Literary Devices

  1. ALLEGORY

a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.

  1. ALLUSION

an implied or indirect reference to a person, event, or thing or to a part of another text

  1. ALLITERATION

the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.

  1. ANAPHORA

uses the repetition of short phrases or single words at the beginning of clauses or sentences to enhance rhythm and evoke audience emotional participation in the literary work 

  1. ANASTROPHE

a literary device where the writer will rearrange the normal word order to create a new effect with the sentence, saying, or idea

  1. APOSTROPHE (not the punctuation mark)

a speech or address to a person who is not present or to a personified object

  1. ASSONANCE 

the repetition of vowel sounds in words that are close to each other in a sentence or phrase

  1. BLANK VERSE

poetry that does not rhyme but follows a regular meter, most commonly iambic pentameter

  1. CACOPHONY

harsh and inharmonious sounds in words, primarily through using consonants, that achieves a desired effect on the reader.

  1. CAESURA 

a poetic device in which there is a pause between a line of poetry. This pause follows natural speech patterns and is usually indicated by punctuation.

  1. CARPE DIEM

a genre of poetry that seeks to “seize the day.” It inspires readers to live as well as possible.

  1. CHARACTERIZATION

  2. CHIASMUS

a literary device in which words, grammatical constructions, or concepts are repeated in reverse order

  1. CLOSED POETIC FORM

a poem's structure or pattern, which is defined by a set of rules that the poet follows

  1. CONCEIT 

  2. CONNOTATION

 the use of a word to suggest a different association than its literal meaning

  1. CONSONANCE

a literary device that occurs when two words have the same consonant sound following different vowel sounds

  1. COUPLET

  2. DENOTATION

the literal dictionary definition of a word, without any emotional and/or implied meaning hidden beyond the literal.

  1. DICTION

a writer's unique style of expression, especially his or her choice and arrangement of words. A writer's vocabulary, use of language to produce a specific tone or atmosphere, and ability to communicate clearly with the reader

  1. ELEGY

a form of poetry in which the poet or speaker expresses grief, sadness, or loss

  1. ELLIPSIS 

 the narrative device of omitting a portion of the sequence of events, allowing the reader to fill in the narrative gaps

  1. END RHYME

  2. ENJAMBMENT 

  3. EUPHONY 

a sound that is pleasing to the ear. It most often refers to a series of words that, when said or heard together, is melodious and pleasant.