Fifty Literary Devices

Question	Answer
Alliteration	Two or more words that start with the same letter.
Assonance	The repetition of vowel sounds.
Consonance	The repetition of consonant sounds in the middle or at the end of words
Anecdote	A short, interesting or amusing story used to support a point.
Imagery	When the writer or speaker uses their descriptions to access the senses of the reader or listener
Repetition	When the writer or speaker knowingly repeats a word or group of words for effect
Dialect	The language and pronunciation used by people of a certain area/class/group.
Archetype	A typical character, action or situation that seems to represent universal patterns of human nature, e.g. the hero, the mother figure, the villain / the journey, the fall, good vs evil / life, death, struggle.
Onomatopoeia	Words used to name sounds - e.g. BANG
Idiom	An accepted phrase or expression having a meaning different from the literal meaning e.g. 'Raining cats and dogs.'
Simile	Describing something by saying it is 'like' or 'as' another thing.
Metaphor	Describing something by saying it IS something else. e.g. 'Juliet is the sun...'
Hyperbole	Extravagant exaggeration used to emphasise a point, e.g. 'Mile high ice cream.'
Personification	Giving human or animal like qualities to inanimate objects.
Pathetic fallacy	Giving human qualities to nature/weather, e.g. 'angry skies'.
Connotation	A meaning that is implied by a word, other than the literal meaning, e.g. 'Wall Street' connotes wealth. 'Childish' and 'youthful' have the same literal meaning, however childish has a negative connotation relating to immature behaviour and youthful has a positive connotation.
Allegory	A story, play, or picture in which characters or settings are used as symbols or abstract ideas.
Allusion	A reference to something literary, mythological, or historical that the author assumes the reader will recognise.
Verisimilitude	In a literary work, verisimilitude is likeness to the truth i.e. resemblance of a fictitious work to a real event even if it is a far-fetched one. Being able to relate the theme to real life helps make a lasting impression on the reader.
Tone	The attitude a writer takes towards a subject, character, or the reader. The overall feeling of a text.
Exaggeration	Exaggeration is a statement that makes something better or worse than it actually is. It is used to create extra stress or drama in a piece of work.
Diction	A writer's or speaker's choice of words. Synonym - phraseology.
Oxymoron	An expression in which two words that contradict each other are joined, e.g.
Theme	Theme is defined as a main idea or an underlying meaning of a literary work that may be stated directly or indirectly. Themes can be major (the most significant) or minor (appears briefly and is replaced by another minor theme).
Narrative	Narrative is a report of related events presented to the listeners or readers in words arranged in a logical sequence.
Climax	The point at which the narrative at which the conflict or tension reaches it's highest point.
Protagonist	The central character or leading figure in a story.
Colloquial Language	Informal language; language that is conversational/chatty.
Euphemism	An indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is considered unpleasant/impolite, e.g. 'pass away' instead of 'die'.
Antagonist	A character or group of characters who stand in opposition to the protagonist.
Inciting Incident	The inciting incident in a plot is an event or a point that disturbs the actions and life of a protagonist and sets him/her to pursue a mission. It starts the action of a story.
Foil	Two characters that highlight each other by their differences.
Foreshadowing	The use of hints and clues to suggest what will happen later in a plot.
Juxtaposition	Placing two elements side by side to present a comparison or contrast, e.g. 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness...'
Extended Metaphor	A comparison between two unlike things that continues throughout a series of sentences in a paragraph.
Mood	literary element that evokes certain feelings or vibes in readers through words and descriptions.
Perspective	A writer may narrate the story from his/her own perspective (third person) , or from the perspective of a character or characters (first person).
Paradox	An apparently contradictory statement that actually contains some truth, e.g. 'I am nobody.'
Pun	A play on words, often achieved through the use of words with similar sounds but different meanings.
Rhetorical Question	A question asked for an effect, e.g. to make the reader think/not actually requiring an answer.
Sarcasm	Mocking words intended to amuse or hurt someone.
Satire	A literary work that ridicules or criticises a human vice through humour or derision.
Symbolism	Use of symbols that stand for or represent something else, e.g. red - love or danger.
Understatement	Saying less than one means, for effect.
Wit	Intellectually amusing language that surprises and delights.
Stream of Conciousness	A style of writing in which the author tries to reproduce the random flow of thoughts in the human mind.
Suspense	Suspense is a literary device that authors use to keep their readers’ interest alive throughout the work. It is a feeling of anticipation that something risky or dangerous is about to happen.
Epiphany	A moment of sudden realisation or insight.
Motif	An image, object or idea that repeats itself throughout a literary work.
Atmosphere	The emotional mood created by a literary work.

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Fifty Literary Devices

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