Types of literary devices

Alliteration similarities between two things using

comparison words such as "like", "as",
 is the repetition of initial consonant "so", or "than", while metaphors create
sounds of nearby words in a phrase. an implicit comparison.
 Sentences or phrases that have several  The toddler is as devious as a
words that begin with the same letter. devil.
 Sleepy sheep were shorn on  The dog was sneaky like a fox.
Sunday.
 The big black bear banged Hyperbole
blandly on the bark.
 is the use of exaggeration as a rhetorical
 Peter Piper picked a peck of
device or figure of speech. In rhetoric, it
pickled peppers.
is also sometimes known as auxesis. In
Metaphor poetry and oratory, it emphasizes,
evokes strong feelings, and creates
 A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for strong impressions. As a figure of
rhetorical effect, directly refers to one speech, it is usually not meant to be
thing by mentioning another. It may taken literally.
provide clarity or identify hidden  I told you to do the dishes a
similarities between two different ideas. million times.
 is a figure of speech that creates a direct  My teacher is older than dirt.
comparison. For example, saying, "the
toddler was a devil" is an example of a Imagery
metaphor. The toddler is not literally a
 is visual symbolism, or figurative
devil; the metaphor is used to say that
language that evokes a mental image or
the child was behaving badly in a
other kinds of sense impressions,
figurative way.
especially in a literary work, but also in
 The kindergarten classroom
other activities such as psychotherapy.
was like a zoo.
Imagery in literature can also be
 The computers are dinosaurs.
instrumental in conveying tone.
Personification  is the reason people enjoy reading
fiction. Within the pages of the book,
 is the representation of a thing or you get transported to a new land or
abstraction as a person. In the arts, dystopian society. The sensory words
many things are commonly personified. the author uses to create that image in
Involves giving the traits of a person to your mind are examples of imagery.
an inanimate object.  The rich, warm smell of baking
 The car woke up with a chocolate chip cookies
grumble. reminded him of the soft
 The stars danced happily in the smiling face of his
night sky. grandmother.
 The blanket felt like the fur of a
Simile
thousand kittens.
 is a figure of speech that directly
compares two things. Similes differ from
metaphors by highlighting the
Onomatopoeia
 Types of literary devices

 is the use or creation of a word that  In Harry Potter and the

phonetically imitates, resembles, or Sorcerer’s Stone, the scar on
suggests the sound that it describes. Harry's forehead symbolizes
Such a word itself is also called an not only his past but his future.
onomatopoeia. Common
onomatopoeias include animal noises Irony
such as oink, meow, roar, and chirp.  Irony is about how your perception is
 When you say the word woosh, different from how something really is.
it sounds very much like the Irony has disappointed many readers
sound something makes when when they thought something would
it wooshes by. happen, but it didn’t. There are several
types of irony. It comes in different
Allusion
forms like dramatic, verbal or situational
 is a figure of speech, in which an object irony.
or circumstance from an unrelated  Irony, in its broadest sense, is the
context is referred to covertly or juxtaposition of what on the surface
indirectly. It is left to the audience to appears to be the case and what is
make a direct connection. Where the actually the case or to be expected; it is
connection is directly and explicitly an important rhetorical device and
stated by the author, it is instead usually literary technique.
termed a reference.  My old English mastiff dog is
 is a passing reference in literature. It named “Tiny”. (situational
simply involves making a passing irony)
reference to a person or another event  My son is as innocent as the
in a story or other work. It’s a fun type of devil. (verbal irony)
literary device that keeps writing from
getting bland or boring. Allegory
 He was her Romeo. (a  As a literary device or artistic form, an
reference to Shakespeare’s allegory is a narrative or visual
Romeo and Juliet) representation in which a character,
 It was like I walked into the place, or event can be interpreted to
Garden of Eden. (biblical represent a hidden meaning with moral
allusion) or political significance.
 It uses symbols to reveal a hidden
Symbol/ Symbolism
meaning that conveys the overall moral
 is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, of the story.
signifies, or is understood as  The Hunger Games is an
representing an idea, object, or allegory for reality TV and how
relationship. Symbols allow people to go it numbs us to horrors and
beyond what is known or seen by suffering.
creating linkages between otherwise  The Lion, the Witch and the
very different concepts and experiences. Wardrobe has a basic religious
Writers use this to add meaning to an allegory of good vs. evil or God
object or person within a story. vs. Satan.
 Red roses symbolize love.
 Types of literary devices

