Checklist: Elements of Literary Style

1. Sentence Structure

Are the sentences long or short?
Do they contain many subordinate clauses, or are they often
fragments?
Are there any digressions or interruptions?
Is the ord!order straightforard or uncon"entionally crafted?
2. Pace

Is the riting hea"ily descripti"e, ith emphasis on setting and
atmosphere, or does it focus on action and plot mo"ement?
3.
Expansive/Economical
Diction

Is the riting tight and efficient, or elaborate and long!inded?
#hen does the author use one or the other and hy?
4. Vocabulary

Are the ords simple or fancy? Are they technical, floery,
collo$uial, cerebral, punning, obscure? %And so on&&&'
5. Fiures o! speec"

Are there any metaphors, similes, or symbols?
Any other use of figurati"e language %personification, metonymy,
etc&'?
#. $se o! Dialoue

(o often does dialogue tell the story?
Do e see hole con"ersations or )ust fragments?
Does the con"ersation use much slang or is it formal? Does it appear
natural or contri"ed?
Does the dialogue gi"e a sense of pacing, of pauses, of the unsaid?
(o much does it substitute for narration?
%. Point o! Vie&

*irst, second, third, omniscient, limited omniscient, multiple,
inanimate?
'. ("aracter
)evelopment


(o does the author introduce characters, and ho do e see their
e"olution in the story? #hat is their function and moti"ation?
#hat kinds of characters are they? *ull+round? Stock characters?
Stereotypes? Caricatures?
*. +one

#hat is the author,s attitude? #hat is the mood of the story?
Does the author seem sarcastic? aggressi"e? istful? pessimistic? in
lo"e? philosophically detached? hopeful? ironic? bitter? %And so on&&&'
#hate"er the tone, here is it "isible in the narrati"e?
1,. -or) (olor. -or)
Soun)

(o much does the language call attention to or depend on the
$uality of its sound, e&g& through alliteration, assonance, consonance,
dissonance, rhythm, unusual ord choice, etc&?
11. Pararap" / ("apter
Structure

Are paragraphs "ery short, or are they enormous blocks running
across many pages?
Are the chapters short or long? (o many are there, ho are they
organi-ed, and hy is this important?
12. +ime Se/uencin /
("ronoloy
(o has the author organi-ed the chronology of e"ents? .o hat
effect? #hat is the ork,s structural /rhythm0?
13. 0llusions (o often and ho does the author refer to other te1ts, myths,
symbols, famous figures, historical e"ents, $uotations, and so on?
14. Experimentation in
1anuae
Are there any unusual techni$ues, such as stream!of!consciousness,
mi1ing styles and genres, unusual layout on the page, breaking rules
of grammar and form, odd or unstable narrati"e perspecti"es,
onomatopoeia, aporia, etc&?
15. 2eta!ictional
tec"ni/ues
Does the author call attention to his or her on process of narration?
Are the narrator,s position, role, and thoughts as a storyteller
mentioned e1plicitly in the te1t? #hat function do they ser"e?