Literary Devices

Alliteration

The repetition of the same initial letter in successive words

Consonance

The repetition of the same consonant sounds in a line of text

Assonance

The repetition of vowel sounds in a chunk of text

Onomatopoeia

Imitating sounds in words

Repetition

Using the same exact word or words

Rhyme

Correspondence of sound between words or the endings of words

Simile

Comparing something using “like” or “as”

Metaphor

Comparing something to something else

Personification

Giving human characteristics to a non-living thing

Hyperbole

Exaggeration

Allusion

Reference to a well-known thing in literature

Syntax

The arrangement of words and phrases

Oxymoron

Two opposite words

Irony - Dramatic

Audience knows something characters do not

Irony - Verbal

Saying something but meaning the opposite

Irony - Situational

Outcome different from expected

Imagery

Visually descriptive language

Foreshadowing

Warning or indication of a future event

Comic relief

Introducing light entertainment between tragic scenes

Character foil

Contrasting character highlighting qualities of another

Aside

Remark heard by the audience, not by other characters

Soliloquy

Speaking one’s thoughts aloud alone or regardless of hearers

Pun

Joke exploiting different meanings of words or similar-sounding words

Paradox

Self-contradictory statement