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The main events of a play, novel, movie, or similar work, presented by the writer as an interrelated sequence

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Story Elements - Plot - Main Events - Literacy Short Clips

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Exposition is a literary device used to introduce background information about events, settings, characters, or other elements of a work to the audience or readers.

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The rising action moves the plot toward the climax. It does this by building the action with a series of progressive

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A climax in a story occurs when there is a turning point and no going back The climax is the point of highest tension in a story.

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Falling action in the story comes after the climax in which the tension decreases and the story moves towards its conclusion.

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What is Falling Action - Creative Writing Lessons

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Resolution is the story coming to a reasonable ending

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Setting is the time and place of the story.

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"What is a Setting?": A Literary Guide for English Students and Teachers

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Protagonist is usually known as the hero in the story and the Antagonist is usually the bad guy.

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Conflict is the central action in the story it creates interests and suspense.

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Internal Conflict occurs in the characters mind

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External vs Internal Conflict | Does your story need both?

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External Conflict is a struggle with a outside force

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Man v Man is a character vs. character who have conflict in the story.

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Man vs Society is a individual or a group of individuals has conflict with their society or community.

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0:00 / 3:08•Watch full video

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Man vs Nature is a struggle a character has against an animal or force of nature.

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Man vs Technology is when a protagonist is having conflict with machine or technology

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Types of Conflict in Literature - Mrs. Majure's Class

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Theme is the main idea

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Understanding theme | Reading | Khan Academy

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Diction is the choice of words any of the four accepted levels of diction are formal, informal, colloquial, or slang

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Syntax refers to a set of rules the determines the arrangement of words in a sentence

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Webinar: Professional Learning Series - Syntax

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Connotation is an emotion suggestion of a word that is not literal

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This video explains the difference between connotation and denotation. It is intended for use as direct instruction for a flipped classroom or as a supplemental material for remediation. It is aligned to the VASOL ELA7.4d: Identify Connotations. This is part of a larger lesson.

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The tone of a literary work expresses the writer's attitude toward or feelings about the subject matter and audience

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Analyzing tone through word choice | Reading | Khan Academy

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Mood is created by the attitude

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A flashback is a scene that takes place before a story begins.

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OSU School of Writing, Literature and Film

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"What is a Flashback?": A Literary Guide for English Students and Teachers

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Foreshadowing is showing suggestions or warnings of events happening later on

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Parallelism is were a sentence is grammatically the same or similar in construction

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Parallelism: Explanation, Effects, Example | AP Lang Rhetorical Strategies

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Point of view is the way in which the narrator's position in relation to the story being told

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A story's point of view | Reading | Khan Academy

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First Person is the way your seeing it

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A story's point of view | Reading | Khan Academy

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Second person the reader is part of the story

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The reader shows the events taking place without knowing the motivations or thoughts of the characters.

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Point of View (Part 2) - Third Person Objective, Limited, and Omniscient -- Video and Worksheet

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The narrator only know the thoughts and feelings of a single character.

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The narrator knows all thoughts and feelings of characters

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A figure of speech that compares two things

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OSU School of Writing, Literature and Film

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"What is a Simile?": A Literary Guide for English Students and Teachers

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A metaphor compares two things that are not alike. An extended metaphor is when a metaphor goes on for multiple sentences, multiple paragraphs, or even for the duration of the book

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When a thing or abstraction is represented as a person.

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Oregon State University - School of Writing, Literature and Film

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"What is Personification?": A Literary Guide for English Students and Teachers

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Use of exaggeration as rhetorical device or figure of speech

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Symbolism is the idea that things represent other things

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OSU School of Writing, Literature and Film

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"What is Symbolism?": A Literary Guide for English Teachers and Students

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figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction

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Oregon State University - School of Writing, Literature and Film

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"What is an Oxymoron?": A Literary Guide for English Students and Teachers

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The substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant

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Euphemism || A Figure of Speech in English

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Allusion is a figure of speech, in which an object or circumstance from unrelated context is referred to covertly or indirectly.

