Reference

Literary Devices and Terms

103 references · 76 devices · 27 terms

Showing 103 of 103 references

AllegoryLiterary Device · Themes & IdeasAn allegory is a narrative whose characters, settings, or events consistently correspond to a broader system of ideas. Unlike a single symbol, the pattern extends across enough of the story to create a second, connected level of meaning.
AlliterationLiterary Device · Sound DevicesAlliteration occurs when nearby words begin with the same consonant sound. Listen to pronunciation rather than checking only the first letter, and focus on a noticeable sound pattern rather than an accidental pair.
AllusionLiterary Device · Themes & IdeasAn allusion briefly invokes a recognizable person, event, story, place, or work without fully explaining it. Recognition matters because the source's associations add meaning to the new context.
AmplificationLiterary Device · Syntax & StructureAmplification develops an idea by restating it with added detail or by building on it in stages. The added material makes the point clearer or more forceful; it is more than simple repetition or extra length.
AnagramLanguage TermAn anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging all the letters of another word or phrase, normally using each letter the same number of times. A meaningful connection between the two expressions is optional.
AnalogyLiterary Device · Figures of SpeechAn analogy develops a comparison to explain how an unfamiliar or complex subject works. Map the relevant relationship between the two domains and recognize where the comparison stops being useful.
AnaphoraLiterary Device · Syntax & StructureAnaphora gives neighboring units the same opening. The repeated beginning creates a recognizable pattern that can emphasize an idea, build rhythm, or gather force across a passage.
AnastropheLiterary Device · Syntax & StructureAnastrophe deliberately rearranges expected word order, often in a compact local phrase. Describe the normal order and the marked order, while recognizing that rhetorical traditions may also call the pattern Hyperbaton or Inversion.
AnecdoteLiterary Device · Narrative TechniquesAn anecdote is a brief, self-contained narrative included to illustrate a point, reveal character, or make an argument concrete. Identify both the small story and the larger idea it serves.
AnthropomorphismLiterary Device · Figures of SpeechAnthropomorphism makes a nonhuman entity function significantly like a human—for example by speaking, governing, dressing, or participating in human society. Treat the boundary with Personification as a matter of degree rather than an absolute rule.
AntithesisLiterary Device · Syntax & StructureAntithesis sets opposing ideas into matching grammatical shapes. Identify both the conceptual contrast and the structural balance that makes the contrast feel deliberate and forceful.
AphorismLiterary FormAn aphorism is a brief, self-contained statement that presents an observation, principle, or generalization in memorable form. It may sound wise or provocative without being universally true.
ApostropheLiterary Device · Figures of SpeechIn apostrophe, a speaker talks to someone or something that cannot ordinarily answer in the scene. The address can make emotion immediate and can reveal how the speaker regards the addressee.
ArchetypeLiterary ConceptAn archetype is a recurring narrative image, role, situation, or pattern used in criticism to compare works across traditions. Claims that a pattern is universal or psychologically innate depend on the critical framework and should not be assumed.
AssonanceLiterary Device · Sound DevicesAssonance repeats vowel sounds across nearby words, as in slow road home. Listen to pronunciation rather than spelling, and identify the recurring vowel sound that links the words.
AsyndetonLiterary Device · Syntax & StructureAsyndeton omits conjunctions between coordinated elements where readers might expect them. The compressed sequence can feel rapid, forceful, open-ended, fragmented, or stark depending on context.
Authorial IntrusionLiterary Device · Narrative TechniquesAuthorial intrusion makes the commenting storytelling voice conspicuous instead of letting events appear to unfold without interruption. Identify the interruption and distinguish the textual narrator from assumptions about the real author's personal beliefs.
BibliomancyLiterary TermBibliomancy is a documented divinatory practice in which a person selects a passage from a book, often at random, and interprets it as guidance or an omen. Studying the practice does not require accepting its supernatural claims.
BildungsromanLiterary FormA Bildungsroman is a novel of formation that traces a protagonist's intellectual, moral, psychological, or social development. Coming of age is common, but the defining emphasis is sustained formation rather than the protagonist's age alone.
CacophonyLiterary Device · Sound DevicesCacophony uses clustered, abrupt, or colliding sounds to create a deliberately rough auditory texture. Name the repeated sounds and explain how their pattern supports tension, violence, disorder, or another effect.
CaesuraLiterary Device · Sound DevicesA caesura is a noticeable pause within a poetic line, created by punctuation, syntax, or performance rhythm. Mark where the line breaks internally and explain how the pause divides, delays, contrasts, or emphasizes its parts.
