Literary Devices

Personification

Giving objects animals/human qualities.

Symbolism

Something means more than it actually is.

Hyperbole

An exaggeration.

Metaphor

Compares two unlike things without using the words “like” or “as”

Example: "The world is a stage"

Allegory

A reference to another historical/religious/significant event, often symbolic.

Allusion

A specific reference to a person, place or thing.

Euphemism

A phrase or words that “beat around the bush”, that refuse to get to the point.  Nice ways of saying not so nice things.

Simile

Compare two things that uses the words “like” or “as”.

Paradox

A statement that seemingly contradicts itself.

Understatement

Opposite of a hyperbole. It describes something in a way that reduces its importance and may make it seem less important or serious than it actually is.

Oxymoron

 Two words side by side that are polar opposites.

Examples: Awfully good, bittersweet

Alliteration

Repetitive sounds at the beginning of a sequence of 3 or more words.

Example: Fierce fire fanned the flames

Consonance

The repeated consonant sound in a line; the sound is not always at the first of the words like in alliteration.

Example: He struck the clock with a quick flick.