10 most common literary devices used in creative writing

TRY OUR FREE APP

Write your book in Reedsy Studio. Try the beloved writing app for free today.

Craft your masterpiece in Reedsy Studio

Plan, write, edit, and format your book in our free app made for authors.

Blog • Perfecting your Craft , Book Design

Last updated on May 22, 2024

100 Literary Devices With Examples: The Ultimate List

Literary devices are perhaps the greatest tools that writers have in literature. Just think — Shakespeare could have written: Everyone has a role in life.

Instead, he used a literary device and penned what is likely the most famous metaphor in literature:

All the world’s a stage

And all the men and women merely players

And the rest is history.

What are literary devices?

A literary device is a writing technique that writers use to express ideas, convey meaning, and highlight important themes in a piece of text. A metaphor, like we mentioned earlier, is a famous example of a literary device.

These devices serve a wide range of purposes in literature. Some might work on an intellectual level, while others have a more emotional effect. They may also work subtly to improve the flow and pacing of your writing. No matter what, if you're looking to inject something special into your prose, literary devices are a great place to start.

How to identify literary devices

A writer using a literary device is quite different from a reader identifying it. Often, an author’s use of a literary device is subtle by design —you only feel its effect, and not its presence. 

Therefore, we’ve structured this post for both purposes:    

• If you’re a reader, we’ve included examples for each literary device to make it easier for you to identify them in the wild. 
• If you’re a writer, we’ve included exercises for the literary devices, so that you can practice using them in your works. 

Let’s get to it.

100 common literary devices, with examples

1. alliteration.

Alliteration describes a series of words in quick succession that all start with the same letter or sound. It lends a pleasing cadence to prose and Hamlet and the dollar as currency in Macbeth .

Example: “ One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally,

And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.” — “Death, Be Not Proud” by John Donne

Exercise: Pick a letter and write a sentence where every word starts with that letter or one that sounds similar. 

2. Anaphora

Anaphora is the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of a series of clauses or sentences. It’s often seen in poetry and speeches, intended to provoke an emotional response in its audience.

Example: Martin Luther King’s 1963 “I Have A Dream” speech.

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed.

"… and I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the 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.”

Exercise: Pick a famous phrase and write a paragraph elaborating on an idea, beginning each sentence with that phrase. 

Related term: repetition

3. Anastrophe

Anastrophe is a figure of speech wherein the traditional sentence structure is reversed. So a typical verb-subject-adjective sentence such as “Are you ready?” becomes a Yoda-esque adjective-verb-subject question: “Ready, are you?” Or a standard adjective-noun pairing like “tall mountain” becomes “mountain tall.”

Example: “Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing.” — “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe

Exercise: Write a standard verb-subject-adjective sentence or adjective-noun pairing then flip the order to create an anastrophe. How does it change the meaning or feeling of the sentence?

4. Chiasmus

Chiasmus is when two or more parallel clauses are inverted. “Why would I do that?” you may be wondering. Well, a chiasmus might sound confusing and unnecessary in theory, but it's much more convincing in practice — and in fact, you've likely already come across it before.

Example: “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” — John F. Kennedy

5. Congeries

Congeries is a fancy literary term for creating a list. The items in your list can be words, ideas, or phrases, and by displaying them this way helps prove or emphasize a point — or even create a sense of irony. Occasionally, it’s also called piling as the words are “piling up.”

Example: "Apart from better sanitation and medicine and education and irrigation and public health and roads and a freshwater system and baths and public order, what have the Romans done for us?" — Monty Python’s Life of Brian

6. Cumulative sentence

A cumulative sentence (or “loose sentence”) is one that starts with an independent clause, but then has additional or modifying clauses. They’re often used for contextual or clarifying details. This may sound complex, but even, “I ran to the store to buy milk, bread, and toilet paper” is a cumulative sentence, because the first clause, “I ran to the store,” is a complete sentence, while the rest tells us extra information about your run to the store.

Example: “It was a large bottle of gin Albert Cousins had brought to the party, yes, but it was in no way large enough to fill all the cups, and in certain cases to fill them many times over, for the more than one hundred guests, some of whom were dancing not four feet in front of him.” – Commonwealth by Ann Patchett

Example: Write three sentences that are related to each other. Can you combine the information into a cumulative sentence? 

FREE RESOURCE

Literary Devices Cheatsheet

Master these 40+ devices to level up your writing skills.

7. Epistrophe

Epistrophe is the opposite of anaphora, with this time a word or phrase being repeated at the end of a sentence. Though its placement in a sentence is different it serves the same purpose—creating emphasis—as an anaphora does. 

Example: “I’ll be ever’where – wherever you look. Wherever they’s a fight so hungry people can eat, I’ll be there. Wherever they’s a cop beatin’ up a guy, I’ll be there . If Casy knowed, why, I’ll be in the way guys yell when they’re mad an’ – I’ll be in the way kids laugh when they’re hungry an’ they know supper’s ready. An’ when our folks eat the stuff they raise an’ live in the houses they build, why, I’ll be there .” — The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Related terms:  repetition, anaphora

Exercise: Write a paragraph where a phrase or a word is repeated at the end of every sentence, emphasizing the point you’re trying to make. 

8. Erotesis

Erotesis is a close cousin of the rhetorical question. Rather than a question asked without expectation of an answer, this is when the question (and the asker) confidently expects a response that is either negative or affirmative. 

Example: “ Do you then really think that you have committed your follies in order to spare your son them?” — Siddhartha by Herman Hesse

Related term:  rhetorical question

9. Hyperbaton

Hyperbaton is the inversion of words, phrases, or clauses in a sentence that differs from how they would normally be arranged. It comes from the Greek hyperbatos, which means “transposed” or “inverted.” While it is similar to anastrophe, it doesn’t have the same specific structure and allows you to rearrange your sentences in whatever order you want. 

Example: “Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire.” — “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe

Related terms:  anastrophe, epistrophe

10. Isocolon

If you’re a neat freak who likes things just so , isocolon is the literary device for you. This is when two or more phrases or clauses have similar structure, rhythm, and even length — such that, when stacked up on top of each other, they would line up perfectly. Isocolon often crops up in brand slogans and famous sayings; the quick, balanced rhythm makes the phrase catchier and more memorable.

Example: Veni, vidi, vici (“I came, I saw, I conquered”)

11. Litotes

Litotes (pronounced lie-toe-teez ) is the signature literary device of the double negative. Writers use litotes to express certain sentiments through their opposites, by saying that that opposite is not the case. Don’t worry, it makes more sense with the examples. 😉

Examples: “You won’t be sorry” (meaning you’ll be happy); “you’re not wrong” (meaning you’re right); “I didn’t not like it” (meaning I did)

12. Malapropism

If Shakespeare is the king of metaphors, Michael Scott is the king of malapropisms . A malapropism is when similar-sounding words replace their appropriate counterparts, typically to comic effect — one of the most commonly cited is “dance a flamingo,” rather than a “flamenco.” Malapropisms are often employed in dialogue when a character flubs up their speech.

Example: “I am not to be truffled with.”

Exercise: Choose a famous or common phrase and see if you can replace a word with a similar sounding one that changes the meaning. 

13. Onomatopoeia

Amusingly, onomatopoeia (itself a difficult-to-pronounce word) refers to words that sound like the thing they’re referring to. Well-known instances of onomatopoeia include whiz, buzz, snap, grunt, etc.

Example: The excellent children's book Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type . “Farmer Brown has a problem. His cows like to type. All day long he hears: Click, clack, moo. Click, clack, moo. Clickety, clack, moo. ”

Exercise: Take some time to listen to the sounds around you and write down what you hear. Now try to use those sounds in a short paragraph or story. 

14. Oxymoron 

An oxymoron comes from two contradictory words that describe one thing. While juxtaposition contrasts two story elements, oxymorons are about the actual words you are using.

Example: "Parting is such sweet sorrow.” — Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. (Find 100 more examples of oxymorons here .)

Related terms: juxtaposition, paradox

Exercise: Choose two words with opposite meanings and see if you can use them in a sentence to create a coherent oxymoron. 

15. Parallelism

Parallelism is all about your sentence structure. It’s when similar ideas, sounds, phrases, or words are arranged in a way that is harmonious or creates a parallel, hence the name. It can add rhythm and meter to any piece of writing and can often be found in poetry. 

Example: “ That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” — Neil Armstrong

Which famous author do you write like?

Find out which literary luminary is your stylistic soulmate. Takes one minute!

16. Polysyndeton

Instead of using a single conjunction in lengthy statements, polysyndeton uses several in succession for a dramatic effect. This one is definitely for authors looking to add a bit of artistic flair to their writing, or who are hoping to portray a particular (usually naïve) sort of voice.

Example: “Luster came away from the flower tree and we went along the fence and they stopped and we stopped and I looked through the fence while Luster was hunting in the grass.” — The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

Exercise: Write three or four independent sentences. Try combining them using conjunctions. What kind of effect does this have on the overall meaning and tone of the piece?

17. Portmanteau

A portmanteau is when two words are combined to form a new word which refers to a single concept that retains the meanings of both the original words. Modern language is full of portmanteaus. In fact, the portmanteau is itself a portmanteau. It’s a combination of the French porter (to carry) and manteau (cloak). 

Example: Brunch (breakfast and lunch); cosplay (costume and roleplay); listicle (list and article); romcom (romance and comedy)

Exercise: Pick two words that are often used together to describe a single concept. See if there’s a way to combine them and create a single word that encompasses the meaning of both.

18. Repetition

Repetition , repetition, repetition… where would we be without it? Though too much repetition is rarely a good thing, occasional repetition can be used quite effectively to drill home a point, or to create a certain atmosphere. For example, horror writers often use repetition to make the reader feel trapped and scared.

Example: In The Shining , Jack Torrance types over and over again on his pages,  “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” In this case, obsessive repetition demonstrates the character’s unraveling mind.

Related term: anaphora

Exercise: Repetition can be used to call attention to an idea or phrase. Pick an idea you want to emphasize and write a few sentences about it. Are there any places where you can add repetition to make it more impactful? 

19. Tautology

A tautology is when a sentence or short paragraph repeats a word or phrase, expressing the same idea twice. Often, this is a sign that you should trim your work to remove the redundancy (such as “frozen ice”) but can also be used for poetic emphasis.

Example: "But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping, And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door" – “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe

20. Tmesis 

Tmesis is when a word or phrase is broken up by an interjecting word, such as abso-freaking-lutely. It’s used to draw out and emphasize the idea, often with a humorous or sarcastic slant.

Example: "This is not Romeo, he's some-other-where." – Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

21. Allegory

An allegory is a type of narrative that uses characters and plot to depict abstract ideas and themes . In an allegorical story, things represent more than they appear to on the surface. Many children's fables, such as The Tortoise and the Hare , are simple allegories about morality — but allegories can also be dark, complex, and controversial. 

Example: Animal Farm by George Orwell. This dystopian novella is one of modern literature’s best-known allegories. A commentary on the events leading up to Stalin's rise and the formation of the Soviet Union, the pigs at the heart of the novel represent figures such as Stalin, Trotsky, and Molotov.

Exercise: Pick a major trend or problem in the world and consider what defines it. Try and create a story where that trend plays out on a smaller scale. 

22. Anecdote

An anecdote is like a short story within a story. Sometimes, they are incredibly short—only a line or two—and their purpose is to add a character’s perspective, knowledge, or experience to a situation. They can be inspirational, humorous, or be used to inspire actions in others. Since anecdotes are so short, don’t expect them to be part of a main story. They’re usually told by a character and part of the dialogue. 

Example: Marcel Proust’s Swann’s Way , part of his series of novels, In Search of Lost Time, deals with the themes of remembrance and memory. In one section of this book, to illustrate these ideas, the main character recalls an important memory of eating a madeleine cookie. “Many years had elapsed during which nothing of Combray, save what was comprised in the theatre and the drama of my going to bed there, had any existence for me, when one day in winter, as I came home, my mother, seeing that I was cold, offered me some tea, a thing I did not ordinarily take. I declined at first, and then, for no particular reason, changed my mind. She sent out for one of those short, plump little cakes called ‘petites madeleines,’ which look as though they had been moulded in the fluted scallop of a pilgrim’s shell.”

23. Deus Ex Machina

Literally meaning “god in the machine” in Greek, deus ex machina is a plot device where an impossible situation is solved by the appearance of an unexpected or unheard of character, action, object, or event. This brings about a quick and usually happy resolution for a story and can be used to surprise an audience, provide comic relief, or provide a fix for a complicated plot. However, deus ex machinas aren’t always looked upon favorably and can sometimes be seen as lazy writing, so they should be used sparingly and with great thought. 

Example: William Golding’s famous novel of a group of British boys marooned on a desert island is resolved with a deus ex machina. At the climax of The Lord of the Flies, just as Ralph is about to be killed by Jack, a naval officer arrives to rescue the boys and bring them back to civilization. It’s an altogether unexpected and bloodless ending for a story about the boys’ descent into savagery. 

Exercise: Consider the ending of your favorite book or movie and then write an alternate ending that uses a deus ex machina to resolve the main conflict. How does this affect the overall story in terms of theme and tone?

If you struggle to write consistently, sign up for our How to Write a Novel course to finish a novel in just 3 months. 

NEW REEDSY COURSE

How to Write a Novel

Enroll in our course and become an author in three months.

24. Dramatic irony

Dramatic irony is when the readers know more about the situation going on than at least one of the characters involved. This creates a difference between the ways the audience and the characters perceive unfolding events. For instance, if we know that one character is having an affair, when that character speaks to their spouse, we will pick up on the lies and double-meanings of their words, while the spouse may take them at face value.

Example: In Titanic , the audience knows from the beginning of the movie that the boat will sink. This creates wry humor when characters remark on the safety of the ship.

25. Exposition

Exposition is when the narrative provides background information in order to help the reader understand what’s going on. When used in conjunction with description and dialogue, this literary device provides a richer understanding of the characters, setting, and events. Be careful, though — too much exposition will quickly become boring, thus undercutting the emotional impact of your work.

Example: “The Dursley’s had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it.” – Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

Exercise: Pick your favorite story and write a short paragraph introducing it to someone who knows nothing about it. 

26. Flashback

Flashbacks to previous events split up present-day scenes in a story, usually to build suspense toward a big reveal. Flashbacks are also an interesting way to present exposition for your story, gradually revealing to the reader what happened in the past.

Example: Every other chapter in the first part of Gone Girl is a flashback, with Amy’s old diary entries describing her relationship with her husband before she disappeared.

Related term: foreshadowing

27. Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing is when the author hints at events yet to come in a story. Similar to flashbacks (and often used in conjunction with them), this technique is also used to create tension or suspense — giving readers just enough breadcrumbs to keep them hungry for more.

Example: One popular method of foreshadowing is through partial reveals — the narrator leaves out key facts to prompt readers’ curiosity. Jeffrey Eugenides does this in The Virgin Suicides : “On the morning the last Lisbon daughter took her turn at suicide — it was Mary this time, and sleeping pills, like Therese, the two paramedics arrived at the house knowing exactly where the knife drawer was, and the gas oven, and the beam in the basement from which it was possible to tie a rope.”

Related term: flashback

Exercise: Go back to your favorite book or movie. Can you identify any instances of foreshadowing in the early portions of the story for events that happen in the future? 

