Literary Elements

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What to analyze:

When analyzing a story, these elements are going to allow you to show off your abilities: Anecdote, External Conflict, Internal Conflict, Characterization (if you’re not analyzing it separately, and don’t pick “physical appearance” to analyze), Symbolism, Mood, Irony, and (if you’ve read almost all of the story) Theme.

Help Finding Elements:

  • To Find Mood: Think back to the [suspenseful, eerie, victorious, etc.] part of the story and find a sentence/phrase that helps create this mood.
  • To Find Theme: Look for issues the characters face over and over again.