Literary Devices

allegory alliteration allusion anapest antagonist

apostrophe aside aubade ballad blank verse

cacophony caesura catharsis character climax

comic relief conflict connotation convention couplet

dactyl denotation denouement diction elegy

deus ex machina dramatic monologue enjambment epic epigram

euphony exposition fable flashback foot

figurative language foreshadowing form free verse hyperbole

Iamb idyll image imagery impressionism

Irony lyric poetry magic realism metaphor meter

metaphysical poetry metonymy monologue motif narrator

narrative poem octave ode onomatopeia oxymoron

parable paradox parallelism parody pathos

personification plot point of view protagonist quatrain

resolution rhetorical question rhyme/rime rhythm rhyme scheme

romanticism satire scansion sestet sestina

setting simile soliloquy sonnet spondee

stage directions stanza structure style subplot

subtext symbol synecdoche syntax tercet

theme tone tragic hero trochee understatement

analogy anaphora archaic language archetype ars poetica

assonance atmosphere cadence carpe diem consonance

ekphrastic poetry end-stopped line English sonnet epigraph eulogy

extended metaphor ghazal iambic pentameter internal rhyme Italian sonnet

metaphysical conceit minimalism overstatement pastoral prose poem

refrain eye rhyme near rhyme slant rhyme

end rhyme Petrarchan sonnet run-on line shift sight rhyme

sound speaker sprung rhythm syntax verse