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OSU School of Writing, Literature and Film

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"What is an Allusion?": A Literary Guide for English Students and Teachers

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Assonance is a resemblance in the sounds of words or syllables either between their vowels

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What is assonance? 🤔 | Assonance in English | Learn with examples

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the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words

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Alliteration | Award Winning Alliteration Teaching Video | What is Alliteration?

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a phrase or opinion that is overused and betrays a lack of original thought.

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A cliché (pronounced 'klee-SHAY') is a saying, image, or idea which has been used so much that it sounds terribly uncreative. The word "cliché" was originally French for the sound of a printing plate, which prints the same thing over and over. Using clichés is considered bad writing and speaking because they make it sound like you didn't put any thought into your words. Good writers and speakers try to use thoughtful and original language rather than clichés in their work. Synonyms for cliché include platitudes and banalities.

II. Examples of Cliché

Because clichés are, by definition, common and overused, they can be found frequently but you may not notice them because we take them for granted. Here are a few examples:

This image of a cloud starts with a common cliché:
Every cloud has a silver lining
Which means that even in a bad situation, you can usually find something good.

The rest of the cloud is made of other popular clichés:

"Diamond in the rough": something or somebody with a lot of potential.

"Going bananas!": going crazy.

"Easy as pie": very easy.

"Cold as ice": very cold or not friendly.

"Take a chill pill": to relax.

"Don't judge a book by its cover": don't judge something based on its appearance.

"Driving me crazy!": annoying somebody to the point of almost insanity.

"Kid in a candy store": feeling happy about the things that surround you.

"Light as a feather": very very light.

"Happily ever after": the ending of all fairy tale romances, this is a typical ending where everybody is happy for the rest of their lives.

"When pigs fly!": something that is very unlikely to happen.

To describe falling in love:
She fell head over heels.
Another common characteristic of clichés is that they tend to simplify and dramatize. Rather than admitting that a story may not always have happiness or explaining that serious love takes time to develop, these clichés make the writing seem shallow and therefore un-interesting.

Clichés are sometimes ideas, images, or characters, rather than phrases. Here are a few examples of cliché characters:

"The Damsel in Distress": a young attractive woman who is incompetent and in need of someone else to rescue her.

"The Superhero": the man who saves the Damsel in Distress, often incredibly strong and good looking!

"Brooding Bad Boy": the boy from 'the other side of the tracks,' who needs someone caring to lead him to a better life.

"The Good Girl": the girl who saves the Brooding Bad Boy with her kindness and good heart.

III. The Importance of Cliché

Clichés are important because they express ideas and thoughts that are widespread and common within a culture, hence the phrase "cliché but true." Yet in our culture, we tend to dislike clichés because we place a high value on creativity, originality, and cleverness, rather than on repetition and using other people's words. Not all cultures feel this way though; in China, it is considered good to use clichés because Chinese culture places a higher value on tradition and looks down on individuality. But even in our culture, clichés are still very common in popular books, poems, movies, television shows, speeches, and advertisements.

IV. Examples of Clichés in Literature

It is important to remember that every cliché was once original and became overused only because it was such a popular idea at first. So, many clichés come from classic works.

Many clichés have their origins in classics like Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet:
A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.
This cliché is from Juliet's speech in which she claims that it does not matter that Romeo comes from her family's enemy house, the Montague. Like many Shakespeare quotes, this phrase was so creative when Shakespeare wrote it, that now other people have overused it-to mean that the names of things are not important compared to their qualities.
Forever and a day
This cliché is also derived from Shakespeare, as it first appeared in The Taming of the Shrew. Countless clichés were coined by Shakespeare, including:

All that glitters is not gold - (The Merchant of Venice)"

Jealousy is the green-eyed monster - (Othello)"

Melted into thin air - (The Tempest)

And many more. It is a compliment for a writer's work to become a cliché, but it is an insult to be accused of writing something cliché.

V. Examples of Cliché in Pop Culture

Although clichés should usually be avoided, they can be used for comedic effect or in works where originality and deep thought are not expected such as television shows, advertisements, and movies like romantic comedies and superhero blockbusters.