28. Frame story

A frame story is any part of the story that "frames" another part of it, such as one character telling another about their past, or someone uncovering a diary or a series of news articles that then tell the readers what happened. Since the frame story supports the rest of the plot, it is mainly used at the beginning and the end of the narrative, or in small interludes between chapters or short stories.

Example: In The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, Kvothe is telling Chronicler the story of his life over the span of three days. Most of the novel is the story he is telling, while the frame is any part that takes place in the inn.

29. In Medias Res

In medias res is a Latin term that means "in the midst of things" and is a way of starting a narrative without exposition or contextual information. It launches straight into a scene or action that is already unfolding. 

Example: “Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.” — The opening line of One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

Exercise: Pick a story you enjoy and rewrite the opening scene so that it starts in the middle of the story. 

30. Point of view

Point of view is, of course, the mode of narration in a story. There are many POVs an author can choose, and each one will have a different impact on the reading experience.

Example: Second person POV is uncommon because it directly addresses the reader — not an easy narrative style to pull off. One popular novel that manages to employ this perspective successfully is Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney: “You are not the kind of guy who would be at a place like this at this time of the morning. But here you are, and you cannot say that the terrain is entirely unfamiliar, although the details are fuzzy.”

Exercise: Write a short passage in either first, second, or third person. Then rewrite that passage in the other two points of view, only changing the pronouns. How does the change in POV affect the tone and feel of the story? 

FREE COURSE

Understanding Point of View

Learn to master different POVs and choose the best for your story.

31. Soliloquy 

Soliloquy involves a character speaking their thoughts aloud, usually at length (and often in a Shakespeare play). The character in question may be alone or in the company of others, but they’re not speaking for the benefit of other people; the purpose of a soliloquy is for a character to reflect independently.

Example: Hamlet’s “to be or not to be” speech, in which he ruminates on the nature of life and death, is a classic dramatic soliloquy.

Exercise: Pick a character from your favorite book or movie and write a soliloquy from their point of view where they consider their thoughts and feelings on an important part of their story or character arc. 

Which writing app is right for you?

Find out here! Takes 30 seconds

Tone refers to the overall mood and message of your book. It’s established through a variety of means, including voice, characterization, symbolism, and themes. Tone sets the feelings you want your readers to take away from the story.

Example: No matter how serious things get in The Good Place , there is always a chance for a character to redeem themselves by improving their behavior. The tone remains hopeful for the future of humanity in the face of overwhelming odds.

Exercise: Write a short paragraph in an upbeat tone. Now using the same situation you came up with, rewrite that passage in a darker or sadder tone. 

33. Tragicomedy

Tragicomedy is just what it sounds like: a blend of tragedy and comedy. Tragicomedy helps an audience process darker themes by allowing them to laugh at the situation even when circumstances are bleak.

Example: Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events uses wordplay, absurd situations, and over-the-top characters to provide humor in an otherwise tragic story.

34. Allusion

An allusion is a reference to a person, place, thing, concept, or other literary work that a reader is likely to recognize. A lot of meaning can be packed into an allusion and it’s often used to add depth to a story. Many works of classic Western literature will use allusions to the Bible to expand on or criticize the morals of their time. 

Example: “The two knitting women increase his anxiety by gazing at him and all the other sailors with knowing unconcern. Their eerie looks suggest that they know what will happen (the men dying), yet don’t care.” The two women knitting in this passage from Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness are a reference to the Fates from Greek mythology, who decide the fate of humanity by spinning and cutting the threads of life.

Exercise: In a relatively simple piece of writing, see how many times you can use allusions. Go completely crazy. Once you’re finished, try to cut it down to a more reasonable amount and watch for how it creates deeper meaning in your piece. 

35. Analogy

An analogy connects two seemingly unrelated concepts to show their similarities and expand on a thought or idea. They are similar to metaphors and similes, but usually take the comparison much further than either of these literary devices as they are used to support a claim rather than provide imagery. 

Example: “ It has been well said that an author who expects results from a first novel is in a position similar to that of a man who drops a rose petal down the Grand Canyon of Arizona and listens for the echo.” — P.G. Wodehouse

Exercise: Pick two seemingly unrelated nouns and try to connect them with a verb to create an analogy. 

36. Anthropomorphism

To anthropomorphize is to apply human traits or qualities to a non-human thing such as objects, animals, or the weather. But unlike personification, in which this is done through figurative description, anthropomorphism is literal: a sun with a smiling face, for example, or talking dogs in a cartoon.

Examples: In Disney’s Beauty and the Beast , Mrs. Potts the teapot, Cogsworth the clock, and Lumière the candlestick are all household objects that act and behave like humans (which, of course, they were when they weren’t under a spell).

Related term: personification

Exercise: Pick a non-human object and describe it as if it was human, literally ascribing human thoughts, feelings, and senses to it. 

37. Aphorism

An aphorism is a universally accepted truth stated in a concise, to-the-point way. Aphorisms are typically witty and memorable, often becoming adages or proverbs as people repeat them over and over.

Example: “To err is human, to forgive divine.” — Alexander Pope

38. Archetype

An archetype is a “universal symbol” that brings familiarity and context to a story. It can be a character, a setting, a theme, or an action. Archetypes represent feelings and situations that are shared across cultures and time periods, and are therefore instantly recognizable to any audience — for instance, the innocent child character, or the theme of the inevitability of death.

Example: Superman is a heroic archetype: noble, self-sacrificing, and drawn to righting injustice whenever he sees it.

Exercise: Pick an archetype — either a character or a theme — and use it to write a short piece centered around that idea. 

A cliché is a saying or idea that is used so often it becomes seen as unoriginal. These phrases might become so universal that, despite their once intriguing nature, they're now looked down upon as uninteresting and overused. 

Examples: Some common cliches you might have encountered are phrases like “easy as pie” and “light as a feather.” Some lines from famous books and movies have become so popular that they are now in and of themselves cliches such as Darth Vader’s stunning revelation from The Empire Strikes Back, “Luke, I am your father.” Also, many classic lines of Shakespeare are now considered cliches like, “All that glitters is not gold” from The Merchant of Venice. 

Exercise: Write a short passage using as many cliches as possible. Now try to cut them out and replace them with more original phrasing. See how the two passages compare. 

40. Colloquialism

Colloquialism is the use of casual and informal language in writing, which can also include slang. Writers use colloquialisms to provide context to settings and characters, and to make their writing sound more authentic. Imagine reading a YA novel that takes place in modern America, and the characters speak to each other like this:

“Good morning, Sue. I hope that you slept well and are prepared for this morning’s science exam.”

It’s not realistic. Colloquialisms help create believable dialogue :

“Hey Sue, what’d you get up to last night? This science test is gonna suck.”

Example: Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh takes place in Scotland, a fact made undeniably obvious by the dialect: “Thing is, as ye git aulder, this character-deficiency gig becomes mair sapping. Thir wis a time ah used tae say tae aw the teachers, bosses, dole punters, poll-tax guys, magistrates, when they telt me ah was deficient: ’Hi, cool it, gadge, ah’m jist me, jist intae a different sort ay gig fae youse but, ken?’”

Exercise: Write a dialogue between two characters as formally as possible. Now take that conversation and make it more colloquial. Imagine that you’re having this conversation with a friend. Mimic your own speech patterns as you write. 

41. Euphemism

A euphemism is an indirect, “polite” way of describing something too inappropriate or awkward to address directly. However, most people will still understand the truth about what's happening.

Example: When an elderly person is forced to retire, some might say they’re being “put out to pasture.”

Exercise: Write a paragraph where you say things very directly. Now rewrite that paragraph using only euphemisms. 

42. Hyperbole

Hyperbole is an exaggerated statement that emphasizes the significance of the statement’s actual meaning. When a friend says, "Oh my god, I haven't seen you in a million years," that's hyperbole.

Example: “At that time Bogotá was a remote, lugubrious city where an insomniac rain had been falling since the beginning of the 16th century.” — Living to Tell the Tale by Gabriel García Márquez

Exercise: Tall tales often make use of hyperbole to tell an exaggerated story. Use hyperbole to relate a completely mundane event or experience to turn it into a tall tale. 

43. Hypophora

Hypophora is much like a rhetorical question, wherein someone asks a question that doesn't require an 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.

Example: “Do you always watch for the longest day of the year and then miss it? I always watch for the longest day in the year and then miss it.” — Daisy in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

An idiom is a saying that uses figurative language whose meaning differs from what it literally says. These phrases originate from common cultural experiences, even if that experience has long ago been forgotten. Without cultural context, idioms don’t often make sense and can be the toughest part for non-native speakers to understand. 

Example: In everyday use, idioms are fairly common. We say things like, “It’s raining cats and dogs” to say that it’s downpouring. 

Exercise: Idioms are often used in dialogue. Write a conversation between two people where idioms are used to express their main points. 

45. Imagery

Imagery appeals to readers’ senses through highly descriptive language. It’s crucial for any writer hoping to follow the rule of "show, don’t tell," as strong imagery truly paints a picture of the scene at hand.

Example: “In the hard-packed dirt of the midway, after the glaring lights are out and the people have gone to bed, you will find a veritable treasure of popcorn fragments, frozen custard dribblings, candied apples abandoned by tired children, sugar fluff crystals, salted almonds, popsicles, partially gnawed ice cream cones and wooden sticks of lollipops.” — Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

Exercise: Choose an object, image, or idea and use the five senses to describe it. 

Show, Don't Tell

Master the golden rule of writing in 10 five-minute lessons.

Irony creates a contrast between how things seem and how they really are. There are three types of literary irony : dramatic (when readers know what will happen before characters do), situational (when readers expect a certain outcome, only to be surprised by a turn of events), and verbal (when the intended meaning of a statement is the opposite of what was said).

Example: This opening scene from Orson Welles’ A Touch of Evil is a great example of how dramatic irony can create tension.

47. Juxtaposition

Juxtaposition places two or more dissimilar characters, themes, concepts, etc. side by side, and the profound contrast highlights their differences. Why is juxtaposition such an effective literary device? Well, because sometimes the best way for us to understand something is by understanding what it’s not .

Example: In the opening lines of A Tale of Two Cities , Charles Dickens uses juxtaposition to emphasize the societal disparity that led to the French Revolution: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness…”

Related terms: oxymoron, paradox

Exercise: Pick two ideas, objects, places, or people that seem like complete opposites. Introduce them side by side in the beginning of your piece and highlight their similarities and differences throughout. 

48. Metaphor

A metaphor compares two similar things by saying that one of them is the other. As you'd likely expect, when it comes to literary devices, this one is a heavy hitter. And if a standard metaphor doesn't do the trick, a writer can always try an extended metaphor : a metaphor that expands on the initial comparison through more elaborate parallels.

Example: Metaphors are literature’s bread and butter (metaphor intended) — good luck finding a novel that is free of them. Here’s one from 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.”

Related term: simile

Exercise: Write two lists: one with tangible objects and the other concepts. Mixing and matching, try to create metaphors where you describe the concepts using physical objects.

One metaphor example not enough? Check out this post , which has 97 of ‘em!

49. Metonymy

Metonymy is like symbolism, but even more so. A metonym doesn’t just symbolize something else, it comes to serve as a synonym for that thing or things — typically, a single object embodies an entire institution.

Examples: “The crown” representing the monarchy, “Washington” representing the U.S. government.

Related term: synecdoche

Exercise: Create a list of ten common metonymies you might encounter in everyday life and speech.

Whatever form a motif takes, it recurs throughout the novel and helps develop the theme of the narrative. This might be a symbol, concept, or image.

Example: In Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, trains are an omnipresent motif that symbolize transition, derailment, and ultimately violent death and destruction.

Related term: symbol

Exercise: Pick a famous book or movie and see if you can identify any common motifs within it. 

51. Non sequitur

Non sequiturs are statements that don't logically follow what precedes them. They’ll often be quite absurd and can lend humor to a story. But they’re just not good for making jokes. They can highlight missing information or a miscommunication between characters and even be used for dramatic effect. 

Example: “It was a spring day, the sort that gives people hope: all soft winds and delicate smells of warm earth. Suicide weather.” — Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen 

Exercise: Write a conversation that gets entirely derailed by seemingly unrelated non sequiturs. 

52. Paradox

Paradox derives from the Greek word paradoxon , which means “beyond belief.” It’s a statement that asks people to think outside the box by providing seemingly illogical — and yet actually true — premises.

Example: In George Orwell’s 1984 , the slogan of the totalitarian government is built on paradoxes: “War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength.” While we might read these statements as obviously contradictory, in the context of Orwell’s novel, these blatantly corrupt sentiments have become an accepted truth.

Related terms: oxymoron, juxtaposition

Exercise: Try writing your own paradox. First, think of two opposing ideas that can be juxtaposed against each other. Then, create a situation where these contradictions coexist with each other. What can you gather from this unique perspective?

53. Personification

Personification uses human traits to describe non-human things. Again, while the aforementioned anthropomorphism actually applies these traits to non-human things, personification means the behavior of the thing does not actually change. It's personhood in figurative language only.

Example: “Just before it was dark, as they passed a great island of Sargasso weed that heaved and swung in the light sea as though the ocean were making love with something under a yellow blanket, his small line was taken by a dolphin.” — The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

Related term: anthropomorphism

Exercise: Pick a non-human object and describe it using human traits, this time using similes and metaphors rather than directly ascribing human traits to it. 

54. Rhetorical question

A rhetorical question is asked to create an effect rather than to solicit an answer from the listener or reader. Often it has an obvious answer and the point of asking is to create emphasis. It’s a great way to get an audience to consider the topic at hand and make a statement. 

Example: “If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?” — The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare

Writers use satire to make fun of some aspect of human nature or society — usually through exaggeration, ridicule, or irony. There are countless ways to satirize something; most of the time, you know it when you read it.

Example: The famous adventure novel Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift is a classic example of satire, poking fun at “travelers' tales,” the government, and indeed human nature itself.

A simile draws resemblance between two things by saying “Thing A is like Thing B,” or “Thing A is as [adjective] as Thing B.” Unlike a metaphor, a similar does not posit that these things are the same, only that they are alike. As a result, it is probably the most common literary device in writing — you can almost always recognize a simile through the use of “like” or “as.”

Example: There are two similes in this description from Circe by Madeline Miller: “The ships were golden and huge as leviathans, their rails carved from ivory and horn. They were towed by grinning dolphins or else crewed by fifty black-haired nereids, faces silver as moonlight.”

Related term: metaphor

57. Symbolism

Authors turn to tangible symbols to represent abstract concepts and ideas in their stories  Symbols typically derive from objects or non-humans — for instance, a dove might represent peace, or a raven might represent death.

Example: In The Great Gatsby , Fitzgerald uses the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg (actually a faded optometrist's billboard) to represent God and his judgment of the Jazz Age.

Related term: motif

Exercise: Choose an object that you want to represent something — like an idea or concept. Now, write a poem or short story centered around that symbol. 

58. Synecdoche

Synecdoche is the usage of a part to represent the whole. That is, rather than an object or title that’s merely associated with the larger concept (as in metonymy), synecdoche must actually be attached in some way: either to the name, or to the larger whole itself.

Examples: “Stanford won the game” ( Stanford referring to the full title of the Stanford football team) or “Nice wheels you got there” ( wheels referring to the entire car)

Related term:  metonymy

Zeugma is when one word is used to ascribe two separate meanings to two other words. This literary device is great for adding humor and figurative flair as it tends to surprise the reader. And it’s just a fun type of wordplay. 