CharacterizationLiterary Device · Narrative TechniquesCharacterization is how a text builds a reader's understanding of a character. Writers may state traits directly or let readers infer them from speech, choices, thoughts, appearance, and other characters' responses.
ChiasmusLiterary Device · Syntax & StructureChiasmus arranges corresponding elements in a crossed order, commonly ABBA. Identify what occupies A and B, then show how the reversal reshapes emphasis or relationship.
CircumlocutionLiterary Device · Figures of SpeechCircumlocution takes an indirect verbal route instead of stating something simply. In this project it emphasizes avoidance, tact, evasion, or difficulty reaching the point, while acknowledging substantial overlap with Periphrasis.
ConceitLiterary Device · Figures of SpeechA conceit develops a comparison beyond a single quick image. The writer explores several implications of an unusual connection, inviting readers to follow its logic as well as its imagery.
ConflictLiterary ElementConflict is a meaningful struggle between incompatible aims, pressures, values, or forces. It can occur within a character or between characters and their social, natural, or material circumstances.
ConnotationLiterary TermConnotation is the network of feelings and associations a word can suggest beyond its direct reference. Context and community affect whether those associations feel approving, hostile, intimate, formal, or neutral.
ConsonanceLiterary Device · Sound DevicesConsonance repeats consonant sounds across nearby words, often inside words or at their ends. Listen for the recurring sound rather than matching letters, and distinguish it from alliteration's emphasis on initial sounds.
DenotationLiterary TermDenotation is a word's direct conventional reference or core lexical meaning. Readers distinguish it from the associations and attitudes that make up connotation.
Deus ex MachinaLiterary Device · Narrative TechniquesA deus ex machina resolves a difficult plot problem through a solution introduced from outside the established causal setup or without adequate preparation. Test whether earlier events made the solution reasonably available rather than calling every surprise ending contrived.
DictionLiterary Device · Syntax & StructureDiction is the pattern of words a writer or speaker chooses. Analyze their connotations, specificity, formality, and field of association, then connect those choices to tone, characterization, audience, or meaning.
DoppelgangerLiterary Device · Narrative TechniquesA doppelganger mirrors or duplicates another character closely enough to make identity and difference central. Compare the pair's resemblance and divergence, then explain what the doubling reveals rather than assuming the double is automatically evil.
EkphrasticLiterary FormEkphrastic writing is literary writing that vividly describes, addresses, interprets, or imaginatively responds to a visual artwork. Ekphrasis names the practice; ekphrastic is the adjective describing the resulting passage or work.
EllipsisLiterary Device · Syntax & StructureEllipsis leaves out language that readers can recover without losing the intended structure or meaning. This proposal concerns omission in expression, not the three-dot punctuation mark that is also called an ellipsis.
EnjambmentLiterary Device · Syntax & StructureAn enjambed line ends before its phrase or sentence is complete, so the reader must continue into the next line. Punctuation can help reveal the structure, but its absence alone does not define enjambment.
EpilogueLiterary FormAn epilogue is a distinct concluding section placed after a work's principal action or argument. It may show later consequences, change perspective, reflect on events, or deliberately complicate closure.
EpistropheLiterary Device · Syntax & StructureEpistrophe gives neighboring units the same ending. Because each unit arrives at the repeated language, the pattern can reinforce a conclusion or create a gathering cadence.
EpithetLiterary Device · Figures of SpeechAn epithet is a descriptive label or qualifying phrase attached to a person, place, or thing, often repeatedly. Identify the trait the label selects and how that naming shapes reputation, tone, or characterization.
EuphemismLiterary Device · Figures of SpeechA euphemism replaces a direct or uncomfortable expression with milder, less explicit wording. Analysis should consider both what is being softened and whether the wording shows tact, avoidance, manipulation, or institutional distance.
EuphonyLiterary Device · Sound DevicesEuphony is a deliberately smooth or flowing sound effect produced by patterns of vowels, consonants, rhythm, and phrasing. Analyze the specific sounds and their contextual effect rather than calling language beautiful by personal preference alone.
Faulty ParallelismLanguage TermFaulty parallelism is a grammatical or stylistic mismatch among elements presented as coordinate or equivalent. The problem occurs when a series or paired construction shifts form in a way that obscures the intended relationship.
FlashbackLiterary Device · Narrative TechniquesA flashback interrupts the current narrative time to present an earlier event as a scene or sustained recollection. Determine when the main action is occurring, then identify the backward shift and what new context it provides.