Conversely, the Old Spice commercials become funny by using the cliché of the perfect man, one often used in men's commercials:

Hello, ladies.
Look at your man.
Now back to me. Now back at your man. Now back to me.
Sadly, he isn't me.
But if he stopped using lady scented body wash...
...and switched to Old Spice, he could smell like he's me.
Look down. Back up. Where are you?
You're on a boat with the man your man could smell like.
What's in your hand? Back at me.
I have it.
It's an oyster with two tickets to that thing you love.
Look again. The tickets are now diamonds.
Anything is possible when your man smells like Old Spice and not a lady.
I'm on a horse.

And clichés are still alive and well in popular movies ("alive and well" is a cliché!). Consider the movie The Last Song:

" It is a story of second chances, first loves, and the moments in life that lead us back home. "

This movie is complete with the brooding teenage daughter, the father figure looking for a second chance, and the rambunctious younger brother, who is there just to provide comic relief. These are all clichés.
This movie may be cliché, but many people still enjoy it. For this reason, cliché is a matter of taste; critics may not like clichés, but they can still be part of enjoyable entertainment.

VI. Related Terms

Cliché vs. Archetype

An archetype is an image or character which is used over and over in literature and art and may not seem cliché because it represents a universal truth about life or a universal aspect of human psychology. The line between an archetype and a cliché is thin: both archetypes and clichés are frequently found in compositions. Whereas clichés are considered overused and unwanted, archetypes are accepted and only cliché if they are represented in cliché images and words.

One such archetype is the hero-- Superman, Harry Potter, Luke Skywalker, Jesus. This archetype is so common throughout history and all over the world that you would think it would be cliché, but it has such psychological appeal and depth, and makes for such good stories, that we don't care how cliché it is. Archetypes, unlike clichés, provide a frame for a character or story which is then shaped and presented in an original way by the storyteller.

VII. In Closing

Clichés are, by definition, prevalent phrases or ideas in literature, advertisements, and numerous other forms. They are common in romance novels, parodies, and television. Although critics advise against clichés, they remain popular.

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Clichés: Definition and Examples | LiteraryTerms.net

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Clear Clichés examples and definition. This article will also show you the importance of Clichés and how to use it. A cliché is a saying or idea which has been so overused that it has lost the power of its original meaning.

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A phrase or expression that typically presents a figurative, non-literal meaning attached to the phrase. some phrases become figurative idioms while retaining the literal meaning of the phrase.

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Idioms | Award Winning Teaching Video | What Is An Idiom? | Figurative Language

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Puns involve words with similar or identical sounds but with different meanings.

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What is a Pun? Definition with Examples | Figures of Speech

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The expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect.

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OSU School of Writing, Literature and Film

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"What is Irony?": A Literary Guide for English Students and Teachers

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Verbal irony is a figure of speech. The speaker intends to be understood as meaning something that contrasts with the literal or usual meaning of what he says.

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What is verbal irony? - Christopher Warner

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Situational irony is the irony of something happening that is very different from what was expected.

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The expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect.

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In on a secret? That's dramatic irony - Christopher Warner

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Characterization is the representation of persons in narrative and dramatic works.

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The writer makes direct statements about a character's personality and tells the reader or viewer what the character is like

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Direct and Indirect Characterization: Show and Tell

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Indirect characterization is a type of literary device that reveals details about a character without stating them explicitly.

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Direct & Indirect Characterization - Instructional Video

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A static character is a type of character who remains largely the same throughout the course of the storyline.

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Dynamic vs. Static Characters (why you need both!)

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A dynamic character is one who learns a lesson or changes as a person

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Flat characters are two-dimensional in that they are relatively uncomplicated and do not change throughout the course of work.

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OSU School of Writing, Literature and Film

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"What is a Flat Character vs a Round Character?": A Literary Guide for English Students and Teachers

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Round characters are complex and undergo development, sometimes sufficiently to surprise the reader.

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What is the difference between a FLAT and ROUND character?

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Rhetoric refers to the study and uses of written, spoken and visual language.

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What Is Rhetoric?: Study Hall Writing Composition #10: ASU + Crash Course

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An appeal to ethics

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The Three Persuasive Appeals: Logos, Ethos, and Pathos

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An appeal to emotion

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Ethos, Pathos, & Logos: How to Use Persuasive Ad Techniques

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An appeal to logic and reason