Example: “ Yet time and her aunt moved slowly — and her patience and her ideas were nearly worn out before the tete-a-tete was over.” — Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

60. Zoomorphism 

Zoomorphism is when you take animal traits and assign them to anything that’s not an animal. It’s the opposite of anthropomorphism and personification, and can be either a physical manifestation, such as a god appearing as an animal, or a comparison, like calling someone a busy bee .

Example: When vampires turn into bats, their bat form is an instance of zoomorphism.

Exercise: Describe a human or object by using traits that are usually associated with animals. 

Related terms: anthropomorphism, personification

61. Enjambment

French for “straddle,” enjambment denotes the continuation of a sentence from one poetic line to the next. It’s the opposite of an end-stopped line. 

Example : The first line in T.S. Eilot’s “The Waste Land” is an example of enjambment: 

“April is the cruellest month, breeding

Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing.”

Related terms: end-stop

62. Euphony

Euphony is the acoustic effect of a combination of words that’s pleasing to the ear. Indeed, it leads by example: if you say “euphony” out loud, the assonance of the word itself is harmonious.

Example: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? / Thou art more lovely and more temperate.”

Related terms: cacophony, alliteration

63. Pathetic fallacy   

Pathetic fallacy is a form of personification, where an author gives human emotions to an inanimate object. 

Example: “The sky wept.”

64. Anagram

If you like puzzles, you might have already heard of an anagram : a new word or phrase a writer can form by re-ordering the letters of another word. Note that an anagram is not the same as a palindrome or a semordnilap, as the letters need to come in a different order, and not simply read back to front.

Example: “brag” is an anagram of “grab,” and vice versa. We can go on. “Night” is an anagram of “thing”!

Related terms: palindrome, semordnilap

65. Antithesis

Made up of two different words (“anti” and “thesis”), antithesis is a literary device that juxtaposes opposing ideas, words, or images. Usually, these two contrasting ideas will be written with similar grammatical structure for dramatic effect.

Example: Neil Armstrong perhaps unintentionally created an example of antithesis when he famously said, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Related terms: juxtaposition

66. Circumlocution

Circumlocution is the opposite of saying something directly: instead, it’s when a writer states something in an ambiguous, unclear, or roundabout way. “Talking in circles” is the end result.

Example: Look to any politicians for examples of circumlocution. The pigs in George Orwell’s Animal Farm , for instance, vaguely say in many words, “For the time being it has been found necessary to make a readjustment of rations,” in order to mask the fact that they’ve simply stolen food from the other animals.

Related terms: periphrasis

67. Epigraph

In literature, an epigraph is the quotation (or sometimes the phrase) at the beginning of a book or chapter. It’s entirely optional on the author’s part, but can offer a thematic direction for the reader.

Example: In The Sun Also Rises , Ernest Hemingway uses Gertrude Stein’s “You are all a lost generation” quote to kick off a chapter.

Related terms: intertextuality

Mood in writing refers to the emotions that the writer makes a reader feel through the text. Many factors contribute to this effect, but the writer’s use of language is perhaps the most primary of them.

Example: When you read an Agatha Christie novel, what do you feel? Happy? Excited? Joyous? Probably not. You’re more likely to be nervous, anxious, and tense because of her stories — and that’s in part due to the suspenseful mood she successfully creates through her language.

Related terms: atmosphere

69. Diction

Diction refers to the words that an author chooses to put in writing. This linguistic choice helps the writer express an idea, or achieve a certain effect. In speech, it also refers to the style of enunciation.

Example: The diction that an author chooses for their characters is important, and can tell you about the characters themselves — whether they’re rich or poor, where they’re from, and how old they are. “

Related terms: tone, dialogue, narrative voice

70. Vignette

As a literary device, a vignette is a short scene without a beginning, middle, or end. Instead, it starts in medias res and captures a certain moment in time or is a character-creating detail.

Example: The cold opens of many sitcoms are great examples of vignettes. They are short scenes unrelated to the main plot of the episode, but set the humorous mood that will follow.

Related terms: in medias res  

A foil character is a supporting character whose main purpose is to provide contrast to the protagonist in some shape or form, whether it’s the protagonist’s traits, dreams, or goals.

Example: In Pride and Prejudice , Mr. Wickham serves as Mr. Darcy’s foil. Without Wickham’s decadent, gold-digging ways, we’d never learn the extent of Darcy’s honesty, or his goodness.

72. Antistrophe

The term antistrophe describes a specific type of repetition — that of a word, or a phrase, repeating at the end of consecutive sentences. You’ll commonly see it used in poetry, although books and speeches will also make use of it.

Example: “Wherever there's a fight so hungry people can eat, I’ll be there. Wherever they’s a cop beatin’ up a guy, I’ll be there. […] An’ when our folks eat the stuff they raise an’ live in the houses they build — why, I’ll be there.” — John Steinbeck, Grapes of Wrath

73. Polyptoton

As you’re reading this post, do you find it readable? Congrats: you just encountered a case of polyptoton , which is otherwise known as the repetition of two words that share the shame root (“reading” and “readable,” for instance, “trick” and “trickery,” or “ignorant” and “ignorance.”)

Example: In the phrase, “Who shall watch the watchmen?”, the repetition of “watch” and “watchmen” is an example of polyptoton.

74. Anthimeria

Anthimeria captures the act of turning a word from one part of speech into another: for instance, when an author uses a word that was originally a noun as a verb.

Example: “Chill” is perhaps a popular example by now. Originally a noun, it’s now used everywhere as a verb that means “to relax.”

75. Double entendre

A double entendre is exactly what it says on the tin: a word with two, or double, meanings. What’s more? Often the second meaning is something a tad risqué.

Example: William Shakespeare was a master when it came to double entendres. Just take Mercutio’s statement: “Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man.” Here, the word “grave” pulls double duty, as it means both to be  “serious” and hints at death.

Related terms: pun

76. Paraprosdokian

Paraprosdokian literally means “against expectations” in Greek—so you might be able to guess how it functions as a literary device. Yep, that’s right: it describes a sentence with an unexpected ending.

Example: As Oscar Wilde once said, “Some cause happiness wherever they go. Others, whenever they go.”

Related terms: paradoxical

77. Intertextuality

Whenever a text is referenced, either directly or indirectly, in another text, that’s an instance of intertextuality : the derived relationship between two works. 

Example: Every reference that the musical “Hamilton” makes to another musical is an example of intertextuality. 

78. Palindrome

A palindrome is the easiest literary device on your eyes: it’s a word or phrase that you can read the same either backward or forward.

Example: “Madam, I’m Adam” is exactly the same read backward as it is read forward. “Radar,” meanwhile, is an example of a word that’s a palindrome. Or the famous “Redrum” from The Shining . 

79. Spoonerism

If you’ve ever mispronounced a phrase before, you might’ve accidentally created a spoonerism , which refers to a person swapping the sound of two or more words.

Example: You’d be committing a spoonerism if, instead of “bunny rabbit,” you said “runny babbit.”

80. Ellipsis

As a narrative device, an ellipsis means the omission of certain words or parts of the plot, so as to give the readers an opportunity to fill in the gaps themselves.

Example: In The Great Gatsby , F. Scott Fitzgerald lets the ellipsis form a time lapse that is up to the reader to interpret: “ ... I was standing beside his bed and he was sitting up between the sheets, clad in his underwear, with a great portfolio in his hands.”

81. Parataxi

Literally, a parataxi describes the placing of consecutive words without a connecting word to show the relationship between them. It is different from hypotaxi, as you’ll soon see.

Example: “I came, I saw, I conquered.” — Julius Caesar.

Related terms: hypotaxi

82. Hypotaxi

A hypotaxi is the opposite of a parataxi in that it adds connecting words (or conjunctions) to show readers exactly what the relationship between two clauses is.

Example: In the sentence, “I ate an apple because I was hungry,” the word ‘because’ makes it a hypotaxi.

Related terms: parataxi

Aporia captures the moment when the speaker pretends not to know something, or expresses doubt, in order to prove a point. Often this confusion is completely feigned when used rhetorically, bordering on irony, although sometimes it can be genuine.

Example: As Elizabeth Barrett Browning once asked, “How do I love thee?”. Or, like when someone replies “I don’t know, can you?” when you ask if you can use the bathroom.

Related terms: irony

84. Asyndeton

We’ve covered polysyndetons. Now get ready for its sibling, the asyndeton , which describes the act of intentionally omitting conjunctions in a sentence.

Example: “Live, laugh, love.”

Related terms: polysyndeton, syndeton, parataxi

85. Meiosis

Nope, this isn’t the kind of meiosis you learned about in high school biology! In literature, meiosis is instead a rhetorical device where the speaker understates something to belittle a undermine or situation.

Example: You’d be using meiosis if you said “Oh, it’s only a scratch” to describe a deep, gaping wound that’s bleeding out of the bone.

86. Paralipsis

A paralipsis is what it’s called when you emphasize something about a situation, person, or topic by claiming that you don’t know much about it. Yes, it’s a little passive-aggressive, if that’s what you’re also thinking right now.

Example: “Of course, that’s not to mention my most hated enemy’s billion-dollar debt, nor their complete unwillingness to pay it.”

Related terms: apophasis

87. Overstatement

An overstatement is the best literary device of all time. There’s nothing better in the world than an overstatement (which is when you exaggerate your language to make your point in some shape or form).

Example: “This is officially the worst day of my life,” one says, upon accidentally dropping one’s ice cream cone on the ground with a splat.

Related terms: understatement

88. Apophasis

As another rhetorical device that’s just slightly passive-aggressive, an apophasis does the trick of bringing up a subject by denying that you’re bringing it up.

Example: “We won’t speak of his absolute inability to be a decent human being. Nor will we even begin to speak of his atrocious gambling problem.”

89. Cacophony

The opposite of euphony, cacophony is the term used to describe a combination of discordant tones that do not sound good together.

Example: You’ll see this literary device used a lot in poetry, for instance, in Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”:

"With throats unslaked, with black lips baked,

Agape they heard me call:

Related terms: euphony

90. Connotation

Connotation refers to what an author or speaker implies through the use of a particular word. It’s usually non-literal, and up to the reader to interpret.

Example: The connotation of the word “miserly” is quite negative, and evokes the image of a Grinch hoarding money, while “frugal” connotes someone who’s merely thoughtful about saving money.

91. Dysphemism

When you choose to use an offensive or derogatory term in place of a neutral or agreeable one, you’re using a dysphemism .

Example: “He’s a nerd” instead of positively describing that someone is smart or factually stating that someone often studies is an instance of a dysphemism. 

Related terms: euphemism

92. Hyperbaton

Inverting the regular sequence of words is called a hyperbaton . Authors generally do this to call emphasis to a certain phrase, or part of the sentence.

Example: Yoda from Star Wars is a famous abuser of hyperbaton, with his Go you must’s and Miss them, do not’s .

Related terms: anastrophe

93. Metanoia

In literature, metanoia is a self-correction, or when a writer deliberately takes back a statement they just made in order to re-state it.

Example: In the Hippocratic Oath that doctors take before getting their credentials, they promise “To help, or, at least, to do no harm.” The second half of it is the instance of metanoia.

You know them. You love them. Yes, puns , or jokes that are wordplays on the different meanings or sounds of a word, are also literary devices that authors use to add humor to a piece of writing.

Example: “Denial isn’t just a river in Egypt.”

95. Parenthesis

Parentheses are a form of punctuation, but when used in literature, they can insert information that authors would like to add for detail.

Example: Author Sarah Vowell once wrote in her book, Take the Cannoli , "I have a similar affection for the parenthesis (but I always take most of my parentheses out, so as not to call undue attention to the glaring fact that I cannot think in complete sentences, that I think only in short fragments or long, run-on thought relays that the literati call stream of consciousness but I still like to think of as disdain for the finality of the period)."

96. Synesthesia

Like its psychological definition, synesthesia in literature describes the conflation of two senses. This might materialize in the author using one sense to describe another, or blend the two altogether.

Example: "The silence that dwells in the forest is not so black." — Oscar Wilde

97. Eutrepismus

Eutrepismus is a long word for a simple concept: stating your points in a numbered list, so as to structure your speech, or dialogue.

Example: “Firstly, you’ll want to read this post. Secondly, you’ll want to memorize every single literary device on it.”

98. Epizeuxis

Epizeuxis is another hard-to-spell-and-pronounce literary device that captures a very simple concept: it’s the repetition of a word to emphasize it.

Example: “Hark, hark! The Lark!” — William Shakespeare

99. Narrative voice

Narrative voice is the voice from which a story in literature is told. It encompasses all of the decisions that an author makes in regards to voice, including tone, word choice, and diction.

Example: First-person books like Catcher in the Rye provide good examples of books written in a strong narrative voice. 

100. Syllepsis

We saved one of the most obscure (and best!) literary devices for last. Syllepsis is another form of wordplay (similar to a pun) where a word, usually a verb, is used in multiple ways.

Example: “She blew my nose, and then she blew my mind.” — The Rolling Stones

Related terms: zeugma, pun

Readers and writers alike can get a lot out of understanding literary devices and how they're used. Readers can use them to gain insight into the author’s intended meaning behind their work, while writers can use literary devices to better connect with readers. But whatever your motivation for learning them, you certainly won't be sorry you did! (Not least because you'll recognize the device I just used in that sentence 😉)

6 responses

Ron B. Saunders says:

16/01/2019 – 19:26

Paraprosdokians are also delightful literary devices for creating surprise or intrigue. They cause a reader to rethink a concept or traditional expectation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraprosdokian)

ManhattanMinx says:

17/01/2019 – 02:07

That's pore, not pour. Shame.....

↪️ Coline Harmon replied:

14/06/2019 – 19:06

It was a Malapropism

↪️ JC JC replied:

23/10/2019 – 00:02

Yeah ManhattanMinx. It's a Malepropism!

↪️ jesus replied:

07/11/2019 – 13:24

Susan McGrath says:

10/03/2020 – 10:56

"But whatever your motivation for learning them, you certainly won't be sorry you did! (Not least because you'll recognize the device I just used in that sentence. 😏)" Litote

Comments are currently closed.

Continue reading

Recommended posts from the Reedsy Blog

How to Write an Autobiography: The Story of Your Life

Want to write your autobiography but aren’t sure where to start? This step-by-step guide will take you from opening lines to publishing it for everyone to read.

What is the Climax of a Story? Examples & Tips

The climax is perhaps a story's most crucial moment, but many writers struggle to stick the landing. Let's see what makes for a great story climax.

What is Tone in Literature? Definition & Examples

We show you, with supporting examples, how tone in literature influences readers' emotions and perceptions of a text.

Writing Cozy Mysteries: 7 Essential Tips & Tropes

We show you how to write a compelling cozy mystery with advice from published authors and supporting examples from literature.

Man vs Nature: The Most Compelling Conflict in Writing

What is man vs nature? Learn all about this timeless conflict with examples of man vs nature in books, television, and film.

The Redemption Arc: Definition, Examples, and Writing Tips

Learn what it takes to redeem a character with these examples and writing tips.

Join a community of over 1 million authors

Reedsy is more than just a blog. Become a member today to discover how we can help you publish a beautiful book.

We made a writing app for you

Yes, you! Write. Format. Export for ebook and print. 100% free, always.