FoilLiterary Device · Narrative TechniquesA foil is a character whose similarities and differences make another character's traits easier to see. Identify the specific points of contrast and explain what those contrasts reveal rather than merely listing two different personalities.
ForeshadowingLiterary Device · Narrative TechniquesForeshadowing plants an earlier detail that gains significance when a later event occurs. A prediction is strongest when readers can look back and see that the clue prepared the outcome without fully giving it away.
Frame StoryLiterary Device · Narrative TechniquesA frame story creates an outer narrative situation in which one or more inner stories are told. The frame can explain who tells those stories, why they are told, and how readers should understand them.
Free Indirect DiscourseLiterary Device · Narrative TechniquesFree indirect discourse lets third-person narration take on a character's way of thinking without writing She thought or placing the thought in quotation marks. The sentence remains narration, but its diction or judgment feels partly like the character's own voice.
HubrisLiterary ConceptHubris is overreaching arrogance or presumption, especially conduct that violates human, social, or divine limits in classical contexts. It may contribute to reversal or punishment, but it is not simply confidence and does not mechanically guarantee downfall.
HyperbatonLiterary Device · Syntax & StructureHyperbaton disrupts ordinary word order, sometimes separating elements that normally appear together. Identify the expected syntax and the displacement, but acknowledge overlap with Anastrophe and Inversion rather than forcing a rigid boundary.
HyperboleLiterary Device · Figures of SpeechHyperbole deliberately exaggerates beyond literal possibility or reasonable scale. The exaggeration signals intensity, humor, or attitude; readers should explain the real feeling or claim beneath it.
IdiomsLanguage TermAn idiom is a conventional expression whose established meaning or normal use is not fully predictable from the meanings and arrangement of its individual words. Idioms belong to language communities and may be figurative, but not every figurative phrase is an idiom.
ImageryLiterary Device · Figures of SpeechImagery uses language that appeals to the senses so readers can imagine an experience more concretely. It can evoke sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, or a purposeful combination of senses.
In Medias ResLiterary Device · Narrative TechniquesA story that begins in medias res drops readers into an event already underway. Earlier causes may be explained later, sometimes through flashback, but the opening position—not a later backward shift—defines the technique.
Internal RhymeLiterary Device · Sound DevicesInternal rhyme places matching or closely echoing sounds inside lines, including between internal positions in neighboring lines. Mark the rhyme locations and explain how the echoes affect pace, emphasis, or connection.
InversionLiterary Device · Syntax & StructureInversion changes the expected arrangement of sentence elements so that particular words or structures receive extra emphasis. To identify it, compare the sentence with its ordinary word order and ask whether the marked arrangement is being used deliberately for effect.
IronyLiterary Device · Themes & IdeasIrony depends on a gap that matters: words differ from intended meaning, events reverse a grounded expectation, or readers know what a character does not. An unexpected event alone is not necessarily ironic; the contrast must expose a significant discrepancy.
JuxtapositionLiterary Device · Themes & IdeasJuxtaposition places elements close together so readers compare them. The elements need not be exact opposites; their proximity should reveal a significant similarity, difference, tension, or irony.
KenningsLiterary Device · Figures of SpeechA kenning renames something through a compact compound or paired figurative phrase, often drawing on Germanic poetic tradition. Identify the ordinary referent and explain the compressed relationship between the kenning's parts.
LitotesLiterary Device · Figures of SpeechLitotes communicates an idea by denying its opposite: not unkind suggests kind without stating it directly. Identify the negated opposite and compare the restrained expression with the stronger positive meaning it implies.
MalapropismLiterary Device · Figures of SpeechA malapropism substitutes the wrong word for an intended word because the two sound similar. Infer the intended word, then explain how the mistaken meaning changes the statement or characterizes the speaker.
MetaphorLiterary Device · Figures of SpeechA metaphor describes one thing as if it were another so that qualities of the second reshape how we understand the first. Readers should identify both sides of the comparison and explain what the transferred qualities contribute in context.
MetonymyLiterary Device · Figures of SpeechMetonymy names something through a closely associated term, such as a place for an institution or an object for an office. Identify the substituted term and explain the cultural or contextual association that connects it to the intended referent.
MoodLiterary ElementMood is the emotional atmosphere a passage or work encourages readers to experience. Setting, imagery, pacing, sound, and tone can contribute to a mood such as unease, celebration, calm, or grief.
