Literary Devices Vocabulary
Device Example
Alliteration describes a series of words “Peter Piper picked a pot of pickled peppers.”
in quick succession that all start with
the same letter or sound. Consider the following titles:
● Love’s Labour’s Lost
● Sense and Sensibility
● The Haunting of Hill House
An allusion is a passing or indirect “This list of literary devices will turn me into a bona fide Mark
descriptive reference to something. Twain.” (This quote alludes to Mark Twain.)
You probably allude to things all the
time in everyday speech, without even
noticing.
An analogy draws a comparison in You cannot have a rainbow without rain, and you cannot have
order to show a similarity (and is often success without hard work.
expressed as a simile or metaphor but
not always). (Rainbow and rain are being compared to success and hard
work.)
Time travel felt similar to being in a runaway carriage.
Anaphora is the repetition of a word or Martin Luther King’s 1963 “I Have A Dream” speech.
phrase at the beginning of a series of
clauses or sentences. It’s often seen in “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out
poetry and speeches, intended to the true meaning of its creed … and I have a dream that one day
provoke an emotional response in its on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the
audience. sons of former slave owners will be able to sit together at the
table of brotherhood … I have a dream that little children will
one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the
color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”
Anastrophe is a figure of speech So a typical verb-subject-adjective sentence such as “Are you
wherein the traditional sentence ready?” becomes a Yoda-esque adjective-verb-subject question:
structure is reversed. “Ready, are you?”
Or a standard adjective-noun pairing like “tall mountain”
becomes “mountain tall.”
“Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering,
fearing.” — Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven”
An anecdote is a short account of an Is that a white rose? Wow! I love them. My grandfather had a
incident massive rose garden with over 200 different species. Every
Friday, he'd go out into the garden, clip a dozen, and make my
grandmother a bouquet. Does love like that exist anymore?
Assonance is the repetition of a vowel I got the horses in the back
sound in nonrhyming stressed syllables Horse tack is attached
close to each other. Hat is matte black
Got the boots that's black to match
(Lines have a repeating short-a sound.)
Asyndeton is the omission of An empty stream, a great silence, an impenetrable forest.
conjunctions.
The air was thick, warm, heavy, sluggish.
Chiasmus is when two or more parallel “Ask not what your country can do for you;
clauses are inverted.
ask what you can do for your country.” — John F. Kennedy
A colloquialism is the use of slang or Words like…
informalities in speech or writing. Not
generally acceptable for formal writing, y'all, pop ( for soft drink), gonna, wanna, ain’t
Colloquialisms give a work a Phrases like…
conversational, familiar tone, and often
reflect local or regional dialects. ● Break the ice
● Kick the bucket
● Spill the beans
Connotation refers to an idea that is The denotation of a knife would be a utensil used to cut; the
implied or suggested or the emotional connotation of a knife might be fear, violence, anger, foreboding,
overtones of a word. etc.
Consonance refers to repeating Some mammals are clammy. (The m-sound is repeated.)
consonant sounds within a sentence or
phrase. This repetition often takes
place in quick succession, such as in
“pitter, patter.”
Denotation is the most direct or The denotation of a knife would be a utensil used to cut; the
specific meaning of a word or connotation of a knife might be fear, violence, anger, foreboding,
expression. etc.
Diction is the manner in which ● Formal diction=“I would be delighted!”
something is expressed in words (or ● Informal diction=“Sure, why not?”
word choice).
● Diction with respectful tone=“I’ll do it right away, sir,”
● With disrespectful tone=“Yeah, whatever, just a sec.”
Euphemism is an inoffensive The car isn't used; it's “certified pre-owned.”
expression substituted for an offensive
one She's not sick; she's “under the weather.”
He's not a liar; he's “creative with the truth.”
Hyperbole is an exaggerated statement When a friend says, "Oh my god, I haven't seen you in a million
that emphasizes the significance of the years," that's hyperbole.
statement’s actual meaning.
Hypophora is much like a rhetorical “Do you always watch for the longest day of the year and then
question, wherein someone asks a miss it? I always watch for the longest day in the year and then
question that doesn't require an miss it.” — Daisy in The Great Gatsby
answer. However, in hypophora, the
person raises a question and answers it
immediately themselves (hence the
prefix hypo, meaning 'under' or
'before'). It’s often used when
characters are reasoning something
aloud.
Imagery appeals to readers’ senses “In the hard-packed dirt of the midway, after the glaring lights
through highly descriptive language. are out and the people have gone to bed, you will find a veritable
It’s crucial for any writer hoping to treasure of popcorn fragments, frozen custard dribblings,
follow the rule of "show, don’t tell," as candied apples abandoned by tired children, sugar fluff crystals,
strong imagery truly paints a picture of salted almonds, popsicles, partially gnawed ice cream cones and
the scene at hand. wooden sticks of lollipops.” — Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
Irony is when a statement or situation
An example of verbal irony would be:
contrasts with what is expected or
○ This frigid, gloomy weather is perfect to go tanning.
known.