1 million authors trust the professionals on Reedsy. Come meet them.

Enter your email or get started with a social account:

Literary Devices: 30 Elements & Techniques for Writers (With Examples)

Every Author wants to write a good book . That’s a given.

But you don’t need to know the names and definitions of 30 or 40 literary devices to accomplish that goal.

Knowing the difference between alliteration, onomatopoeia, and hyperbole won’t make or break your book.

Literary devices are especially common in novels, where writers need to use flashbacks, foreshadowing, or figurative language to keep the reader enthralled.

But most nonfiction doesn’t need literary devices to be effective.

As an Author, your goal is to explain how your knowledge can solve a reader’s problems in a clear, concise manner. If you can toss in some good storytelling, so much the better.

Remember, being a good writer isn’t about checking off every writing trick on the list. It’s about expressing your information in an authentic, clear way.

This literary device crash course is a helpful tool, but if you want to publish a great book, devices shouldn’t be your primary focus.

What Are Literary Devices?

Literary devices, also known as literary elements, are techniques that writers use to convey their message more powerfully or to enhance their writing.

Many Authors use literary devices without even realizing it. For example, if you exaggerate and say, “This method has the potential to revolutionize the world,” that’s hyperbole. Your method may be impactful, but it probably isn’t really going to upend the way every single country does things.

More complicated literary devices are a common feature in fiction, but most nonfiction books don’t need them. A nonfiction Author’s job is to deliver information in an engaging way. “Engaging” doesn’t necessarily mean “literary.”

Still, literary devices can add a lot to a text when they’re used correctly.

For example, in The Great Gatsby , Fitzgerald uses the following metaphor to describe human struggle: “So we beat on, boats against the current…”

The image of boats fighting against the current is a powerful way to express the simple idea that “life is hard.”

Literary devices are especially effective when they’re used sparingly. Don’t overdo it.

If your entire book is written in metaphors, it’s not only going to be an overkill of flowery language, but it’s probably going to be confusing too.

If you can incorporate literary devices in a way that makes sense and adds something to the readers’ experience, great. But don’t force it.

30 Common Literary Devices

1. alliteration.

Alliteration is the repetition of initial consonant sounds within a group of words. For example, “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.”

Nonfiction Authors can use alliteration to create catchy chapter or subsection titles. For example, “4 Best Bets for Better Business.”

Alliteration is also particularly effective for highlighting concepts you want your readers to remember. For example, if the takeaway of your chapter is a pithy, one-line sentence, alliteration can really make it stand out. Think, “Clear communication is key.”

Be careful not to overuse alliteration, or your book will start to sound like a nursery rhyme.

2. Onomatopoeia

An onomatopoeia is a word that imitates, suggests, or resembles the sound it’s describing. Common onomatopoeias include “gurgle,” “hiss,” “boom,” “whir,” and “whizz.”

In storytelling, onomatopoeia is an effective way to draw your reader into the environment. For example, if you’re telling an anecdote about a meeting you had with a client, it’s more vivid to say, “He plopped a sugar cube into his coffee and slurped,” than to say, “He drank his coffee with sugar.”

3. Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing is an advance warning about something that’s going to happen in the future.

In fiction, foreshadowing can be subtle. For example, something that happens in the first chapter of a murder mystery can come into play at the end of the book.

But in nonfiction, foreshadowing tends to be more obvious. Authors often use it to tell readers what they can expect to learn. For example, an Author might say, “We’re going to talk more about this example later,” or “I’ll discuss this at length in Chapter Three.”

4. Hyperbole

Hyperbole is an exaggeration that’s not meant to be taken literally. For example, if my friend surprised me by eating a lot of pizza, I might say, “Hey man, remember that time you ate, like, fifteen pizzas in one night?”

Good nonfiction Authors often use hyperbole to emphasize the power of their statements. For example, “We all know how miserable it can be to work 24/7.” Do we really all know that? And it’s impossible to literally work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Nonfiction Authors have to be careful with hyperbole, though. If you’re using data, you want it to seem credible. In nonfiction, readers often want precision, not exaggeration.

5. Oxymoron

An oxymoron is a figure of speech where seemingly contradictory terms appear together. For example, “the dumbest genius I know.”

Oxymorons are useful if you want to create an unexpected contrast. For example, “Your unhappiest customers are often your business’ happiest accident.”

6. Flashback

A flashback is a scene set in an earlier time than the main story. They’re often used to provide important context or backstory for an event you’re discussing.

Because most nonfiction books aren’t chronological ( unless it’s a memoir ), you probably won’t have many opportunities to use flashbacks. But in anecdotes, a touch of flashback can be effective.

For example, “My boss congratulated me for landing the largest account our company had ever seen. It was hard to believe that only seven months earlier, I was struggling to keep the few clients I already had.”

7. Point of View

Point of view is the perspective you use to tell your story.

A lot of nonfiction is written with a first-person point of view, which means writing from an “I” perspective. For example, “I’ve developed the following ten-point system to improve your finances.”

It’s much rarer, although possible, to write nonfiction from the third-person perspective. For example, “They saw how powerful their methods could be.” Sometimes co-authors choose this method to avoid first-person confusion.

Nonfiction writers occasionally use second person (“you”) to directly address their readers. For example, “You know how hard it can be to fire someone.”

8. Euphemism

A euphemism is a polite way of describing something indirectly.

Many Authors use euphemisms to vary their language or soften the blow of a difficult concept. For example, “passed away” is a euphemism for “died.”

Some Authors use euphemisms to keep their texts more palatable for a general audience.

For example, if an Author is writing about sexual harassment in the workplace, they may not want to repeat lewd phrases and could use euphemisms instead. Or, an Author who wants to avoid the political controversy around the term “abortion” might opt for “pregnancy termination.”

9. Colloquialism

A colloquialism is a word or phrase that’s not formal or literary. It tends to be used in ordinary or familiar conversation instead. For example, it’s more colloquial to say, “How’s it going?” instead of “How are you doing?”

Slang is also a form of colloquialism. If you say something was “awesome,” unless you literally mean it inspired awe, you’re being colloquial.

No matter how professional your audience is, some colloquialism can make your book feel more relatable. Readers like to feel as if they’re talking with the Author. Colloquialism can help you create that personal, one-on-one feeling.

10. Anthropomorphism

Anthropomorphism is when you give human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human creatures or things.

If you think of your dog as having a “funny personality,” you’re anthropomorphizing him. The same goes for your “stubborn” toaster or “cranky” computer.

In nonfiction, you generally won’t encounter a lot of opportunities for anthropomorphism, but some Authors may want to humanize their products or services. For example, your software may be “friendly” or “kind” to new users.

11. Anaphora

Anaphora is a rhetorical device where you repeat a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses. This is a great way to draw emphasis to a certain portion of text.

For example, Charles Dickens uses anaphora in the opening of A Tale of Two Cities : “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief…”

12. Anachronism

An anachronism is a chronological inconsistency where you juxtapose people, things, or sayings from different time periods. If you were reading a book about colonial America where characters talk about cars, that would be anachronistic.

In nonfiction, you might want to use anachronism to make it easier for a current audience to relate to people in your stories.

For example, if you’re writing about the history of the banking industry, you might refer to certain individuals as “influencers” or talk about ideas that were “trending.”

13. Malapropism

A malapropism is the mistaken use of a word in place of a similar-sounding one. This usually creates some kind of humorous effect. Imagine a person saying, “I know how to dance the flamingo,” instead of, “I know how to dance flamenco.”

There aren’t a lot of good reasons to use malapropism in nonfiction, but you could do this if you’re trying to amuse or delight your reader in an unexpected way. It’s a lot like using a pun.

For example, if you’re writing a book about sports, you might say, “The client and I saw things so eye-to-eye, it was almost like we had ESPN” (instead of “ESP”).

14. Figurative Language

Figurative language is language that dresses up your writing in an attempt to engage your readers. Figurative language is often more colorful, evocative, or dramatic.

For example, “She was chained to her desk for sixty hours a week.” Let’s hope not.

Still, it conjures a vivid image that’s more exciting for readers than, “She worked a lot.”

Figurative language is like taking your everyday language and putting it in a tuxedo.

15. Dramatic Irony

Irony is a literary technique where what appears to be the case differs radically from what is actually the case.

Dramatic irony is a type of irony that occurs when an audience understands the context more than the character in a story.

Let’s say you’re telling a story about an interaction with a client that didn’t go the way you expected. You might write, “Things seemed to be going well, but little did I know, she had already hired someone else.”

At the moment you were meeting with the client, you didn’t have that information. But now, the reader does. So, they get to follow along with the rest of the story, knowing more than you did at the time.

16. Verbal Irony

Verbal irony occurs when a person says one thing but means another. Sarcasm is a good example of verbal irony. For example, you might say, “It was a wonderful dinner,” when, in fact, the food was terrible, and your partner showed up an hour late.

Depending on the tone of your book, verbal irony can help create humor or make you more relatable.

17. Figure of Speech

Think of “figure of speech” as a kind of catch-all term for any word or phrase that’s used in a non-literal sense to create a dramatic effect.

For example, it’s a figure of speech to say that it was “raining cats and dogs” or that something stands “an ice cube’s chance in Hell” of happening.

A lot of the devices we’ve already discussed (e.g., alliteration, oxymoron, and metaphors) also fall into the category of figures of speech.

18. Metaphor

A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things in an interesting way. It often highlights the similarities between two different ideas.

Take, for example, “The classroom was a zoo.” It wasn’t literally a zoo, but this metaphor expresses the wild energy of a room full of children.

Or, “the curtain of night fell.” Night doesn’t have a curtain, but we can all imagine darkness falling like one.

Metaphors form direct comparisons by saying something is something else. (Similes, explained below, form comparisons by saying something is like something else.)

Metaphors are a useful tool for “showing” your reader something instead of just “telling.” They help your reader see and feel the scene, and they paint a vivid picture.

If you use a metaphor, though, make sure it’s intelligible. There are a lot of bad ones out there. The point of a metaphor is to make a scene clearer, not to confuse your reader.

A simile is also a figure of speech that compares two different things in an interesting way. But unlike a metaphor, a simile uses comparison words like “like” or “as.”

“She was as bright as a lightbulb.”

“He was stubborn like a mule.”

Using similes can make your writing more interesting. The comparisons can spark your readers’ imagination while still getting your information across clearly.

20. Metonymy

Metonymy is a figure of speech in which a thing or concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated with that thing or concept.

For example, a businessman is sometimes known as “a suit.”

Or, in William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar , “lend me your ears,” is a metonymy for “give me your full attention.”

People use metonymy all the time without being conscious of it. For example, if you get in a car wreck, you’re likely to say, “That car hit me,” instead of, “That car hit my car.”

If you’re writing in relatable, colloquial language, your book will probably have metonymy in it.

21. Synecdoche

Synecdoche is a figure of speech in which a part of something stands in for the whole or vice versa. It’s a subset of metonymy.

For example, if you have “hungry mouths to feed,” you actually need to feed people. Their mouths are just a stand-in for the whole person.

Or, you might say, “All of society was at the gala,” when you really mean, “All of high society was there.”

Typically, synecdoche will come out in your writing naturally. When you force synecdoche, it can sound strange.

For example, what do you think I mean when I say, “I sat on the legs?” I’m guessing a chair didn’t come to mind, even though “legs” is a part of the whole “chair.”

22. Aphorism

An aphorism is a concise statement of a general truth or principle. For example, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Most aphorisms are handed down over time, so chances are, you won’t coin your own. Think of these as the tried-and-true statements people already know.

For example, if you’re describing toxic leadership, you could quickly say, “After all, power corrupts,” and your audience would immediately know what you mean.

Aphorisms are great for emphasis because they’re quick, clear, and to the point. They aren’t flowery, and their simplicity makes them memorable.

23. Rhetorical Question

A rhetorical question is a question asked for effect, not because you want an answer.

“Do you want to make money? Do you want to sleep better at night? Do you want to run a successful company?”

Who wouldn’t say yes? (See what I did there?)

Be careful not to overuse rhetorical questions because too many can get tedious. But used sparingly, they’re a great way to invite your reader into the conversation and highlight the benefits of your knowledge.

24. Polysyndeton

Polysyndeton comes from the Ancient Greek for “many” and “bound together.” As its name implies, it’s a literary technique in which conjunctions (e.g., and, but, or) are used repeatedly in quick succession.

Here it is in action: “I wanted an employee who was self-motivated and enterprising and skilled. I needed someone who could write and talk and network like a pro.”

In most cases, you’ll use a regular list instead of polysyndeton (e.g., “I like cats, dogs, and ferrets.”). But when it’s used correctly, polysyndeton is useful for drawing emphasis to different aspects of a sentence.

One common way to use polysyndeton is, “You’ll find everything in this book, from billing and buying to marketing and sales.”

25. Consonance

Consonance occurs when you repeat consonant sounds throughout a particular word or phrase. Unlike alliteration, the repeated consonant doesn’t have to come at the beginning of the word.

“Do you like blue?” and “I wish I had a cushion to squash” are examples of consonance.

Consonance can help you build sentences and passages that have a nice rhythm. When a text flows smoothly, it can subconsciously propel readers forward and keep them reading.

26. Assonance

Assonance is similar to consonance, except it involves repeating vowel sounds. This is usually a subtler kind of echo. For example, the words “penitence” and “reticence” are assonant.

Like consonance, assonance can help you build compelling, rhythmic language.

27. Chiasmus

Chiasmus is a rhetorical device where grammatical constructions or concepts are repeated in reverse order.

For example, “Never let a kiss fool you or a fool kiss you.” Or, “The happiest and best moments go to the best and happiest employees.”

In nonfiction, chiasmus can be an effective way to make a significant point. It often works because it’s unexpected and punchy.

28. Litotes

Litotes is a figure of speech closely related to verbal irony. With litotes, you use understatement to emphasize your point. They often incorporate double negatives for effect.

For example, “You won’t be sorry” is the litotes way of saying, “You will be glad.”

If I say, “He wasn’t a bad singer,” you can probably assume that he was actually a good singer. But the negative construction conveys a different tone.

If hyperbole lends more force to your claims, litotes diminishes your statement. In nonfiction, there are situations where you might want to downplay your judgment.

Take this statement, for example: “He wasn’t the worst lawyer I had ever seen, but he could have been more organized.” You aren’t completely bashing the lawyer, but you’re still showing there’s room for improvement.

Still, I recommend using litotes sparingly if you don’t want people to think you’re constantly damning with faint praise.

29. Epigraph

An epigraph is a short quotation or saying at the beginning of a book or chapter, intended to suggest its theme.

For example, Mario Puzo’s The Godfather begins with a quotation from the French writer Balzac: “Behind every great fortune, there is a crime.”

An epigraph is a great way to honor a writer or thinker you admire. It also immediately puts your work in conversation with theirs. In nonfiction, an epigraph can be a great way to signal to readers, “Hey, Tim Ferriss’ book has informed mine!”

But don’t rely too heavily on epigraphs. The point of writing a book is to show that you are an expert. You don’t want to constantly defer to other Authors to contextualize your ideas.

Also, epigraphs are only effective when they are truly relevant to your book. Don’t just pick a person that you think readers will recognize. Pick a quotation that really adds something to your book.

