Literary and Poetic Devices

Literary devices

specific language techniques which writers use to create text that is clear, interesting, and memorable

Alliteration

repeated consonant sound at the beginning of words or within words

Allusion

a reference in one story to a well

Analogy

comparing one thing to another very different thing in order to explain it better

Climax

the most exciting moment of the story, where the main character faces his/her ultimate challenge

Conflict

the problem, or challenge, that the main character faces

Foreshadowing

clues used to alert the reader about events that will occur later; used to build suspense

Hyperbole

obvious exaggeration which is not meant to be taken literally

Imagery

mental pictures which are created by descriptions of the senses, so that we can see and feel what the character is experiencing

Inference

conclusions which can be drawn by the reader based upon limited clues or facts presented by the author;

Irony

contrast between the expected outcome and the actual way things turn out

Metaphor

a suggested comparison between two unlike things in order to point out a similarity

Motive

a character's reason for doing what he/she does

Onomatopoeia

words that imitate, or sound like, the actions they describe

Paradox

a statement that reveals a kind of truth although at first it seems to be self

Parody

a humorous story that makes fun of another well

Personification

a description in which an object (or animal, or idea, or force of nature) takes on human characteristics or actions

Plot

what happens in a story, told in a sequenced, chronological order

Point of View

the perspective from which a story is seen or told; there are three main forms:

Pun

a humorous use of a word or phrase that has more than one meaning (or two similarly spelled words that sound alike)

Repetition

the author purposely repeats words or phrases; the author is trying to create rhythm or suspense, or is trying to really emphasize a certain idea.

Setting

the time and place of a story; the time may simply be "present day"

Simile

a comparison between two unlike things, using like, as as, or than in the comparison

Stereotype

a stereotype is when a person is portrayed is a fixed way

A Reverse Stereotype

when a person is portrayed exactly opposite to a fixed generalization (the usual way we would consider them)

Symbol

any person, object, or action that has additional meaning beyond itself

Theme

the meaning of a story, what it reveals about human nature; plot is what happens in the story, while theme is what it means

Tone

the author's attitude toward a subject, revealed by choice of words and details

Understatement

when the author presents something as less significant (important) than it really is

Allegory

a story in which the characters, settings, and events stand for abstract or moral concepts.

Assonance

the repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds in words that are close together

Consonance

the repetition of consonant sounds. This repetition is not limited to initialconsonant sounds

Euphemism

a pleasant way of stating an unpleasant truth (usually to be avoided).

Antithesis

a contrasting of ideas made sharp by the use of words of opposite meaning in contiguous clauses or phrases (next to one another) with grammatically parallel structure.

Hyperbole

a great exaggeration.

Oxymoron

a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction

Paradox

a statement which seems untrue but proves valid upon close inspection.

Metonymy

a closely associated idea used for the idea itself.

Pun

a play on the multiple meanings of a word, or two different words that sound alike but have different meanings.

Synecdoche

a figure of speech in which a part of a thing stands for the whole.

Rhyme

the repetition of accented vowel sounds and all sounds following them in words that are close together in a poem.

Rhythm

the alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables in language. In speech, it is the natural rise and fall of the language.

Pathetic fallacy

is always about giving emotions to something something non

Tone

the attitude that a writer expresses towards a subject.

Mood

is the overall feeling and atmosphere that an author creates for his audience

Visual imagery

Auditory imagery

Olfactory imagery

Gustatory imagery

Tactile imagery

Kinesthetic imagery