Literary Devices and Rhetorical Strategies: Definitions and Examples

Allusion

An indirect reference to a person, place, event, or literary work that the reader is expected to recognize.

Rhetorical Device

A language technique used for effect, such as questions that make a point rather than seeking an answer.

Figurative Language

Language which expands upon the basic or literal meaning of a word or phrase (e.g. simile, metaphor, symbol, etc.).

Colloquial/Colloquialism

The use of slang or informalities in speech or writing. Not generally acceptable for formal writing, colloquialisms give a work a conversational, familiar tone.

Antonym

A word with the opposite meaning of another word (e.g. hot and cold).

Synonym

A word that has the same meaning as another word (e.g. cold and frigid).

Hyperbole

A figure of speech using deliberate exaggeration or overstatement.

Euphemism

A more agreeable or less offensive substitute for a generally unpleasant word or concept.

Imagery

The sensory details or figurative language used to describe, arouse emotion, or represent abstractions.

Irony / Ironic

The contrast between what is stated explicitly and what is really meant. The difference between what appears to be and what actually is true.

Juxtaposition

An act or instance of placing close together or side by side, especially for comparison or contrast.

Metaphor

A figure of speech using implied comparison of seemingly unlike things or the substitution of one for the other, suggesting some similarity.

Oxymoron

A figure of speech wherein the author groups apparently contradictory terms to suggest a paradox.

Personification

A figure of speech in which the author presents or describes concepts, animals, or inanimate objects by endowing them with human attributes or emotions.

Onomatopoeia

A figure of speech in which natural sounds are imitated in the sounds of words.

Pun

The humorous use of a word or phrase so as to emphasize or suggest its different meanings or applications.

Repetition

The duplication, either exact or approximate, of any element of language, such as a sound, word, phrase, clause, sentence, or grammatical pattern.

Symbol / Symbolism

Generally, anything that represents, stands for, something else.

Simile

A comparison using 'like' or 'as.'

Hypophora

A rhetorical term for a strategy in which a speaker or writer raises a question and then immediately answers it.

Parallelism

The grammatical or rhetorical framing of words, phrases, sentences, or paragraphs to give structural similarity.