List of narrative techniques facts for kids

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A literary technique (also, literary device, procedure or method) is any element or the entirety of elements a writer intentionally uses in the structure of their work.

Annotated list of literary techniques

Name	Type	Notes
Alliteration	Poetic	Repeating the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.
Allusion		A figure of speech that makes a reference to, or representation of, people, places, events, literary work, myths, or works of art, either directly or by implication.
Anthropomorphism	Personification	Form of personification that applies human-like characteristics to animals or objects
Aphorism		Concise statement that contains a cleverly stated subjective truth or observation—aphorisms typically use alliteration, anaphora, and rhyme. The aphorism is considered a compressed poetic genre in itself.
Asyndeton	Stylistic Scheme	When sentences do not use conjunctions (e.g.: and, or, nor) to separate clauses, but run clauses into one another, usually marking the separation of clauses with punctuation. An example is when John F. Kennedy said on January the 20th 1961 "...that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty."
Author surrogate	Character	Character who speaks for the author—sometimes an intentionally or unintentionally idealized version of the author.
Back-story	Background exposure	Story that precedes events in the story being told—past events or background that add meaning to current circumstances
Bathos		Mood that overstates its own pathos or drama.
Bildungsroman		A type of novel concerned with education, development, and maturation of a young main character, tracing the formation of a the character's maturity (the passage from childhood to adulthood) by following the development of his/her mind and character.
Breaking the fourth wall		An author or character addresses the audience directly (also known as direct address). This may acknowledge to the reader or audience that what is being presented is fiction, or may seek to extend the world of the story to provide the illusion that they are included in it.
Caesura	Prosody	A break, especially a sense pause, usually near the middle of a verse, and marked in scansion by a double vertical line, as in "know then thyself ‖ presume not God to scan."
Chekhov's gun	Plot	Insertion of an apparently irrelevant object early in a narrative for a purpose only revealed later. See foreshadowing.
Cliffhanger	Plot	The narrative ends unresolved, to draw the audience back to a future episode for the resolution.
Conceit		An extended metaphor associated with metaphysical poetry that pushes the imagination's limits to portray something indescribable.
Cut-up technique		The cut-up technique is where the text is cut up and rearranged to create a new text.
Defamiliarization		Forcing the reader to recognize common things in an unfamiliar or strange way, to enhance perception of the familiar.
Deus ex machina (a machination, or act of god)	Plot	Resolving the primary conflict by a means unrelated to the story (e.g., a god appears and solves everything). This device dates back to ancient Greek theater, but can be a clumsy method that frustrates the audience.
Dionysian imitatio		The literary method of copying and improving other writers.
Dramatic visualization	Descriptive	Representing an object or character with abundant descriptive detail, or rendering gestures and dialogue to make a scene more visual or imaginatively present to an audience.
Epiphany		A sudden revelation or insight—usually with a symbolic role in the narrative—in a literary work.
Epistolary novel	Literary genre	Novel in the form of a series of documents (letters, e-mails, etc.) exchanged between characters.
Eucatastrophe		Coined by J. R. R. Tolkien, it refers to the sudden turn of events at the end of a story which result in the protagonist's well-being.
False documents	Literary genre	Fiction in the form of, or about, apparently real, but actually fake documents.
First Person Narration		A text presented from the point of view of a character (esp. the main character) and written in the first person.
Flashback		General term for altering time sequences, taking characters back to the beginning of the tale, for instance.
Flashforward		Also called prolepsis, an interjected scene that temporarily jumps the narrative forward in time. Flashforwards often represent events expected, projected, or imagined to occur in the future. They may also reveal significant parts of the story that have not yet occurred, but soon will in greater detail.
Foreshadowing	Plot	Hinting at events to occur later.
Formal patterning		Rigorously organizing events, actions, and gestures that constitute a narrative and shape a story. When done well, formal patterning helps the audience see and anticipate the plot structure as it unfolds.
Frame story, or a story within a story	Framing	A main story that organizes a series of shorter stories.
Framing device	Framing	A single action, scene, event, setting, or any element of significance at the beginning and end of a work.
Hamartia		The character flaw or error of a tragic hero that leads to his/her downfall.
Hyperbole	Literary Technique	Exaggeration used to evoke strong feelings or create an impression which is not meant to be taken literally.
Imagery		Forming mental images of a scene using descriptive words, especially making use of the human senses.
Incluing	Setting::Background exposure	Gradually exposing the reader to background information about the story's world—to subtly clue the readers into the world the author is building.
Infodumping (also, plot dump)	Setting::Background exposure	The author puts a concentrated amount of background material, all at once, into the story, often in the form of a conversation between two characters, both of whom should already know the material under discussion.
