Literary Devices and Terms: Tragedy, Irony, Trope, and More

tragedy

A form of literature in which the hero is destroyed by some character flaw or by a set of forces that cause the hero considerable anguish.

transition

A word or phrase that links different ideas, used especially in expository and argumentative writing.

trope

An artful variation from expected modes of expression of thoughts and ideas, involving a 'turn' or change in sense.

understatement

The ironic minimizing of fact, presenting something as less significant than it is.

undertone

An attitude that may lie under the ostensible tone of the piece.

unreliable narrator

An untrustworthy or naive commentator on events and characters in a story.

verbal irony

A discrepancy between the true meaning of a situation and the literal meaning of the written or spoken word.

voice

The real or assumed personality used by a writer or speaker.

wit

Intellectually amusing language that surprises and delights, often using terse language.

zeugma

A trope where one word governs two other words not related in meaning.

chiasmus

A grammatical structure where the first clause or phrase is reversed in the second, emphasizing contrast.

juxtaposition

The placing of contrasting settings, characters, or other literary elements in opposition to highlight disparity.

asyndeton

The omission of conjunctions, producing fast-paced prose.

polysyndeton

The use of many conjunctions to slow the pace of the reader and possibly overwhelm with details.

synesthesia

Describing one kind of sensation in terms of another, such as color applied to sound.