30. Epistrophe

Epistrophe is the repetition of the same word or words at the end of successive phrases, clauses, or sentences. It’s sometimes called epiphora or antistrophe.

Epistrophe is the cousin of anaphora, where the repetition happens at the beginning of successive phrases.

Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address is a great example of a text that uses epistrophe: “… that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

His repetition of “the people” really drives home the importance of “the people” to American government. They are central, no matter how you slice it.

Epistrophe can be very dramatic, and it’s a great way to draw attention to crucial concepts or words in your book. But because it’s so impactful, it should be used in moderation.

The Scribe Crew

Read this next.

Authors Receive Authority – What does ‘The Medium Is the Message’ Really Mean?

Audiobooks: Who Benefits Most and Why Authors Should Consider Them

When Should You Hire a Ghostwriter for a Business Book?

Choose Your Test

Sat / act prep online guides and tips, the 31 literary devices you must know.

General Education

Need to analyze The Scarlet Letter or To Kill a Mockingbird for English class, but fumbling for the right vocabulary and concepts for literary devices? You've come to the right place. To successfully interpret and analyze literary texts, you'll first need to have a solid foundation in literary terms and their definitions.

In this article, we'll help you get familiar with most commonly used literary devices in prose and poetry. We'll give you a clear definition of each of the terms we discuss along with examples of literary elements and the context in which they most often appear (comedic writing, drama, or other).

Before we get to the list of literary devices, however, we have a quick refresher on what literary devices are and how understanding them will help you analyze works of literature.

What Are Literary Devices and Why Should You Know Them?

Literary devices are techniques that writers use to create a special and pointed effect in their writing, to convey information, or to help readers understand their writing on a deeper level.

Often, literary devices are used in writing for emphasis or clarity. Authors will also use literary devices to get readers to connect more strongly with either a story as a whole or specific characters or themes.

So why is it important to know different literary devices and terms? Aside from helping you get good grades on your literary analysis homework, there are several benefits to knowing the techniques authors commonly use.

Being able to identify when different literary techniques are being used helps you understand the motivation behind the author's choices. For example, being able to identify symbols in a story can help you figure out why the author might have chosen to insert these focal points and what these might suggest in regard to her attitude toward certain characters, plot points, and events.

In addition, being able to identify literary devices can make a written work's overall meaning or purpose clearer to you. For instance, let's say you're planning to read (or re-read) The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. By knowing that this particular book is a religious allegory with references to Christ (represented by the character Aslan) and Judas (represented by Edmund), it will be clearer to you why Lewis uses certain language to describe certain characters and why certain events happen the way they do.

Finally, literary techniques are important to know because they make texts more interesting and more fun to read. If you were to read a novel without knowing any literary devices, chances are you wouldn't be able to detect many of the layers of meaning interwoven into the story via different techniques.

Now that we've gone over why you should spend some time learning literary devices, let's take a look at some of the most important literary elements to know.

List of Literary Devices: 31 Literary Terms You Should Know

Below is a list of literary devices, most of which you'll often come across in both prose and poetry. We explain what each literary term is and give you an example of how it's used. This literary elements list is arranged in alphabetical order.

An allegory is a story that is used to represent a more general message about real-life (historical) issues and/or events. It is typically an entire book, novel, play, etc.

Example: George Orwell's dystopian book Animal Farm is an allegory for the events preceding the Russian Revolution and the Stalinist era in early 20th century Russia. In the story, animals on a farm practice animalism, which is essentially communism. Many characters correspond to actual historical figures: Old Major represents both the founder of communism Karl Marx and the Russian communist leader Vladimir Lenin; the farmer, Mr. Jones, is the Russian Czar; the boar Napoleon stands for Joseph Stalin; and the pig Snowball represents Leon Trotsky.

Alliteration

Alliteration is a series of words or phrases that all (or almost all) start with the same sound. These sounds are typically consonants to give more stress to that syllable. You'll often come across alliteration in poetry, titles of books and poems ( Jane Austen is a fan of this device, for example—just look at Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility ), and tongue twisters.

Example: "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers." In this tongue twister, the "p" sound is repeated at the beginning of all major words.

Allusion is when an author makes an indirect reference to a figure, place, event, or idea originating from outside the text. Many allusions make reference to previous works of literature or art.

Example: "Stop acting so smart—it's not like you're Einstein or something." This is an allusion to the famous real-life theoretical physicist Albert Einstein.

Anachronism

An anachronism occurs when there is an (intentional) error in the chronology or timeline of a text. This could be a character who appears in a different time period than when he actually lived, or a technology that appears before it was invented. Anachronisms are often used for comedic effect.

Example: A Renaissance king who says, "That's dope, dude!" would be an anachronism, since this type of language is very modern and not actually from the Renaissance period.

Anaphora is when a word or phrase is repeated at the beginning of multiple sentences throughout a piece of writing. It's used to emphasize the repeated phrase and evoke strong feelings in the audience.

Example: A famous example of anaphora is Winston Churchill's "We Shall Fight on the Beaches" speech. Throughout this speech, he repeats the phrase "we shall fight" while listing numerous places where the British army will continue battling during WWII. He did this to rally both troops and the British people and to give them confidence that they would still win the war.

Anthropomorphism

An anthropomorphism occurs when something nonhuman, such as an animal, place, or inanimate object, behaves in a human-like way.

Example: Children's cartoons have many examples of anthropomorphism. For example, Mickey and Minnie Mouse can speak, wear clothes, sing, dance, drive cars, etc. Real mice can't do any of these things, but the two mouse characters behave much more like humans than mice.

Asyndeton is when the writer leaves out conjunctions (such as "and," "or," "but," and "for") in a group of words or phrases so that the meaning of the phrase or sentence is emphasized. It is often used for speeches since sentences containing asyndeton can have a powerful, memorable rhythm.

Example: Abraham Lincoln ends the Gettysburg Address with the phrase "...and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the Earth." By leaving out certain conjunctions, he ends the speech on a more powerful, melodic note.

Colloquialism

Colloquialism is the use of informal language and slang. It's often used by authors to lend a sense of realism to their characters and dialogue. Forms of colloquialism include words, phrases, and contractions that aren't real words (such as "gonna" and "ain't").

Example: "Hey, what's up, man?" This piece of dialogue is an example of a colloquialism, since it uses common everyday words and phrases, namely "what's up" and "man."

An epigraph is when an author inserts a famous quotation, poem, song, or other short passage or text at the beginning of a larger text (e.g., a book, chapter, etc.). An epigraph is typically written by a different writer (with credit given) and used as a way to introduce overarching themes or messages in the work. Some pieces of literature, such as Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick , incorporate multiple epigraphs throughout.

Example: At the beginning of Ernest Hemingway's book The Sun Also Rises is an epigraph that consists of a quotation from poet Gertrude Stein, which reads, "You are all a lost generation," and a passage from the Bible.

Epistrophe is similar to anaphora, but in this case, the repeated word or phrase appears at the end of successive statements. Like anaphora, it is used to evoke an emotional response from the audience.

Example: In Lyndon B. Johnson's speech, "The American Promise," he repeats the word "problem" in a use of epistrophe: "There is no Negro problem. There is no Southern problem. There is no Northern problem. There is only an American problem."

A euphemism is when a more mild or indirect word or expression is used in place of another word or phrase that is considered harsh, blunt, vulgar, or unpleasant.

Example: "I'm so sorry, but he didn't make it." The phrase "didn't make it" is a more polite and less blunt way of saying that someone has died.

A flashback is an interruption in a narrative that depicts events that have already occurred, either before the present time or before the time at which the narration takes place. This device is often used to give the reader more background information and details about specific characters, events, plot points, and so on.

Example: Most of the novel Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë is a flashback from the point of view of the housekeeper, Nelly Dean, as she engages in a conversation with a visitor named Lockwood. In this story, Nelly narrates Catherine Earnshaw's and Heathcliff's childhoods, the pair's budding romance, and their tragic demise.

Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing is when an author indirectly hints at—through things such as dialogue, description, or characters' actions—what's to come later on in the story. This device is often used to introduce tension to a narrative.

Example: Say you're reading a fictionalized account of Amelia Earhart. Before she embarks on her (what we know to be unfortunate) plane ride, a friend says to her, "Be safe. Wouldn't want you getting lost—or worse." This line would be an example of foreshadowing because it implies that something bad ("or worse") will happen to Earhart.

Hyperbole is an exaggerated statement that's not meant to be taken literally by the reader. It is often used for comedic effect and/or emphasis.

Example: "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse." The speaker will not literally eat an entire horse (and most likely couldn't ), but this hyperbole emphasizes how starved the speaker feels.

Imagery is when an author describes a scene, thing, or idea so that it appeals to our senses (taste, smell, sight, touch, or hearing). This device is often used to help the reader clearly visualize parts of the story by creating a strong mental picture.

Example: Here's an example of imagery taken from William Wordsworth's famous poem "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud":

When all at once I saw a crowd, A host of golden Daffodils; Beside the Lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Irony is when a statement is used to express an opposite meaning than the one literally expressed by it. There are three types of irony in literature:

• Verbal irony: When someone says something but means the opposite (similar to sarcasm).
• Situational irony: When something happens that's the opposite of what was expected or intended to happen.
• Dramatic irony: When the audience is aware of the true intentions or outcomes, while the characters are not . As a result, certain actions and/or events take on different meanings for the audience than they do for the characters involved.
• Verbal irony: One example of this type of irony can be found in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado." In this short story, a man named Montresor plans to get revenge on another man named Fortunato. As they toast, Montresor says, "And I, Fortunato—I drink to your long life." This statement is ironic because we the readers already know by this point that Montresor plans to kill Fortunato.
• Situational irony: A girl wakes up late for school and quickly rushes to get there. As soon as she arrives, though, she realizes that it's Saturday and there is no school.
• Dramatic irony: In William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet , Romeo commits suicide in order to be with Juliet; however, the audience (unlike poor Romeo) knows that Juliet is not actually dead—just asleep.

Juxtaposition

Juxtaposition is the comparing and contrasting of two or more different (usually opposite) ideas, characters, objects, etc. This literary device is often used to help create a clearer picture of the characteristics of one object or idea by comparing it with those of another.

Example: One of the most famous literary examples of juxtaposition is the opening passage from Charles Dickens' novel A Tale of Two Cities :

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair …"

Malapropism

Malapropism happens when an incorrect word is used in place of a word that has a similar sound. This misuse of the word typically results in a statement that is both nonsensical and humorous; as a result, this device is commonly used in comedic writing.

Example: "I just can't wait to dance the flamingo!" Here, a character has accidentally called the flamenco (a type of dance) the flamingo (an animal).

Metaphor/Simile

Metaphors are when ideas, actions, or objects are described in non-literal terms. In short, it's when an author compares one thing to another. The two things being described usually share something in common but are unalike in all other respects.

A simile is a type of metaphor in which an object, idea, character, action, etc., is compared to another thing using the words "as" or "like."

Both metaphors and similes are often used in writing for clarity or emphasis.

"What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun." In this line from Romeo and Juliet , Romeo compares Juliet to the sun. However, because Romeo doesn't use the words "as" or "like," it is not a simile—just a metaphor.

"She is as vicious as a lion." Since this statement uses the word "as" to make a comparison between "she" and "a lion," it is a simile.

A metonym is when a related word or phrase is substituted for the actual thing to which it's referring. This device is usually used for poetic or rhetorical effect .

Example: "The pen is mightier than the sword." This statement, which was coined by Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1839, contains two examples of metonymy: "the pen" refers to "the written word," and "the sword" refers to "military force/violence."

Mood is the general feeling the writer wants the audience to have. The writer can achieve this through description, setting, dialogue, and word choice .

Example: Here's a passage from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit: "It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube-shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with panelled walls, and floors tiled and carpeted, provided with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats -- the hobbit was fond of visitors." In this passage, Tolkien uses detailed description to set create a cozy, comforting mood. From the writing, you can see that the hobbit's home is well-cared for and designed to provide comfort.

Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia is a word (or group of words) that represents a sound and actually resembles or imitates the sound it stands for. It is often used for dramatic, realistic, or poetic effect.

Examples: Buzz, boom, chirp, creak, sizzle, zoom, etc.

An oxymoron is a combination of two words that, together, express a contradictory meaning. This device is often used for emphasis, for humor, to create tension, or to illustrate a paradox (see next entry for more information on paradoxes).

Examples: Deafening silence, organized chaos, cruelly kind, insanely logical, etc.

A paradox is a statement that appears illogical or self-contradictory but, upon investigation, might actually be true or plausible.

Note that a paradox is different from an oxymoron: a paradox is an entire phrase or sentence, whereas an oxymoron is a combination of just two words.

Example: Here's a famous paradoxical sentence: "This statement is false." If the statement is true, then it isn't actually false (as it suggests). But if it's false, then the statement is true! Thus, this statement is a paradox because it is both true and false at the same time.

Personification

Personification is when a nonhuman figure or other abstract concept or element is described as having human-like qualities or characteristics. (Unlike anthropomorphism where non-human figures become human-like characters, with personification, the object/figure is simply described as being human-like.) Personification is used to help the reader create a clearer mental picture of the scene or object being described.

Example: "The wind moaned, beckoning me to come outside." In this example, the wind—a nonhuman element—is being described as if it is human (it "moans" and "beckons").

Repetition is when a word or phrase is written multiple times, usually for the purpose of emphasis. It is often used in poetry (for purposes of rhythm as well).

Example: When Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote the score for the hit musical Hamilton, gave his speech at the 2016 Tony's, he recited a poem he'd written that included the following line:

And love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love cannot be killed or swept aside.

Satire is genre of writing that criticizes something , such as a person, behavior, belief, government, or society. Satire often employs irony, humor, and hyperbole to make its point.

Example: The Onion is a satirical newspaper and digital media company. It uses satire to parody common news features such as opinion columns, editorial cartoons, and click bait headlines.

A type of monologue that's often used in dramas, a soliloquy is when a character speaks aloud to himself (and to the audience), thereby revealing his inner thoughts and feelings.

Example: In Romeo and Juliet , Juliet's speech on the balcony that begins with, "O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?" is a soliloquy, as she is speaking aloud to herself (remember that she doesn't realize Romeo's there listening!).

Symbolism refers to the use of an object, figure, event, situation, or other idea in a written work to represent something else— typically a broader message or deeper meaning that differs from its literal meaning.

The things used for symbolism are called "symbols," and they'll often appear multiple times throughout a text, sometimes changing in meaning as the plot progresses.

Example: In F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel The Great Gatsby , the green light that sits across from Gatsby's mansion symbolizes Gatsby's hopes and dreams .

A synecdoche is a literary device in which part of something is used to represent the whole, or vice versa. It's similar to a metonym (see above); however, a metonym doesn't have to represent the whole—just something associated with the word used.

Example: "Help me out, I need some hands!" In this case, "hands" is being used to refer to people (the whole human, essentially).

While mood is what the audience is supposed to feel, tone is the writer or narrator's attitude towards a subject . A good writer will always want the audience to feel the mood they're trying to evoke, but the audience may not always agree with the narrator's tone, especially if the narrator is an unsympathetic character or has viewpoints that differ from those of the reader.

Example: In an essay disdaining Americans and some of the sites they visit as tourists, Rudyard Kipling begins with the line, "Today I am in the Yellowstone Park, and I wish I were dead." If you enjoy Yellowstone and/or national parks, you may not agree with the author's tone in this piece.