Foreshadowing  “You're damned if you do and

you're damned if you don't.”
 is a narrative device in which a  “Stay safe. Stay well. Stay
storyteller gives an advance hint of what happy.”
is to come later in the story or give you  “So many places, so little time.”
just a hint that something exciting or
 “I wish I may; I wish I might.”
foreboding is going to happen..
Foreshadowing often appears at the Paradox
beginning of a story, and it helps develop
 A paradox is a logically self-contradictory
or subvert the audience's expectations
statement or a statement that runs
about upcoming events.
contrary to one's expectation. It is a
 The still evening sent a chill
statement that, despite apparently valid
down her back. The air was just
reasoning from true premises, leads to a
too calm.
seemingly self-contradictory or a
 Looking away from her sick
logically unacceptable conclusion.
child, she tried to tell herself
 contradictory statement that is true.
everything would be okay, but
 Save money by spending it.
she couldn’t shake the feeling
 If I know one thing, it's that I
that danced in her stomach.
know nothing.
Oxymoron  This is the beginning of the
end.
 is a figure of speech that juxtaposes
 Deep down, you're really
concepts with opposite meanings within
shallow.
a word or in a phrase that is a self-
 I'm a compulsive liar.
contradiction. As a rhetorical device, an
 "Men work together whether
oxymoron illustrates a point to
they work together or apart."
communicate and reveal a paradox.
- ...
 using contradicting words.
 "What a pity that youth must
Anaphora be wasted on the young."

 In rhetoric, an anaphora is a rhetorical Euphemism

device that consists of repeating a
 is an innocuous word or expression used
sequence of words at the beginnings of
in place of one that is deemed offensive
neighboring clauses, thereby lending
or suggests something unpleasant. Some
them emphasis. In contrast, an
euphemisms are intended to amuse,
epistrophe is repeating words at the
while others use bland, inoffensive terms
clauses' ends. The combination of
for concepts that the user wishes to
anaphora and epistrophe results in
downplay.
symploce.
 “Go big or go home.”
 “Be bold. Be brief. Be gone.”
 “Get busy living or get busy
dying.”
 “Give me liberty or give me
Repetition
death.”
 Types of literary devices

 is the simple repeating of a word, within of juxtaposition could be positive and

a short space of words, with no negative, like light or dark or yin and
particular placement of the words to yang.
secure emphasis. It is a multilinguistic  Don’t make a mountain out of
written or spoken device. a molehill. (big vs. little)
 is simply repeated words, letters,  The young child looked up into
phrases, or sounds. the wrinkled face of her
 Time after time; grandmother smiling. (young
 Heart-to-heart; vs. old)
 Hand in hand;
 Get ready, get set, go;
Assonance
 Home sweet home;  is a resemblance in the sounds of
 It is what it is. words/syllables either between their
vowels or between their consonants.
Flashback  is the repetition of the vowel sound
 is an interjected scene that takes the across words within the lines of the
narrative back in time from the current poem creating internal rhymes.
point in the story. Flashbacks are often  Sally sells seashells beside the
used to recount events that happened seashore — see the repetition
before the story's primary sequence of of the short “e” and long “e”
events to fill in crucial backstory. sounds?
 These are story elements giving you  The early bird catches the
insight into a previous moment or worm — the repeated “i”
experience. sound in “bird” and “worm”
 The smell of baking cookies adds emphasis.
takes you back to a time you
spent with your grandmother.
Rhyme
 Standing on the edge of the  is a repetition of similar sounds in the
cliff, she was suddenly final stressed syllables and any following
transported back to the time syllables of two or more words. Most
when she was two. She often, this kind of perfect rhyming is
remembered the feeling of her consciously used for a musical or
heart pounding as she looked aesthetic effect in the final position of
down at the ground, seconds lines within poems or songs.
before falling.  Cat-Hat,
 Rotten-Forgotten,
Juxtaposition
 Heard-Bird
 is an act or instance of placing two
elements close together or side by side. Metonymy
This is often done in order to  is a figure of speech in which a
compare/contrast the two, to show concept is referred to by the name of
similarities or differences, etc. something closely associated with
 Juxtaposition adds a unique twist to that thing or concept.
literature because it places two
opposites next to each other. Examples
 Types of literary devices

Synecdoche
 is a type of metonymy; it is a figure of
speech in which a term for a part of
something is used to refer to the whole,
or vice versa. The term is derived from
Ancient Greek συνεκδοχή 'simultaneous
understanding'.

Satire
 is a genre of the visual, literary, and
performing arts, usually in the form of
fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in
which vices, follies, abuses, and
shortcomings are held up to ridicule,
often with the intent of exposing or
shaming the perceived flaws of
individuals, corporations, government,
or society itself into improvement.
 works showing foolishness.