In medias res	Narrative hook	Beginning the story in the middle of a sequence of events. The Iliad and the Odyssey of Homer are prime examples. The latter work begins with the return of Odysseus to his home of Ithaka and then in flashbacks tells of his ten years of wandering following the Trojan War.
Irony	Contextual	This difference between expectation and reality occurs in three forms: situational irony, where a situation features a difference between what is expected and what happens; dramatic irony, where a character is unaware of important information already revealed to the audience; and verbal irony, where someone states one thing while meaning another. The concept of irony is often misunderstood in popular usage. Unfortunate circumstances and coincidences are not irony.
Juxtaposition	Contextual	Using two themes, characters, phrases, words, or situations together for comparison, contrast, or rhetoric
Leitwortstil	Poetic	Purposefully repeating words that usually express a motif or theme important to the story.
Magical realism	Literary genre	Describing events realistically, but in a magical haze of strange local customs and beliesf.
Metonymy		Word or phrase in a figure of speech in which an attribute of something stands for the thing itself.
Narrative hook	Narrative hook	Story opening that "hooks" readers' attention so they will keep reading
Overstatement		Exaggerating something, often for emphasis (also known as hyperbole)
Onomatopoeia	Poetic	Word that sounds the same as, or similar to what the word means, e.g., "boom" or "squish"
Oxymoron	Contextual	A term made of two words that deliberately or coincidentally imply each other's opposite, e.g. "terrible beauty"
Paradox	Contextual	A phrase that describes an idea composed of concepts that conflict, e.g., "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." (A Tale of Two Cities)
Parody	Genre, Contextual	Ridicule by overstated imitation
Pastiche	Genre	Using forms and styles from another author, generally as an affectionate tribute, such as the many stories featuring Sherlock Holmes not written by Arthur Conan Doyle.
Pathetic fallacy		Reflecting a character's (usually the protagonist) mood in the atmosphere or inanimate objects.
Pathos		Emotional appeal, one of the three modes of persuasion that the author uses to inspire pity or sorrow towards a character—typically does not counterbalance the target character's suffering with a positive outcome, as in Tragedy.
Personification	Personification	Using comparative metaphors and similes to give living characteristics to non-living objects.
Plot device	Plot	Object or character whose sole purpose is to advance the plot
Plot twist	Plot	Unexpected change ("twist") in the direction or expected outcome of the plot. See also twist ending.
Poetic justice	Plot	Virtue ultimately rewarded, or vice punished, by an ironic twist of fate related to the character's own conduct
Predestination paradox	Plot	Time travel paradox where a time traveler is caught in a loop of events that "predestines" them to travel back in time
Quibble	Plot device	Plot device based on an argument that an agreement's intended meaning holds no legal value, and that only the exact, literal words agreed on apply.
Red herring	Plot device	A rhetorical tactic of diverting attention away from an item of significance. For example, in mystery fiction, an innocent party may be purposefully cast as highly suspicious through emphasis or descriptive techniques to divert attention from the true guilty party.
Repetitive designation	Plot device	Repeated references to a character or object that appears insignificant at first, but later suddenly intrudes in the narrative, a technique that dates back, at least, to Arabian Nights. See also foreshadowing and Chekhov's gun.
Self-fulfilling prophecy		Prediction that, by being made, makes itself come true. There is an example of this in Harry Potter.
Satire		The use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity.
Sensory detail	Descriptive	Imagery, sight, sound, taste, touch, smell
Side story		Background narrative that explains the world of the main story. Examples include Doctor Who and The Matrix
Story within a story (Hypodiegesis)	Framing	A story told within another story. See also frame story.
Stream of consciousness	Literary genre	Technique where the author writes down their thoughts as fast as they come, typically to create an interior monologue, characterized by leaps in syntax and punctuation that trace a character's fragmentary thoughts and sensory feelings.
Symbolism		Applied use of symbols: iconic representations that carry particular conventional meanings.
Thematic patterning		Distributing recurrent thematic concepts and moralistic motifs among various incidents and frames of a story.
Ticking clock scenario		Threat of impending disaster—often used in thrillers where salvation and escape are essential elements
Tone		Overall attitude an author appears to hold toward key elements of the work. Strictly speaking, tone is generally an effect of literary techniques, on the level of a work's overall meaning or effect. The tone of a whole work is not itself a literary technique. However, the tone of a work, especially in a discrete section, may help create the overall tone, effect, or meaning of the work.
Understatement	Contextual	A diminishing or softening of a theme or effect.
Unreliable narrator	Plot device	The narrator of the story is not sincere, or introduces a bias in his narration and possibly misleads the reader, hiding or minimizing events, characters, or motivations.
Distancing Effect	Literary technique	Alienating or distancing the audience from a play's emotional content.
Word play		Sounds of words used as an aspect of the work.
Writer's voice		Combination of the various structural aspects of an author's writing style.

Note: In the context of a play, literary devices are referred to as dramatic devices.

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List of narrative techniques Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.