Literary Devices - Literary Structure

Allegory

a story told on two levels and intended to teach a moral lesson

Allusion

a reference, usually to some literary text, with which the reader should be familiar; may also reference other sources such as songs, historical events, myths, etc.

Anecdote

a very short story told to make a point

Antagonist

the main adversary of the hero/heroine, or protagonist

Antithesis

the use of parallel structure to present oppositional ideas

Apostrophe

to address a person not present; or to personify an object or trait and address the personified thing

Archetype

a universal symbol/character or symbol/character type that cross many cultures

Epiphany

the appearance or manifestation of a deity; or a moment of understanding and sudden insight into reality of the truth

Exposition

text or portion of a text which explains motives, action, definitions, background etc.. In this part of the text, the action doesn’t move forward; the narrator offers explanation, analysis, or reflection on events and characters

Flashback

interrupting a narrative sequence with a recollection of an image or scene from the part

Foreshadowing

when an author gives hints about what will occur later in a story

Genre

the form of a text, such as poetry, drama, fiction, or nonfiction

Motif

a recurring idea in a piece of literature

Myth

a story that seeks to explain processes of nature, the creation of the world and the human race, or traditional customs, political institutions, or religious rites

Narrative Intrustion

When a third person narrator interrupts the narration provide commentary to the reader about some aspect of the story

Parable

a short story with a moral message; often it’s allegorical

Protagonist

the hero or heroine in a story

Rhetorical

a style, form, and approach intended to persuafe

Symbolism

having one thing stand for another, especially for a complexity or interrelated concepts

Syntax

sentence structure; word order

Theme

the central idea or message of a work; may be directly or, more often, indirectly stated in

Thesis

the sentence or group of sentences that directly expresses the author’s opinion, purpose, meaning, or proposition in the introduction of a piece of writing