Literary Devices and Rhetorical Terms for Analyzing Texts

ad hominem

directed against a person rather than the position they are maintaining

adage

a saying or proverb containing a truth based on experience and often couched in metaphorical language. Example: "There is more than one way to skin a cat."

allegory

The device of using character and/or story elements symbolically to represent an abstraction in addition to the literal meaning.

alliteration

The repetition of sounds, especially initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words (as in "she sells sea shells").

allusion

A direct or indirect reference to something which is presumably commonly known, such as an event book, myth, place, or work of art.

ambiguity

The multiple meanings, either intentional or unintentional, of a word, phrase, sentence, or passage.

anachronism

a person, scene, event, or other element that fails to correspond with the appropriate time or era. Example: Columbus sailing to the United States.

anadiplosis

The repetition of the last word of one clause at the beginning of the following clause. "Fear leads to anger; anger leads to hate; hate leads to suffering." Yoda

analogy

A similarity or comparison between two different things or the relationship between them.

anaphora

One of the devices of repetition, in which the same expression (word or words) is repeated at the beginning of two or more lines, clauses, or sentences. "It was the best of times; it was the worst of times."

anecdote

A short narrative detailing particulars of an interesting episode or event. The term most frequently refers to an incident in the life of a person.

antecedent

The word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun.

antagonist

a character or force in a work of literature that, by opposing the protagonist, produces tension or conflict.

antithesis

a rhetorical opposition or contrast of ideas by means of a grammatical arrangement of words, clauses, or sentences, as in the following: "They promised freedom but provided slavery." "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." *(see chiasmus)

aphorism

A terse statement of known authorship that expresses a general truth or a moral principle. (If the authorship is unknown, the statement is generally considered to be a folk proverb.)