MotifLiterary Device · Themes & IdeasA motif is a meaningful pattern that returns across a work. Track each recurrence and explain how the repetitions develop an idea, mood, character, or theme rather than treating one isolated detail as a motif.
Negative CapabilityLiterary ConceptNegative Capability is John Keats's term for a capacity to remain with uncertainty, mystery, and doubt without impatiently forcing them into rational certainty. It describes an artistic and intellectual disposition, not simply vague writing or indecision.
NemesisLiterary TermNemesis can mean an enduring rival or opponent, but in classical and literary contexts it can also mean deserved retribution or the power that brings it about. Readers must use context to determine whether the word names a character, a consequence, or an avenging force.
OnomatopoeiaLiterary Device · Sound DevicesOnomatopoeia uses a word whose sound resembles the noise it names or suggests. Read the word aloud and connect its audible qualities to the represented sound.
OxymoronLiterary Device · Figures of SpeechAn oxymoron places apparently contradictory words in a compact phrase, making readers hold both qualities together. The tension may name a complex experience rather than produce a logical error.
ParadoxLiterary Device · Themes & IdeasA paradox initially seems impossible or self-contradictory, but closer reasoning may show how its parts can both be true. Identify the apparent conflict and explain the distinction or condition that makes the insight coherent.
ParallelismLiterary Device · Syntax & StructureParallel units follow a matching grammatical pattern, even when their vocabulary differs. The balance can clarify relationships, emphasize contrasts, or give prose and verse a measured rhythm.
Pathetic FallacyLiterary Device · Figures of SpeechPathetic fallacy makes weather, landscape, or another part of nature seem to feel a human emotion. Identify the environmental element, the emotion assigned to it, and how that attribution shapes the scene's atmosphere.
Periodic StructureLiterary Device · Syntax & StructureA periodic sentence withholds the element needed to complete its grammar or central meaning until near the end. Track the opening dependent material and identify the late clause or phrase that finally resolves it.
PeriphrasisLiterary Device · Figures of SpeechPeriphrasis expresses a referent or idea through an expanded indirect phrase instead of a shorter ordinary term. In this project it emphasizes stylistically meaningful or descriptive renaming, while acknowledging substantial overlap with Circumlocution.
PersonificationLiterary Device · Figures of SpeechPersonification presents a nonhuman thing as if it could act, feel, think, or communicate in a human way. The human attribution must shape how the subject is understood; vivid description alone is not enough.
PlotLiterary ElementPlot is the organized pattern of actions and events in a narrative, including the causal, temporal, and thematic connections among them. It is not merely everything that happens or a required formula of conflict and resolution.
Point of ViewLiterary Device · Narrative TechniquesPoint of view determines who tells a story and what that narrator can know or reveal. Track pronouns, access to characters' thoughts, and limits on information before deciding whether narration is first person, second person, third-person limited, or omniscient.
PolysyndetonLiterary Device · Syntax & StructurePolysyndeton repeats conjunctions where ordinary phrasing would use fewer. Notice how each added and, or, or but gives the linked item extra weight and changes rhythm or pace.
PortmanteauLanguage TermA portmanteau, or lexical blend, forms a word by merging parts of two or more source words and combining aspects of their meanings. It differs from an ordinary compound, which usually preserves whole source words.
PrologueLiterary FormA prologue is a distinct opening section that precedes a work's principal action or argument. It may supply context, frame the telling, establish a voice, or present an earlier event without functioning as the first chapter.
PunsLiterary Device · Figures of SpeechPuns exploit a word's multiple meanings or the similarity between different words to activate more than one interpretation. Identify both readings and explain whether the wordplay creates humor, irony, emphasis, or thematic connection.
RefrainLiterary Device · Sound DevicesA refrain returns after intervening material, giving the text a structural and sonic anchor. It is a specific recurring unit, and it does not need to rhyme.
RepetitionLiterary Device · Syntax & StructureRepetition is the broad technique of bringing language or ideas back on purpose. More specific devices define where or how something recurs, so not every repeated feature belongs to the same subtype.
Rhetorical QuestionLiterary Device · Figures of SpeechA rhetorical question uses the form of a question to make readers consider a point. It may imply an answer, challenge an assumption, or express emotion, although someone could still choose to answer it.
Rhyme SchemeLiterary Device · Sound DevicesA rhyme scheme is the ordered pattern made by line-ending rhymes. Assign the same letter to endings that rhyme and a new letter to each new sound, then consider how the pattern shapes expectation or closure.