There are a few different types of
irony, including verbal irony,
situational irony, and dramatic irony.
Litotes (pronounced lie-toe-teez) is the “You won’t be sorry” (meaning you’ll be happy); “you’re not
signature literary device of the double wrong” (meaning you’re right); “I didn’t not like it” (meaning I
negative. Writers use litotes to express did)
certain sentiments through their
opposites, by saying that that opposite
is not the case.
A metaphor compares two similar Metaphors are literature’s bread and butter (metaphor intended)
things by saying that one of them is the — good luck finding a novel that is free of them. Here’s one from
other. Frances Hardinge’s A Face Like Glass: “Wishes are thorns, he told
himself sharply. They do us no good, just stick into our skin and
hurt us.”
The mood is the prevailing atmosphere From Richard Connell’s short story “The Most Dangerous
or emotional spirit of a work. Setting, Game”:
tone, and events can affect the mood.
“Through the soundless night, Rainsford heard three gunshots
off to the right. Rainsford sprang up and moved quickly to the
rail of the ship, mystified. He strained his eyes in the direction
from which the shots had come, but it was like trying to see
through a blanket. He leapt upon the rail to get greater elevation
but he lost his balance and suddenly he found the blood-warm
waters of the Caribbean Sea closing over his head.” (This
passage intends to evoke a mood of anxiousness or fear.)
Amusingly, onomatopoeia (itself a “Farmer Brown has a problem. His cows like to type. All day long
difficult-to-pronounce word) refers to he hears: Click, clack, moo. Click, clack, moo. Clickety, clack, moo.”
words that sound like the thing they’re
referring to. Well-known instances of
onomatopoeia include whiz, buzz,
snap, grunt, etc.
An oxymoron comes from two "Parting is such sweet sorrow.” — Romeo and Juliet by
contradictory words that describe one Shakespeare. (Find 100 more examples of oxymorons here.)
thing. While juxtaposition contrasts
two story elements, oxymorons are
about the actual words you are using.
A paradox is a statement that If I know one thing, it's that I know nothing.
contradicts itself.
This is the beginning of the end.
Personification uses human traits to Lightning danced across the sky.
describe non-human things.
Rita heard the last piece of pie calling her name.
Instead of using one conjunction in a “Luster came away from the flower tree and we went along the
lengthy statement, polysyndeton uses fence and they stopped and we stopped and I looked through
several in succession for a dramatic the fence while Luster was hunting in the grass.” — The Sound
effect. This one is definitely for authors and the Fury by William Faulkner
looking to add a bit of artistic flair to
their writing, or who are hoping to
portray a particular (usually naïve) sort
of voice.
Repetition, repetition, “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny compared
repetition…consists of repeating a to what lies within us.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
word, phrase, or sentence.
Rhetoric is the study and art of using All of the devices listed are examples of rhetoric, especially
language effectively, eloquently, and when used to persuade an audience.
persuasively.
Rhyme is the repetition of words that "I have the measles and the mumps,
end with similar sounds. a gash, a rash and purple bumps." (From “Sick” by Shel
Silverstein)
A simile draws a resemblance between There are two similes in this description from Circe by Madeline
two things by saying “Thing A is like Miller:
Thing B,” or “Thing A is as [adjective] as
Thing B.” Unlike a metaphor, a simile “The ships were golden and huge as leviathans, their rails carved
does not posit that these things are the from ivory and horn. They were towed by grinning dolphins or
same, only that they are alike. else crewed by fifty black-haired nereids, faces silver as
moonlight.”
A symbol is something visible that red rose: symbolizes love and romance
represents something invisible.
four-leaf clover: symbolizes good luck or fortune
wedding ring: symbolizes commitment and marriage
The tone is a quality that reveals the Neutral: “We are going to eat hot dogs and cotton candy and
attitudes of the author. ride the Ferris Wheel tonight.”
Excited: “I couldn’t wait to go to the carnival, smell the hot dogs,
taste the cotton candy, and feel the exhilaration of riding the
Ferris Wheel!”
Pessimistic: “I’m dreading going to the overcrowded carnival.
The clashing smells of all the greasy foods turn my stomach, and
I always end up with a headache from the noise.”
Nostalgic: “I’ll always remember the smell of hot dogs and
cotton candy at our local carnival. I was scared of the Ferris
Wheel, but I always rode it to keep my brother company.”
Understatement is something said in a In Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield says:
restrained way for ironic contrast.
“I have to have this operation. It isn’t very serious. I have this
tiny little tumor on the brain.”
Having a tumor in the brain is a serious issue, which has been
understated in this excerpt.
