Literary Elements

Literary Elements and devices in Sylvester and the Magic Pebble


After reading the article about literary elements, I noticed lots of examples in Sylvester and the Magic Pebble.  First of all, personification.  The book is full of animals who talk and wear clothes and act like human beings.  This is a common concept in children's books, but I had not really thought about it as personification before.  This story really follows many elements of plot as well - there is foreshadowing, there is conflict and rising action, there is a climax and a falling action, then there is a resolution and a happy ending.

There is definite irony in the story.  The best example of irony is dramatic irony.  The reader knows that Sylvester is not dead and is not missing, he is simply turned into a rock.  The other characters in the book, mainly his parents, are so fearful that something terrible has happened to Sylvester and that he is lost or even worse hurt or dead.  There is also irony in the fact that the police officers of the town are literally pigs, and that the search team looking for Sylvester in the woods are hound dogs.  Using these animals to represent those specific characters in the story is ironic.

In the end of the book, there are obvious themes- family is the most important thing of all, think before you wish for something, and be happy with what you have.

Without these literary devices, this book would be totally different. All of the different aspects that can be explored because of the devices really add to the story.