How to Identify and Analyze Literary Devices: 4 Tips

In order to fully interpret pieces of literature, you have to understand a lot about literary devices in the texts you read. Here are our top tips for identifying and analyzing different literary techniques:

Tip 1: Read Closely and Carefully

First off, you'll need to make sure that you're reading very carefully. Resist the temptation to skim or skip any sections of the text. If you do this, you might miss some literary devices being used and, as a result, will be unable to accurately interpret the text.

If there are any passages in the work that make you feel especially emotional, curious, intrigued, or just plain interested, check that area again for any literary devices at play.

It's also a good idea to reread any parts you thought were confusing or that you didn't totally understand on a first read-through. Doing this ensures that you have a solid grasp of the passage (and text as a whole) and will be able to analyze it appropriately.

Tip 2: Memorize Common Literary Terms

You won't be able to identify literary elements in texts if you don't know what they are or how they're used, so spend some time memorizing the literary elements list above. Knowing these (and how they look in writing) will allow you to more easily pinpoint these techniques in various types of written works.

Tip 3: Know the Author's Intended Audience

Knowing what kind of audience an author intended her work to have can help you figure out what types of literary devices might be at play.

For example, if you were trying to analyze a children's book, you'd want to be on the lookout for child-appropriate devices, such as repetition and alliteration.

Tip 4: Take Notes and Bookmark Key Passages and Pages

This is one of the most important tips to know, especially if you're reading and analyzing works for English class. As you read, take notes on the work in a notebook or on a computer. Write down any passages, paragraphs, conversations, descriptions, etc., that jump out at you or that contain a literary device you were able to identify.

You can also take notes directly in the book, if possible (but don't do this if you're borrowing a book from the library!). I recommend circling keywords and important phrases, as well as starring interesting or particularly effective passages and paragraphs.

Lastly, use sticky notes or post-its to bookmark pages that are interesting to you or that have some kind of notable literary device. This will help you go back to them later should you need to revisit some of what you've found for a paper you plan to write.

What's Next?

Looking for more in-depth explorations and examples of literary devices? Join us as we delve into imagery , personification , rhetorical devices , tone words and mood , and different points of view in literature, as well as some more poetry-specific terms like assonance and iambic pentameter .

Reading The Great Gatsby for class or even just for fun? Then you'll definitely want to check out our expert guides on the biggest themes in this classic book, from love and relationships to money and materialism .

Got questions about Arthur Miller's The Crucible ? Read our in-depth articles to learn about the most important themes in this play and get a complete rundown of all the characters .

For more information on your favorite works of literature, take a look at our collection of high-quality book guides and our guide to the 9 literary elements that appear in every story !

These recommendations are based solely on our knowledge and experience. If you purchase an item through one of our links, PrepScholar may receive a commission.

Hannah received her MA in Japanese Studies from the University of Michigan and holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Southern California. From 2013 to 2015, she taught English in Japan via the JET Program. She is passionate about education, writing, and travel.

Ask a Question Below

Have any questions about this article or other topics? Ask below and we'll reply!

Improve With Our Famous Guides

• For All Students

The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 160+ SAT Points

How to Get a Perfect 1600, by a Perfect Scorer

Series: How to Get 800 on Each SAT Section:

Score 800 on SAT Math

Score 800 on SAT Reading

Score 800 on SAT Writing

Series: How to Get to 600 on Each SAT Section:

Score 600 on SAT Math

Score 600 on SAT Reading

Score 600 on SAT Writing

Free Complete Official SAT Practice Tests

What SAT Target Score Should You Be Aiming For?

15 Strategies to Improve Your SAT Essay

The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 4+ ACT Points

How to Get a Perfect 36 ACT, by a Perfect Scorer

Series: How to Get 36 on Each ACT Section:

36 on ACT English

36 on ACT Math

36 on ACT Reading

36 on ACT Science

Series: How to Get to 24 on Each ACT Section:

24 on ACT English

24 on ACT Math

24 on ACT Reading

24 on ACT Science

What ACT target score should you be aiming for?

ACT Vocabulary You Must Know

ACT Writing: 15 Tips to Raise Your Essay Score

How to Get Into Harvard and the Ivy League

How to Get a Perfect 4.0 GPA

How to Write an Amazing College Essay

What Exactly Are Colleges Looking For?

Is the ACT easier than the SAT? A Comprehensive Guide

Should you retake your SAT or ACT?

When should you take the SAT or ACT?

Stay Informed

Get the latest articles and test prep tips!

Looking for Graduate School Test Prep?

Check out our top-rated graduate blogs here:

GRE Online Prep Blog

GMAT Online Prep Blog

TOEFL Online Prep Blog

Holly R. "I am absolutely overjoyed and cannot thank you enough for helping me!”

Columns > Published on August 25th, 2023

Storyville: Literary Devices—10 Common Writing Techniques and How to Use Them

Have you heard people talk about literary devices, but you weren’t sure what that meant, or how to use them? Let’s chat about some of the more common examples and then see how you might incorporate them into your fiction.

Literary Device: Defined

A literary device is a way of taking the meaning of your story beyond the literal interpretation, often through comparison. It is a writing technique that authors use to express ideas, convey meaning, and highlight important themes in a piece of text. Let’s get into some of my favorite examples.

1: Metaphor and Simile

People use these a lot and often struggle to understand the difference. What both of these do is compare one thing to another but in ways that are not literally applicable. “The television was our God.” With a simile, you’d say, “The television was LIKE a god.” Slightly different. We’re not saying it actually is a god, we’re saying it holds the power of a god—we worship it, we give it power, it has meaning in our life.

2: Foreshadowing

3: Symbolism

This is taking a thing (an object, mark, character, image, or place) and having it represent something else. Blue means sadness, birds means freedom, a heart means love, a key means a solution, fire is passion, a dove is peace, etc. A recurring element can turn into a theme (or motif) as well. A symbol can be subtle or direct, it’s up to you.

4: Flashback

This is an interjected scene that leaps back in time away from the current moment in your story. Typically this is used to give us backstory or history, to unpack a moment, scene, or trauma from the past that influences and helps to explain the present (or future). Show us the origin story of the hero or villain, born out of an untimely death or loss. Show us the moment they got their superpowers—via spider, spell, birth, or lab accident. Show us a childhood meal with family members and how much your protagonist loved their parents.

5: Personification and Anthropomorphism 

This is the attribution of human nature or qualities to inanimate objects or animals. It brings parts of your story to life, and can be quite powerful, especially in speculative fiction. The wind howled, the table creaked, the sun smiled down on us, the book danced around the room, the tree branches reached to the sky. I love using this in supernatural fiction, as it adds layers, depth, emotion, and tension.

6: Anachronism

Do you know this one? You are probably already using it. It’s an error in chronology, something taken out of time. It’s the futuristic clamshell phone in It Follows where the rest of the story almost feels nostalgic or retro. It’s that weird Western that uses lasers instead of bullets. It’s the humor of Mel Brooks in Blazing Saddles . It will cause the reader to raise an eyebrow and wonder what’s going on, how this is possible. It’s something out of time and place—so we ask ourselves why it’s happening.

7: Cliffhanger

8: Allegory

This is the representation of an abstract meaning through concrete forms and events. What does that mean? I’ll give you some examples. One that people often mention here is The Tortoise and the Hair . On the surface this is about two animals racing each other, but the underlying meaning is determination and consistency triumph over arrogance. You could also look at Animal Farm . The plot is about a bunch of animals that rebel against a farmer. But the underlying story has to do with Orwell’s disillusionment with the Boshevik Revolution and the Russian government. You see it in fables and fairy tales (Aesop and Grimm for example). You see it in philosophy, such as in Plato’s The Allegory of the Cave . I think you get what I mean here—what is the deeper, underlying message, the moral of the story.

9: In Media Res

This is simply Latin for “in the midst of things,” and it’s a great way to start your story—throwing us into the middle of your tale. You don’t need to start us at the birth of your character, instead start us at the inciting incident—the moment in time after which things will never be the same. “Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.” This is the opening line of One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez, and a classic example.

10: Paradox

A paradox is a statement that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth. Less is more, for example. Or the classic neo-noir trope, “I’m a compulsive liar.” Or, 1984 and their mantra of, “War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength.” You can then use these statements to create a moment of tension, to turn your narrator into an unreliable one, or to create an entire society.

In Conclusion

There are many literary devices out there, and this is only the tip of the iceberg—see what I did there? But these ten (and many others) can help you to tell layered, visceral, impactful stories filled with imagery, depth, and meaning. Good luck!

About the author

Richard Thomas is the award-winning author of seven books: three novels— Disintegration and Breaker (Penguin Random House Alibi), as well as Transubstantiate (Otherworld Publications); three short story collections— Staring into the Abyss (Kraken Press), Herniated Roots (Snubnose Press), and Tribulations (Cemetery Dance); and one novella in The Soul Standard (Dzanc Books). With over 140 stories published, his credits include The Best Horror of the Year (Volume Eleven), Cemetery Dance (twice) , Behold!: Oddities, Curiosities and Undefinable Wonders (Bram Stoker winner), PANK, storySouth, Gargoyle, Weird Fiction Review, Midwestern Gothic, Gutted: Beautiful Horror Stories, Qualia Nous, Chiral Mad (numbers 2-4), and Shivers VI (with Stephen King and Peter Straub). He has won contests at ChiZine and One Buck Horror, has received five Pushcart Prize nominations, and has been long-listed for Best Horror of the Year six times. He was also the editor of four anthologies: The New Black and Exigencies (Dark House Press), The Lineup: 20 Provocative Women Writers (Black Lawrence Press) and Burnt Tongues (Medallion Press) with Chuck Palahniuk. He has been nominated for the Bram Stoker, Shirley Jackson, and Thriller awards. In his spare time he is a columnist at Lit Reactor and Editor-in-Chief at Gamut Magazine . His agent is Paula Munier at Talcott Notch. For more information visit www.whatdoesnotkillme.com .

Similar Columns

Explore other columns from across the blog.

Book Brawl: Geek Love vs. Water for Elephants

In Book Brawl, two books that are somehow related will get in the ring and fight it out for the coveted honor of being declared literary champion. Two books enter. One book leaves. This month,...

The 10 Best Sci-Fi Books That Should Be Box Office Blockbusters

It seems as if Hollywood is entirely bereft of fresh material. Next year, three different live-action Snow White films will be released in the States. Disney is still terrorizing audiences with t...

Books Without Borders: Life after Liquidation

Though many true book enthusiasts, particularly in the Northwest where locally owned retailers are more common than paperback novels with Fabio on the cover, would never have set foot in a mega-c...

From Silk Purses to Sows’ Ears

Photo via Freeimages.com Moviegoers whose taste in cinema consists entirely of keeping up with the Joneses, or if they’re confident in their ignorance, being the Joneses - the middlebrow, the ...

Cliche, the Literary Default

Original Photo by Gerhard Lipold As writers, we’re constantly told to avoid the cliché. MFA programs in particular indoctrinate an almost Pavlovian shock response against it; workshops in...

A Recap Of... The Wicked Universe

Out of Oz marks Gregory Maguire’s fourth and final book in the series beginning with his brilliant, beloved Wicked. Maguire’s Wicked universe is richly complex, politically contentious, and fille...

Try Reedsy's novel writing masterclass — 100% free

Sign up for a free video lesson and learn how to make readers care about your main character.

1 million authors trust the professionals on Reedsy. Come meet them.

Literary Devices & Terms

An acrostic is a piece of writing in which a particular set of letters—typically the first letter of each line, word, or paragraph—spells out a word or phrase with special significance to the text. Acrostics... (read full acrostic explanation with examples) An acrostic is a piece of writing in which a particular set of letters—typically the first letter of each line,... (read more)

An allegory is a work that conveys a hidden meaning—usually moral, spiritual, or political—through the use of symbolic characters and events. The story of "The Tortoise and The Hare" is a well-known allegory with a... (read full allegory explanation with examples) An allegory is a work that conveys a hidden meaning—usually moral, spiritual, or political—through the use of symbolic characters and... (read more)

Alliteration is a figure of speech in which the same sound repeats in a group of words, such as the “b” sound in: “Bob brought the box of bricks to the basement.” The repeating sound... (read full alliteration explanation with examples) Alliteration is a figure of speech in which the same sound repeats in a group of words, such as the... (read more)

In literature, an allusion is an unexplained reference to someone or something outside of the text. Writers commonly allude to other literary works, famous individuals, historical events, or philosophical ideas, and they do so in... (read full allusion explanation with examples) In literature, an allusion is an unexplained reference to someone or something outside of the text. Writers commonly allude to... (read more)

An anachronism is a person or a thing placed in the wrong time period. For instance, if a novel set in Medieval England featured a trip to a movie-theater, that would be an anachronism. Although... (read full anachronism explanation with examples) An anachronism is a person or a thing placed in the wrong time period. For instance, if a novel set... (read more)

Anadiplosis is a figure of speech in which a word or group of words located at the end of one clause or sentence is repeated at or near the beginning of the following clause or... (read full anadiplosis explanation with examples) Anadiplosis is a figure of speech in which a word or group of words located at the end of one... (read more)

An analogy is a comparison that aims to explain a thing or idea by likening it to something else. For example, a career coach might say, "Being the successful boss or CEO of a company... (read full analogy explanation with examples) An analogy is a comparison that aims to explain a thing or idea by likening it to something else. For... (read more)

An anapest is a three-syllable metrical pattern in poetry in which two unstressed syllables are followed by a stressed syllable. The word "understand" is an anapest, with the unstressed syllables of "un" and "der" followed... (read full anapest explanation with examples) An anapest is a three-syllable metrical pattern in poetry in which two unstressed syllables are followed by a stressed syllable.... (read more)

Anaphora is a figure of speech in which words repeat at the beginning of successive clauses, phrases, or sentences. For example, Martin Luther King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech contains anaphora: "So let freedom... (read full anaphora explanation with examples) Anaphora is a figure of speech in which words repeat at the beginning of successive clauses, phrases, or sentences. For... (read more)

An antagonist is usually a character who opposes the protagonist (or main character) of a story, but the antagonist can also be a group of characters, institution, or force against which the protagonist must contend.... (read full antagonist explanation with examples) An antagonist is usually a character who opposes the protagonist (or main character) of a story, but the antagonist can... (read more)

Antanaclasis is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is repeated within a sentence, but the word or phrase means something different each time it appears. A famous example of antanaclasis is... (read full antanaclasis explanation with examples) Antanaclasis is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is repeated within a sentence, but the word... (read more)

Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human characteristics, emotions, and behaviors to animals or other non-human things (including objects, plants, and supernatural beings). Some famous examples of anthropomorphism include Winnie the Pooh, the Little Engine that Could, and Simba from... (read full anthropomorphism explanation with examples) Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human characteristics, emotions, and behaviors to animals or other non-human things (including objects, plants, and supernatural beings). Some famous... (read more)

Antimetabole is a figure of speech in which a phrase is repeated, but with the order of words reversed. John F. Kennedy's words, "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you... (read full antimetabole explanation with examples) Antimetabole is a figure of speech in which a phrase is repeated, but with the order of words reversed. John... (read more)

