English Literary Devices and Rhetorical Strategies for Analyzing Texts

Allegory

story with hidden meaning

Alliteration

same beginning sounds

Allusion

reference to something known

Anaphora

repeated beginnings

Antagonist

character against protagonist

Anti-hero

flawed/unheroic hero

Antithesis

opposite ideas together

Apostrophe

talking to absent thing/person

Archetype

common story pattern

Argument

author's main claim

Audience

intended readers/listeners

Assonance

repeated vowel sounds

Catharsis

emotional release

Consonance

repeated consonant sounds

Detail

specific supporting information

Diction

word choice

Connotation

feeling behind word

Denotation

dictionary meaning

Formal diction

serious/proper language

Informal diction

casual language/slang

Abstract

idea, not physical

Concrete

physical/specific

Didactic

teaches a lesson

Euphemism

softer way to say something

Figurative language

nonliteral language

Flashback

return to past

Foil

contrasting character

Foreshadowing

hint of future

Hyperbole

exaggeration

Imagery

sensory description

Irony

expectation vs. reality

Verbal irony

say opposite

Situational irony

opposite happens

Dramatic irony

audience knows more

Sarcasm

mocking/insulting irony

Juxtaposition

contrasting things together

Metaphor

comparison without like/as

Metonymy

related thing represents another

Mood

reader's feeling

Motif

repeated idea/symbol

Motivation

reason character acts

Onomatopoeia

word sounds like noise

Oxymoron

opposite words together

Paradox

seems contradictory, but true

Parallelism

similar sentence structure

Personification

nonhuman acts human

Plot

story events

Point of View

who tells story

Protagonist

main character

Pun

wordplay

Repetition

repeated words/ideas

Description

tells what something is like

Exposition

explains information

Narration

tells events

Persuasion

tries to convince

Logos

logic/facts

Pathos

emotion

Ethos

credibility/trust

Rhyme

matching sounds

Start rhyme

rhyme at beginning

End rhyme

rhyme at end

Internal rhyme

rhyme within line

Rhyme scheme

rhyme pattern

Satire

humor to criticize

Setting

time + place

Shift

sudden change

Simile

comparison using like/as

Stream of consciousness

character's flowing thoughts

Structure

organization of writing

Style

author's way of writing

Suspense

tension about what's next

Symbolism

thing represents bigger idea

Synecdoche

part represents whole

Syntax

word arrangement

Theme

story's main message

Tone

author's attitude

Tragic hero

noble character who falls

Tragic flaw

weakness causing downfall

Understatement

makes something seem smaller

Voice

author's writing personality