Literary Devices

ALLEGORY

story or poem in which characters, settings, and events stand for other people or events or for abstract ideas or qualities.

ALLITERATION

repetition of the same or similar consonant sounds in words that are close together.

ALLUSION

reference to someone or something that is known from history, literature, religion, politics, sports, science, or another branch of culture.

AMBIGUITY

deliberately suggesting two or more different, and sometimes conflicting, meanings in a work

ANAPHORA

Repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row. This is a deliberate form of repetition and helps make the writer’s point more coherent

ANASTROPHE

Inversion of the usual, normal, or logical order of the parts of a sentence. It is a fancy word for inversion.

ANTAGONIST

Opponent who struggles against or blocks the hero, or protagonist, in a story

ANTIMETABOLE

Repetition of words in successive clauses in reverse grammatical order

ANTIHERO

Central character who lacks all the qualities traditionally associated with heroes. may lack courage, grace, intelligence, or moral scruples.

ANTHROPOMORPHISM

attributing human characteristics to an animal or inanimate object

APOSTROPHE

calling out to an imaginary, dead, or absent person, or to a place or thing, or a personified abstract idea.

ASYNDETON

Commas used without conjunction to separate a series of words, thus emphasizing the parts equally

CHARACTERIZATION

the process by which the writer reveals the personality of a character

INDIRECT CHARACTERIZATION

the author reveals to the reader what the character is like by describing how the character looks and dresses, by letting the reader hear what the character says, by revealing the character’s private thoughts and feelings, by revealing the characters effect on other people (showing how other characters feel or behave toward the character), or by showing the character in action

DIRECT CHARACTERIZATION

the author tells us directly what the character is like

STATIC CHARACTER

is one who does not change much in the course of a story

DYNAMIC CHARACTER

is one who changes in some important way as a result of the story’s action.

FLAT CHARACTER

has only one or two personality traits. They are one dimensional, like a piece of cardboard. They can be summed up in one phrase.

ROUND CHARACTER

has more dimensions to their personalities complex, just a real people are.

CONFLICT

the struggle between opposing forces or characters in a story.

DICTION

a speaker or writer’s choice of words.

EPIC

a long narrative poem, written in heightened language , which recounts the deeds

EPISTROPHE

Device of repetition in which the same expression (single word or phrase) is repeated at the end of two or more lines, clauses, or sentences (it is the opposite of anaphora).

FLASHBACK

a scene that interrupts the normal chronological sequence of events in a story to depict something that happened at an earlier time.

FOIL

A character who acts as contrast to another character.

FORESHADOWING

the use of hints and clues to suggest what will happen later in a plot

HYPERBOLE

a figure of speech that uses an incredible exaggeration or overstatement, for effect. “If I told you once, I’ve told you a million times….”

IMAGERY

the use of language to evoke a picture or a concrete sensation of a person, a thing, a place, or an experience.

IRONY

a discrepancy between appearances and reality.

VERBAL IRONY

occurs when someone says one thing but really means something else

SITUATIONAL IRONY

takes place when there is a discrepancy between what is expected to happen, or what would be appropriate to happen, and what really does happen

DRAMATIC IRONY

is so called because it is often used on stage. A character in the play or story thinks one thing is true, but the audience or reader knows better

JUXTAPOSITION

poetic and rhetorical device in which normally unassociated ideas, words, or phrases are placed next to one another, creating an effect of surprise and wit.

LITOTES

is a form of understatement in which the positive form is emphasized through the negation of a negative form.

METAPHOR

a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things without the use of such specific words of comparison as like, as, than, or resembles.

METONYMY

a figure of speech in which a person, place, or thing, is referred to by something closely associated with it. “We requested from the crown support for our petition.” The crown is used to represent the monarch.

MOOD

An atmosphere created by a writer’s diction and the details selected.

MOTIF

a recurring image, word, phrase, action, idea, object, or situation used throughout a work (or in several works by one author), unifying the work by tying the current situation to previous ones, or new ideas to the theme.

PERSONIFICATION

a figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes.

PLOT

the series of related events in a story or play, sometimes called the storyline.

EXPOSITION

introduces characters, situation, and setting

INCITING INCIDENT

begins the conflict

RISING ACTION

complications in conflict and situations (may introduce new ones as well)

CLIMAX

point in a plot that creates the greatest intensity, suspense, or interest. The moment when the protagonist succeeds or fails.

RESOLUTION

the conclusion of a story, when all or most of the conflicts have been settled; often called the denouement.

POINT OF VIEW

the vantage point from which the writer tells the story.

FIRST PERSON POINT OF VIEW

one of the characters tells the story.

SECOND PERSON POINT OF VIEW

you are the protagonist of the story

THIRD PERSON POINT OF VIEW

an unknown narrator, tells the story, but this narrator zooms in to focus on the thoughts and feelings of only one character

OMNISCIENT POINT OF VIEW

an omniscient or all knowing narrator tells the story, also using the third person pronouns. Tells us everything about many characters.

OBJECTIVE POINT OF VIEW

a narrator who is totally impersonal and objective tells the story, with no comment on any characters or events.

POLYSYNDETON

sentence which uses a conjunction with NO commas to separate the items in a series

PROTAGONIST

the central character in a story

PUN

a “play on words” based on the multiple meanings of a single word or on words that sound alike but mean different things.

SATIRE

a type of writing that ridicules the shortcomings of people or institutions in an attempt to bring about a change.

SIMILE

a figure of speech that makes an explicitly comparison between two unlike things, using words such as like, as , than, or resembles.

STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS

a style of writing that portrays the inner (often chaotic) workings of a character’s mind.

SYMBOL

a person, place, thing, or event that has meaning in itself and that also stands for something more than itself.

SYNECDOCHE

a figure of speech in which a part represents the whole. “If you don’t drive properly, you will lose your wheels.” The wheels represent the entire car.

THEME

the insight about human life that is revealed in a literary work.

TONE

the attitude a writer takes toward the subject of a work, the characters in it, or the audience, revealed through diction, figurative language, and organization.

UNDERSTATEMENT

a statement that says less than what is meant.