Antithesis is a figure of speech that juxtaposes two contrasting or opposing ideas, usually within parallel grammatical structures. For instance, Neil Armstrong used antithesis when he stepped onto the surface of the moon in 1969... (read full antithesis explanation with examples) Antithesis is a figure of speech that juxtaposes two contrasting or opposing ideas, usually within parallel grammatical structures. For instance,... (read more)

An aphorism is a saying that concisely expresses a moral principle or an observation about the world, presenting it as a general or universal truth. The Rolling Stones are responsible for penning one of the... (read full aphorism explanation with examples) An aphorism is a saying that concisely expresses a moral principle or an observation about the world, presenting it as... (read more)

Aphorismus is a type of figure of speech that calls into question the way a word is used. Aphorismus is used not to question the meaning of a word, but whether it is actually appropriate... (read full aphorismus explanation with examples) Aphorismus is a type of figure of speech that calls into question the way a word is used. Aphorismus is... (read more)

Aporia is a rhetorical device in which a speaker expresses uncertainty or doubt—often pretended uncertainty or doubt—about something, usually as a way of proving a point. An example of aporia is the famous Elizabeth Barrett... (read full aporia explanation with examples) Aporia is a rhetorical device in which a speaker expresses uncertainty or doubt—often pretended uncertainty or doubt—about something, usually as... (read more)

Apostrophe is a figure of speech in which a speaker directly addresses someone (or something) that is not present or cannot respond in reality. The entity being addressed can be an absent, dead, or imaginary... (read full apostrophe explanation with examples) Apostrophe is a figure of speech in which a speaker directly addresses someone (or something) that is not present or... (read more)

Assonance is a figure of speech in which the same vowel sound repeats within a group of words. An example of assonance is: "Who gave Newt and Scooter the blue tuna? It was too soon!" (read full assonance explanation with examples) Assonance is a figure of speech in which the same vowel sound repeats within a group of words. An example... (read more)

An asyndeton (sometimes called asyndetism) is a figure of speech in which coordinating conjunctions—words such as "and", "or", and "but" that join other words or clauses in a sentence into relationships of equal importance—are omitted.... (read full asyndeton explanation with examples) An asyndeton (sometimes called asyndetism) is a figure of speech in which coordinating conjunctions—words such as "and", "or", and "but"... (read more)

A ballad is a type of poem that tells a story and was traditionally set to music. English language ballads are typically composed of four-line stanzas that follow an ABCB rhyme scheme. (read full ballad explanation with examples) A ballad is a type of poem that tells a story and was traditionally set to music. English language ballads... (read more)

A ballade is a form of lyric poetry that originated in medieval France. Ballades follow a strict rhyme scheme ("ababbcbc"), and typically have three eight-line stanzas followed by a shorter four-line stanza called an envoi.... (read full ballade explanation with examples) A ballade is a form of lyric poetry that originated in medieval France. Ballades follow a strict rhyme scheme ("ababbcbc"),... (read more)

Bildungsroman is a genre of novel that shows a young protagonist's journey from childhood to adulthood (or immaturity to maturity), with a focus on the trials and misfortunes that affect the character's growth. (read full bildungsroman explanation with examples) Bildungsroman is a genre of novel that shows a young protagonist's journey from childhood to adulthood (or immaturity to maturity),... (read more)

Blank verse is the name given to poetry that lacks rhymes but does follow a specific meter—a meter that is almost always iambic pentameter. Blank verse was particularly popular in English poetry written between the... (read full blank verse explanation with examples) Blank verse is the name given to poetry that lacks rhymes but does follow a specific meter—a meter that is... (read more)

A cacophony is a combination of words that sound harsh or unpleasant together, usually because they pack a lot of percussive or "explosive" consonants (like T, P, or K) into relatively little space. For instance, the... (read full cacophony explanation with examples) A cacophony is a combination of words that sound harsh or unpleasant together, usually because they pack a lot of... (read more)

A caesura is a pause that occurs within a line of poetry, usually marked by some form of punctuation such as a period, comma, ellipsis, or dash. A caesura doesn't have to be placed in... (read full caesura explanation with examples) A caesura is a pause that occurs within a line of poetry, usually marked by some form of punctuation such... (read more)

Catharsis is the process of releasing strong or pent-up emotions through art. Aristotle coined the term catharsis—which comes from the Greek kathairein meaning "to cleanse or purge"—to describe the release of emotional tension that he... (read full catharsis explanation with examples) Catharsis is the process of releasing strong or pent-up emotions through art. Aristotle coined the term catharsis—which comes from the... (read more)

Characterization is the representation of the traits, motives, and psychology of a character in a narrative. Characterization may occur through direct description, in which the character's qualities are described by a narrator, another character, or... (read full characterization explanation with examples) Characterization is the representation of the traits, motives, and psychology of a character in a narrative. Characterization may occur through... (read more)

Chiasmus is a figure of speech in which the grammar of one phrase is inverted in the following phrase, such that two key concepts from the original phrase reappear in the second phrase in inverted... (read full chiasmus explanation with examples) Chiasmus is a figure of speech in which the grammar of one phrase is inverted in the following phrase, such... (read more)

The word cinquain can refer to two different things. Historically, it referred to any stanza of five lines written in any type of verse. More recently, cinquain has come to refer to particular types of... (read full cinquain explanation with examples) The word cinquain can refer to two different things. Historically, it referred to any stanza of five lines written in... (read more)

A cliché is a phrase that, due to overuse, is seen as lacking in substance or originality. For example, telling a heartbroken friend that there are "Plenty of fish in the sea" is such a... (read full cliché explanation with examples) A cliché is a phrase that, due to overuse, is seen as lacking in substance or originality. For example, telling... (read more)

Climax is a figure of speech in which successive words, phrases, clauses, or sentences are arranged in ascending order of importance, as in "Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's... (read full climax (figure of speech) explanation with examples) Climax is a figure of speech in which successive words, phrases, clauses, or sentences are arranged in ascending order of... (read more)

The climax of a plot is the story's central turning point—the moment of peak tension or conflict—which all the preceding plot developments have been leading up to. In a traditional "good vs. evil" story (like many superhero movies)... (read full climax (plot) explanation with examples) The climax of a plot is the story's central turning point—the moment of peak tension or conflict—which all the preceding plot... (read more)

Colloquialism is the use of informal words or phrases in writing or speech. Colloquialisms are usually defined in geographical terms, meaning that they are often defined by their use within a dialect, a regionally-defined variant... (read full colloquialism explanation with examples) Colloquialism is the use of informal words or phrases in writing or speech. Colloquialisms are usually defined in geographical terms,... (read more)

Common meter is a specific type of meter that is often used in lyric poetry. Common meter has two key traits: it alternates between lines of eight syllables and lines of six syllables, and it... (read full common meter explanation with examples) Common meter is a specific type of meter that is often used in lyric poetry. Common meter has two key... (read more)

A conceit is a fanciful metaphor, especially a highly elaborate or extended metaphor in which an unlikely, far-fetched, or strained comparison is made between two things. A famous example comes from John Donne's poem, "A... (read full conceit explanation with examples) A conceit is a fanciful metaphor, especially a highly elaborate or extended metaphor in which an unlikely, far-fetched, or strained... (read more)

Connotation is the array of emotions and ideas suggested by a word in addition to its dictionary definition. Most words carry meanings, impressions, or associations apart from or beyond their literal meaning. For example, the... (read full connotation explanation with examples) Connotation is the array of emotions and ideas suggested by a word in addition to its dictionary definition. Most words... (read more)

Consonance is a figure of speech in which the same consonant sound repeats within a group of words. An example of consonance is: "Traffic figures, on July Fourth, to be tough." (read full consonance explanation with examples) Consonance is a figure of speech in which the same consonant sound repeats within a group of words. An example... (read more)

A couplet is a unit of two lines of poetry, especially lines that use the same or similar meter, form a rhyme, or are separated from other lines by a double line break. (read full couplet explanation with examples) A couplet is a unit of two lines of poetry, especially lines that use the same or similar meter, form... (read more)

A dactyl is a three-syllable metrical pattern in poetry in which a stressed syllable is followed by two unstressed syllables. The word “poetry” itself is a great example of a dactyl, with the stressed syllable... (read full dactyl explanation with examples) A dactyl is a three-syllable metrical pattern in poetry in which a stressed syllable is followed by two unstressed syllables.... (read more)

Denotation is the literal meaning, or "dictionary definition," of a word. Denotation is defined in contrast to connotation, which is the array of emotions and ideas suggested by a word in addition to its dictionary... (read full denotation explanation with examples) Denotation is the literal meaning, or "dictionary definition," of a word. Denotation is defined in contrast to connotation, which is... (read more)

The dénouement is the final section of a story's plot, in which loose ends are tied up, lingering questions are answered, and a sense of resolution is achieved. The shortest and most well known dénouement, it could be... (read full dénouement explanation with examples) The dénouement is the final section of a story's plot, in which loose ends are tied up, lingering questions are answered, and... (read more)

A deus ex machina is a plot device whereby an unsolvable conflict or point of tension is suddenly resolved by the unexpected appearance of an implausible character, object, action, ability, or event. For example, if... (read full deus ex machina explanation with examples) A deus ex machina is a plot device whereby an unsolvable conflict or point of tension is suddenly resolved by... (read more)

Diacope is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is repeated with a small number of intervening words. The first line of Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, "Happy families are all alike;... (read full diacope explanation with examples) Diacope is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is repeated with a small number of intervening... (read more)

Dialogue is the exchange of spoken words between two or more characters in a book, play, or other written work. In prose writing, lines of dialogue are typically identified by the use of quotation marks... (read full dialogue explanation with examples) Dialogue is the exchange of spoken words between two or more characters in a book, play, or other written work.... (read more)

Diction is a writer's unique style of expression, especially his or her choice and arrangement of words. A writer's vocabulary, use of language to produce a specific tone or atmosphere, and ability to communicate clearly... (read full diction explanation with examples) Diction is a writer's unique style of expression, especially his or her choice and arrangement of words. A writer's vocabulary,... (read more)

Dramatic irony is a plot device often used in theater, literature, film, and television to highlight the difference between a character's understanding of a given situation, and that of the audience. More specifically, in dramatic... (read full dramatic irony explanation with examples) Dramatic irony is a plot device often used in theater, literature, film, and television to highlight the difference between a... (read more)

A dynamic character undergoes substantial internal changes as a result of one or more plot developments. The dynamic character's change can be extreme or subtle, as long as his or her development is important to... (read full dynamic character explanation with examples) A dynamic character undergoes substantial internal changes as a result of one or more plot developments. The dynamic character's change... (read more)

An elegy is a poem of serious reflection, especially one mourning the loss of someone who died. Elegies are defined by their subject matter, and don't have to follow any specific form in terms of... (read full elegy explanation with examples) An elegy is a poem of serious reflection, especially one mourning the loss of someone who died. Elegies are defined... (read more)

End rhyme refers to rhymes that occur in the final words of lines of poetry. For instance, these lines from Dorothy Parker's poem "Interview" use end rhyme: "The ladies men admire, I’ve heard, / Would shudder... (read full end rhyme explanation with examples) End rhyme refers to rhymes that occur in the final words of lines of poetry. For instance, these lines from... (read more)

An end-stopped line is a line of poetry in which a sentence or phrase comes to a conclusion at the end of the line. For example, the poet C.P. Cavafy uses end-stopped lines in his... (read full end-stopped line explanation with examples) An end-stopped line is a line of poetry in which a sentence or phrase comes to a conclusion at the... (read more)

Enjambment is the continuation of a sentence or clause across a line break. For example, the poet John Donne uses enjambment in his poem "The Good-Morrow" when he continues the opening sentence across the line... (read full enjambment explanation with examples) Enjambment is the continuation of a sentence or clause across a line break. For example, the poet John Donne uses... (read more)

An envoi is a brief concluding stanza at the end of a poem that can either summarize the preceding poem or serve as its dedication. The envoi tends to follow the same meter and rhyme... (read full envoi explanation with examples) An envoi is a brief concluding stanza at the end of a poem that can either summarize the preceding poem... (read more)

Epanalepsis is a figure of speech in which the beginning of a clause or sentence is repeated at the end of that same clause or sentence, with words intervening. The sentence "The king is dead,... (read full epanalepsis explanation with examples) Epanalepsis is a figure of speech in which the beginning of a clause or sentence is repeated at the end... (read more)

An epigram is a short and witty statement, usually written in verse, that conveys a single thought or observation. Epigrams typically end with a punchline or a satirical twist. (read full epigram explanation with examples) An epigram is a short and witty statement, usually written in verse, that conveys a single thought or observation. Epigrams... (read more)

An epigraph is a short quotation, phrase, or poem that is placed at the beginning of another piece of writing to encapsulate that work's main themes and to set the tone. For instance, the epigraph of Mary... (read full epigraph explanation with examples) An epigraph is a short quotation, phrase, or poem that is placed at the beginning of another piece of writing to... (read more)

Epistrophe is a figure of speech in which one or more words repeat at the end of successive phrases, clauses, or sentences. In his Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln urged the American people to ensure that,... (read full epistrophe explanation with examples) Epistrophe is a figure of speech in which one or more words repeat at the end of successive phrases, clauses,... (read more)

Epizeuxis is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is repeated in immediate succession, with no intervening words. In the play Hamlet, when Hamlet responds to a question about what he's reading... (read full epizeuxis explanation with examples) Epizeuxis is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is repeated in immediate succession, with no intervening... (read more)

Ethos, along with logos and pathos, is one of the three "modes of persuasion" in rhetoric (the art of effective speaking or writing). Ethos is an argument that appeals to the audience by emphasizing the... (read full ethos explanation with examples) Ethos, along with logos and pathos, is one of the three "modes of persuasion" in rhetoric (the art of effective... (read more)

Euphony is the combining of words that sound pleasant together or are easy to pronounce, usually because they contain lots of consonants with soft or muffled sounds (like L, M, N, and R) instead of consonants with harsh, percussive sounds (like... (read full euphony explanation with examples) Euphony is the combining of words that sound pleasant together or are easy to pronounce, usually because they contain lots of consonants with soft... (read more)

Exposition is the description or explanation of background information within a work of literature. Exposition can cover characters and their relationship to one another, the setting or time and place of events, as well as... (read full exposition explanation with examples) Exposition is the description or explanation of background information within a work of literature. Exposition can cover characters and their... (read more)

An extended metaphor is a metaphor that unfolds across multiple lines or even paragraphs of a text, making use of multiple interrelated metaphors within an overarching one. So while "life is a highway" is a... (read full extended metaphor explanation with examples) An extended metaphor is a metaphor that unfolds across multiple lines or even paragraphs of a text, making use of... (read more)

An external conflict is a problem, antagonism, or struggle that takes place between a character and an outside force. External conflict drives the action of a plot forward. (read full external conflict explanation with examples) An external conflict is a problem, antagonism, or struggle that takes place between a character and an outside force. External conflict... (read more)

The falling action of a story is the section of the plot following the climax, in which the tension stemming from the story's central conflict decreases and the story moves toward its conclusion. For instance, the traditional "good... (read full falling action explanation with examples) The falling action of a story is the section of the plot following the climax, in which the tension stemming from... (read more)

Figurative language is language that contains or uses figures of speech. When people use the term "figurative language," however, they often do so in a slightly narrower way. In this narrower definition, figurative language refers... (read full figurative language explanation with examples) Figurative language is language that contains or uses figures of speech. When people use the term "figurative language," however, they... (read more)

