Literary devices

Adage

philosophical saying of wisdom

allegory

story within a story that usually has to do with moral or political lessons.

allusion

used to subtly reference cultural works usually biblical or Greek mythology

Analogy

makes connections that normally wouldn’t be associated together

Anaphora

when a specific word is repeated over and over to prove a point

Anecdote

a short personal story that helps prove a point, they can be humorous, reminiscent or cause issues

Anthropomorphism

givnig human traits to animals: walking, talking

antithesis

placing too words that have opposite meaning next to each other for contrast

Aphorism

a short statement of general truth: if the shoe fits, wear it

archetype

idea, symbol, pattern, or character type in a story

Chiasmus

A grammatical structure that inverts a previous phrase

Colloquialism

Informational word or phrase used in everyday conversation rather than formal writing: gonna, wanna, ain’t

Concession

Device where a writer or speaker acknowledges a valid point made by an opposite side

Connotation

A Hidden meaning in a word or phrase

Deductive reasoing

logical process where you start with a general rule and narrow it down to a specific conclusion

denotation

legit meaning of a word

Diction

word choice that an author uses

Didactic

written text with the primary purpose to instruct, educate or impart a moral, religious or political lesson to the reader

Ellipsis

used to leave info out of sentences (…)

Euphemism

polite ways to say unpleasant things

Exigence

the urgent problem, event or imperfection that motivates a writer or speaker to create a text

Fallacy

errors in reasoning that weaken an arguement

Foreshadowing

Predicting what will happen next in a story line based on what is being said currently

Hyperbole

Big exaggeration

Idiom

Phrase that conveys a figurative meaning different from the words used

Imagery

Used to create images in the mind of a reader

Inductive reasoing

takes specific observations and uses them to make a broad general conclusion

Irony: Dramatic

when the audience knows something that the characters dont

Irony: situational

When the actual outcome is completely different from what the people assume will happen

Irony: verbal

when someone says something but means the opposite

Jargon

Type of language used by a particular group or profession

Juxtaposition

placing two or more things side by side to bring out their differences

Mood

overall atmosphere of what is being read

Motif

symbolic image or idea that appears frequently

Onomatopoeia

sound words

oxymoron

figure of speech that puts together opposite elements

Paradox

Statement that contradicts itself or that must be true and untrue at the same time

Parallelism

phrases in a sentence that have similar or the same grammatical structure

Personification

Giving personality to a non living object

Pun

a play on words

Rebuttal

Counterargument presented in response to a opposing POV

Refuation

Act of disproving an argument or claim using evidence or reasoning

Rhetorical question

a question that is asked but is not meant to be answered

Staire

It makes fun of a person idea or institution. The purpose is not just to entertain but also to inform or make people think

Symbolism

Author uses a object to portray a theme

syntax

Arrangement of words

Theme

central idea, topic, or point of a piece of literature

Tone

The way an author is trying to portray their writing

Understatement (Litotes)

A positive statement is expressed by negating its opposite

Vernacular

Everyday speech

Zeugma (Syllepsis)

Figure of speech where a single word modifies or governs two or more other parts of a sentence often blending different meanings or contexts