Literary Devices Educational Posters
for the language arts classroom and home schoolers.

Antagonist

The antagonist is the counterpart to the main character and source of a story's main conflict.

Conflict

Conflict is the struggle within the plot between opposing forces.

Irony

An intention or attitude opposite to that which is actually stated.

Motif

Motif is a recurrent image, word, phrase, theme, character, or situation.

Mood

Mood is the atmosphere or the pervading tone established by a literary work.

Plot

Plot is the sequence of events in a story.

Point of View

Point of view is the vantage point from which the story is told.

Protagonist

The protagonist is the principle character in a literary work.

Theme

The theme is the central and dominating idea in a literary work.

Tone

Tone is the apparent attitude of the narrative voice.

Setting

The time and place where the story occurs.

Symbolism

The use of specific objects or images to represent abstract ideas.