about the things you read? Authors use literary elements to make their writing more complex and interesting. Teachers use them as starting points for analyzing and discussing the literature students read.
You have probably heard of these literary elements: setting, plot, characterization, conflict, point of view, theme, and tone. But what do these really mean?
Setting is the time and place of the story. The author might come right out and state the exact time and place. Or he might give the reader clues. For example, he may describe how people dress or what kind of transportation they use in order to tell the time period of the story. He might describe a city or country setting and tell about the weather to give clues about the place. It is important to know the setting in order to understand the story.
The plot is made up of the events in the story. Authors develop the plot in many ways. They may give events in a sequential order. Or they may use flashbacks to go backwards and forwards in time. Like in a good crime drama, there may be several plot lines going on at the same time.
