Literary Devices and Terms

Flashcards covering key literary terms and their definitions.

Alliteration

Repetition of initial consonant sounds.

Allusion

A reference to a literary work to a person, place, or thing in history or another work of literature.

Analogy

A simplified example of a more complex idea.

Apostrophe

An address to some aspect of nature as if human.

Dramatic irony

The speaker is unaware of the double meaning of his/her words.

Euphemism

A softening of a harsh event.

Hyperbole

An exaggeration.

Metaphor

An assumed comparison of basically unlike qualities, implied without use of comparative language.

Metonymy

One word used for another because of their close association.

Onomatopoeia

Words which imitate the sound expressed.

Oxymoron

An adjective/noun contrast.

Paradox

What seems to be a contradiction.

Pathetic fallacy

The use of nature to reflect the moods and feelings of human nature.

Personification

Giving life or human qualities to inanimate objects or abstract ideas.

Pun

A play on words of similar sounds but sharply distinct meanings.

Repetition

Repeated words, phrases, or ideas.

Satire

Mocking an aspect of society by reducing it to ridicule.

Simile

A definite comparison of basically unlike qualities using comparative language such as 'like' or 'as'.

Symbol

An extension of a word to a meaning beyond the literal.

Verbal irony

The intended meaning of the speaker is the opposite of that stated.