Rhythm and RhymeLiterary Device · Sound DevicesRhythm is the movement created by stresses, pauses, and syllable patterns; rhyme is the repetition of matching or similar sounds. Writers can use them separately, but when combined they give verse a memorable sound structure.
SatireLiterary FormSatire is a literary mode that exposes or criticizes folly, vice, institutions, or social conditions through strategies such as irony, exaggeration, parody, and ridicule. It may entertain as well as provoke judgment, and it need not target one character or prescribe a reform.
SettingLiterary ElementSetting comprises the time, place, social conditions, and material environment in which a narrative unfolds. It can constrain action, shape character expectations, and contribute to atmosphere and meaning.
SimileLiterary Device · Figures of SpeechA simile helps readers understand or imagine one thing by comparing it openly with something different. Words such as like or as often signal the comparison, but they count only when they connect unlike things figuratively.
SpoonerismLiterary Device · Sound DevicesA spoonerism swaps sounds between words, such as keys and cords becoming cays and kords in playful pronunciation. Identify the exchanged sound components rather than treating it as a wrong-word substitution.
StanzaLiterary FormA stanza is a grouped unit of lines within a poem, commonly marked by spacing and sometimes by a recurring metrical, rhythmic, or rhyme pattern. It functions as a structural grouping, somewhat like a paragraph in prose, but it is not itself a genre.
Stream of ConsciousnessLiterary Device · Narrative TechniquesStream of consciousness follows the movement of a character's mind as perceptions trigger memories, feelings, and associations. Track the associative transitions and reduced narrator explanation rather than assuming that any difficult or unpunctuated prose belongs to the technique.
SuspenseLiterary Device · Narrative TechniquesSuspense is the tension readers feel while waiting for an uncertain, consequential outcome. Writers build it by controlling time and information—delaying an answer, narrowing options, setting a deadline, or letting readers perceive danger before a character does.
SymbolLiterary Device · Themes & IdeasA symbol is something present in a text that carries meaning beyond what it literally is or does. Context and development connect the object, action, or event to the larger idea; the connection should be supported by the work, not guessed in isolation.
SynecdocheLiterary Device · Figures of SpeechSynecdoche substitutes a part for a whole, a whole for a part, or sometimes a member for a larger class. Name both referents and show the structural part-whole or member-class relationship between them.
SynesthesiaLiterary Device · Figures of SpeechLiterary synesthesia describes one sensory mode through language associated with another, such as a bright sound or a bitter color. Identify both senses and explain what the crossing contributes to the description.
SyntaxLiterary Device · Syntax & StructureSyntax concerns how a sentence is built, not just which words it contains. In literary analysis, readers examine choices such as order, length, repetition, interruption, and subordination to explain how sentence structure creates an effect.
ThemeLiterary ElementA theme is a significant idea, question, or pattern of meaning developed across a work. A theme is more than a one-word subject, and readers should support a thematic interpretation with evidence rather than assume a single authorial message.
ToneLiterary TermTone is the attitude a text's speaker, narrator, or implied author conveys toward a subject or audience. Diction, syntax, detail, and rhythm can make that attitude sound affectionate, skeptical, solemn, playful, or otherwise qualified.
TragedyLiterary FormTragedy is a dramatic or narrative genre centered on grave conflict, suffering, loss, or reversal and shaped to serious emotional and intellectual effect. Classical theories influence the term, but not every tragedy requires a fatal flaw, inevitable fate, or the protagonist's death.
UnderstatementLiterary Device · Figures of SpeechUnderstatement deliberately presents something as less serious, intense, valuable, or difficult than context indicates. Compare the wording with the known reality and explain what the gap accomplishes.
Unreliable NarratorLiterary Device · Narrative TechniquesAn unreliable narrator gives readers reasons to question the version of events being presented. Readers compare the narrator's claims with contradictions, omissions, other perspectives, or evidence in the story.
VerisimilitudeLiterary ConceptVerisimilitude is the quality of seeming true, plausible, or lifelike within a work's conventions. It concerns credible appearance and coherence, not whether represented events are factually true.
VerseLiterary FormVerse most broadly means language composed in poetic lines, especially in contrast with prose; it can also mean a line of metrical writing. In some contexts, including songs and popular usage, verse names a grouped section, so readers must identify the relevant sense.
ZeugmaLiterary Device · Figures of SpeechIn zeugma, one word does grammatical work across two or more coordinated parts of a sentence. The relationship may be straightforward, but many familiar examples create wit or surprise because the governing word takes on a different sense with each part.