A figure of speech is a literary device in which language is used in an unusual—or "figured"—way in order to produce a stylistic effect. Figures of speech can be broken into two main groups: figures... (read full figure of speech explanation with examples) A figure of speech is a literary device in which language is used in an unusual—or "figured"—way in order to... (read more)

A character is said to be "flat" if it is one-dimensional or lacking in complexity. Typically, flat characters can be easily and accurately described using a single word (like "bully") or one short sentence (like "A naive... (read full flat character explanation with examples) A character is said to be "flat" if it is one-dimensional or lacking in complexity. Typically, flat characters can be easily... (read more)

Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the story. Foreshadowing can be achieved directly or indirectly, by making explicit statements or leaving subtle... (read full foreshadowing explanation with examples) Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the... (read more)

Formal verse is the name given to rhymed poetry that uses a strict meter (a regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables). This two-line poem by Emily Dickinson is formal verse because it rhymes and... (read full formal verse explanation with examples) Formal verse is the name given to rhymed poetry that uses a strict meter (a regular pattern of stressed and... (read more)

Free verse is the name given to poetry that doesn’t use any strict meter or rhyme scheme. Because it has no set meter, poems written in free verse can have lines of any length, from... (read full free verse explanation with examples) Free verse is the name given to poetry that doesn’t use any strict meter or rhyme scheme. Because it has... (read more)

Hamartia is a literary term that refers to a tragic flaw or error that leads to a character's downfall. In the novel Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein's arrogant conviction that he can usurp the roles of God... (read full hamartia explanation with examples) Hamartia is a literary term that refers to a tragic flaw or error that leads to a character's downfall. In... (read more)

Hubris refers to excessive pride or overconfidence, which drives a person to overstep limits in a way that leads to their downfall. In Greek mythology, the legend of Icarus involves an iconic case of hubris:... (read full hubris explanation with examples) Hubris refers to excessive pride or overconfidence, which drives a person to overstep limits in a way that leads to... (read more)

Hyperbole is a figure of speech in which a writer or speaker exaggerates for the sake of emphasis. Hyperbolic statements are usually quite obvious exaggerations intended to emphasize a point, rather than be taken literally.... (read full hyperbole explanation with examples) Hyperbole is a figure of speech in which a writer or speaker exaggerates for the sake of emphasis. Hyperbolic statements... (read more)

An iamb is a two-syllable metrical pattern in poetry in which one unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed syllable. The word "define" is an iamb, with the unstressed syllable of "de" followed by the... (read full iamb explanation with examples) An iamb is a two-syllable metrical pattern in poetry in which one unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed syllable.... (read more)

An idiom is a phrase that conveys a figurative meaning that is difficult or impossible to understand based solely on a literal interpretation of the words in the phrase. For example, saying that something is... (read full idiom explanation with examples) An idiom is a phrase that conveys a figurative meaning that is difficult or impossible to understand based solely on... (read more)

Imagery, in any sort of writing, refers to descriptive language that engages the human senses. For instance, the following lines from Robert Frost's poem "After Apple-Picking" contain imagery that engages the senses of touch, movement,... (read full imagery explanation with examples) Imagery, in any sort of writing, refers to descriptive language that engages the human senses. For instance, the following lines... (read more)

Internal rhyme is rhyme that occurs in the middle of lines of poetry, instead of at the ends of lines. A single line of poetry can contain internal rhyme (with multiple words in the same... (read full internal rhyme explanation with examples) Internal rhyme is rhyme that occurs in the middle of lines of poetry, instead of at the ends of lines.... (read more)

Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how they actually are. If this seems like a loose definition, don't worry—it is. Irony is a... (read full irony explanation with examples) Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how... (read more)

Juxtaposition occurs when an author places two things side by side as a way of highlighting their differences. Ideas, images, characters, and actions are all things that can be juxtaposed with one another. For example,... (read full juxtaposition explanation with examples) Juxtaposition occurs when an author places two things side by side as a way of highlighting their differences. Ideas, images,... (read more)

A kenning is a figure of speech in which two words are combined in order to form a poetic expression that refers to a person or a thing. For example, "whale-road" is a kenning for... (read full kenning explanation with examples) A kenning is a figure of speech in which two words are combined in order to form a poetic expression... (read more)

A line break is the termination of one line of poetry, and the beginning of a new line. (read full line break explanation with examples) A line break is the termination of one line of poetry, and the beginning of a new line. (read more)

Litotes is a figure of speech and a form of understatement in which a sentiment is expressed ironically by negating its contrary. For example, saying "It's not the best weather today" during a hurricane would... (read full litotes explanation with examples) Litotes is a figure of speech and a form of understatement in which a sentiment is expressed ironically by negating... (read more)

Logos, along with ethos and pathos, is one of the three "modes of persuasion" in rhetoric (the art of effective speaking or writing). Logos is an argument that appeals to an audience's sense of logic... (read full logos explanation with examples) Logos, along with ethos and pathos, is one of the three "modes of persuasion" in rhetoric (the art of effective... (read more)

A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing is the other. The comparison in a metaphor can be stated explicitly, as in the sentence "Love is... (read full metaphor explanation with examples) A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing is the other.... (read more)

Meter is a regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables that defines the rhythm of some poetry. These stress patterns are defined in groupings, called feet, of two or three syllables. A pattern of unstressed-stressed,... (read full meter explanation with examples) Meter is a regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables that defines the rhythm of some poetry. These stress patterns... (read more)

Metonymy is a type of figurative language in which an object or concept is referred to not by its own name, but instead by the name of something closely associated with it. For example, in... (read full metonymy explanation with examples) Metonymy is a type of figurative language in which an object or concept is referred to not by its own... (read more)

The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes in the reader. Every aspect of a piece of writing can influence its mood, from the... (read full mood explanation with examples) The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes... (read more)

A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of related symbols, help develop the central themes of a book or play. For example, one... (read full motif explanation with examples) A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of... (read more)

A narrative is an account of connected events. Two writers describing the same set of events might craft very different narratives, depending on how they use different narrative elements, such as tone or point of view. For... (read full narrative explanation with examples) A narrative is an account of connected events. Two writers describing the same set of events might craft very different narratives,... (read more)

Onomatopoeia is a figure of speech in which words evoke the actual sound of the thing they refer to or describe. The “boom” of a firework exploding, the “tick tock” of a clock, and the... (read full onomatopoeia explanation with examples) Onomatopoeia is a figure of speech in which words evoke the actual sound of the thing they refer to or... (read more)

An oxymoron is a figure of speech in which two contradictory terms or ideas are intentionally paired in order to make a point—particularly to reveal a deeper or hidden truth. The most recognizable oxymorons are... (read full oxymoron explanation with examples) An oxymoron is a figure of speech in which two contradictory terms or ideas are intentionally paired in order to... (read more)

A paradox is a figure of speech that seems to contradict itself, but which, upon further examination, contains some kernel of truth or reason. Oscar Wilde's famous declaration that "Life is much too important to be... (read full paradox explanation with examples) A paradox is a figure of speech that seems to contradict itself, but which, upon further examination, contains some kernel... (read more)

Parallelism is a figure of speech in which two or more elements of a sentence (or series of sentences) have the same grammatical structure. These "parallel" elements can be used to intensify the rhythm of... (read full parallelism explanation with examples) Parallelism is a figure of speech in which two or more elements of a sentence (or series of sentences) have... (read more)

Parataxis is a figure of speech in which words, phrases, clauses, or sentences are set next to each other so that each element is equally important. Parataxis usually involves simple sentences or phrases whose relationships... (read full parataxis explanation with examples) Parataxis is a figure of speech in which words, phrases, clauses, or sentences are set next to each other so... (read more)

A parody is a work that mimics the style of another work, artist, or genre in an exaggerated way, usually for comic effect. Parodies can take many forms, including fiction, poetry, film, visual art, and... (read full parody explanation with examples) A parody is a work that mimics the style of another work, artist, or genre in an exaggerated way, usually... (read more)

Pathetic fallacy occurs when a writer attributes human emotions to things that aren't human, such as objects, weather, or animals. It is often used to make the environment reflect the inner experience of a narrator... (read full pathetic fallacy explanation with examples) Pathetic fallacy occurs when a writer attributes human emotions to things that aren't human, such as objects, weather, or animals.... (read more)

Pathos, along with logos and ethos, is one of the three "modes of persuasion" in rhetoric (the art of effective speaking or writing). Pathos is an argument that appeals to an audience's emotions. When a... (read full pathos explanation with examples) Pathos, along with logos and ethos, is one of the three "modes of persuasion" in rhetoric (the art of effective... (read more)

Personification is a type of figurative language in which non-human things are described as having human attributes, as in the sentence, "The rain poured down on the wedding guests, indifferent to their plans." Describing the... (read full personification explanation with examples) Personification is a type of figurative language in which non-human things are described as having human attributes, as in the... (read more)

Plot is the sequence of interconnected events within the story of a play, novel, film, epic, or other narrative literary work. More than simply an account of what happened, plot reveals the cause-and-effect relationships between... (read full plot explanation with examples) Plot is the sequence of interconnected events within the story of a play, novel, film, epic, or other narrative literary... (read more)

Point of view refers to the perspective that the narrator holds in relation to the events of the story. The three primary points of view are first person, in which the narrator tells a story from... (read full point of view explanation with examples) Point of view refers to the perspective that the narrator holds in relation to the events of the story. The... (read more)

Polyptoton is a figure of speech that involves the repetition of words derived from the same root (such as "blood" and "bleed"). For instance, the question, "Who shall watch the watchmen?" is an example of... (read full polyptoton explanation with examples) Polyptoton is a figure of speech that involves the repetition of words derived from the same root (such as "blood"... (read more)

Polysyndeton is a figure of speech in which coordinating conjunctions—words such as "and," "or," and "but" that join other words or clauses in a sentence into relationships of equal importance—are used several times in close... (read full polysyndeton explanation with examples) Polysyndeton is a figure of speech in which coordinating conjunctions—words such as "and," "or," and "but" that join other words... (read more)

The protagonist of a story is its main character, who has the sympathy and support of the audience. This character tends to be involved in or affected by most of the choices or conflicts that... (read full protagonist explanation with examples) The protagonist of a story is its main character, who has the sympathy and support of the audience. This character... (read more)

A pun is a figure of speech that plays with words that have multiple meanings, or that plays with words that sound similar but mean different things. The comic novelist Douglas Adams uses both types... (read full pun explanation with examples) A pun is a figure of speech that plays with words that have multiple meanings, or that plays with words... (read more)

A quatrain is a four-line stanza of poetry. It can be a single four-line stanza, meaning that it is a stand-alone poem of four lines, or it can be a four-line stanza that makes up... (read full quatrain explanation with examples) A quatrain is a four-line stanza of poetry. It can be a single four-line stanza, meaning that it is a... (read more)

A red herring is a piece of information in a story that distracts readers from an important truth, or leads them to mistakenly expect a particular outcome. Most often, the term red herring is used to refer... (read full red herring explanation with examples) A red herring is a piece of information in a story that distracts readers from an important truth, or leads them... (read more)

In a poem or song, a refrain is a line or group of lines that regularly repeat, usually at the end of a stanza in a poem or at the end of a verse in... (read full refrain explanation with examples) In a poem or song, a refrain is a line or group of lines that regularly repeat, usually at the... (read more)

Repetition is a literary device in which a word or phrase is repeated two or more times. Repetition occurs in so many different forms that it is usually not thought of as a single figure... (read full repetition explanation with examples) Repetition is a literary device in which a word or phrase is repeated two or more times. Repetition occurs in... (read more)

A rhetorical question is a figure of speech in which a question is asked for a reason other than to get an answer—most commonly, it's asked to make a persuasive point. For example, if a... (read full rhetorical question explanation with examples) A rhetorical question is a figure of speech in which a question is asked for a reason other than to... (read more)

A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds in two or more words. Rhyming is particularly common in many types of poetry, especially at the ends of lines, and is a requirement in formal verse.... (read full rhyme explanation with examples) A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds in two or more words. Rhyming is particularly common in many types... (read more)

A rhyme scheme is the pattern according to which end rhymes (rhymes located at the end of lines) are repeated in works poetry. Rhyme schemes are described using letters of the alphabet, such that all... (read full rhyme scheme explanation with examples) A rhyme scheme is the pattern according to which end rhymes (rhymes located at the end of lines) are repeated... (read more)

The rising action of a story is the section of the plot leading up to the climax, in which the tension stemming from the story's central conflict grows through successive plot developments. For example, in the story of "Little... (read full rising action explanation with examples) The rising action of a story is the section of the plot leading up to the climax, in which the tension stemming... (read more)

A character is said to be "round" if they are lifelike or complex. Round characters typically have fully fleshed-out and multi-faceted personalities, backgrounds, desires, and motivations. Jay Gatsby in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby... (read full round character explanation with examples) A character is said to be "round" if they are lifelike or complex. Round characters typically have fully fleshed-out and... (read more)

Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians, are often the subject of satire, but satirists can take aim at other targets as... (read full satire explanation with examples) Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians,... (read more)

A sestet is a six-line stanza of poetry. It can be any six-line stanza—one that is, itself, a whole poem, or one that makes up a part of a longer poem. Most commonly, the term... (read full sestet explanation with examples) A sestet is a six-line stanza of poetry. It can be any six-line stanza—one that is, itself, a whole poem,... (read more)

Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or it can be an imagined location, like Middle Earth in... (read full setting explanation with examples) Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the... (read more)

Sibilance is a figure of speech in which a hissing sound is created within a group of words through the repetition of "s" sounds. An example of sibilance is: "Sadly, Sam sold seven venomous serpents to Sally and... (read full sibilance explanation with examples) Sibilance is a figure of speech in which a hissing sound is created within a group of words through the repetition... (read more)

A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two unlike things. To make the comparison, similes most often use the connecting words "like" or "as," but can also use other words that indicate... (read full simile explanation with examples) A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two unlike things. To make the comparison, similes most often... (read more)

Traditionally, slant rhyme referred to a type of rhyme in which two words located at the end of a line of poetry themselves end in similar—but not identical—consonant sounds. For instance, the words "pact" and... (read full slant rhyme explanation with examples) Traditionally, slant rhyme referred to a type of rhyme in which two words located at the end of a line... (read more)

A soliloquy is a literary device, most often found in dramas, in which a character speaks to him or herself, relating his or her innermost thoughts and feelings as if thinking aloud. In some cases,... (read full soliloquy explanation with examples) A soliloquy is a literary device, most often found in dramas, in which a character speaks to him or herself,... (read more)

A sonnet is a type of fourteen-line poem. Traditionally, the fourteen lines of a sonnet consist of an octave (or two quatrains making up a stanza of 8 lines) and a sestet (a stanza of... (read full sonnet explanation with examples) A sonnet is a type of fourteen-line poem. Traditionally, the fourteen lines of a sonnet consist of an octave (or... (read more)

A spondee is a two-syllable metrical pattern in poetry in which both syllables are stressed. The word "downtown" is a spondee, with the stressed syllable of "down" followed by another stressed syllable, “town”: Down-town. (read full spondee explanation with examples) A spondee is a two-syllable metrical pattern in poetry in which both syllables are stressed. The word "downtown" is a... (read more)

A stanza is a group of lines form a smaller unit within a poem. A single stanza is usually set apart from other lines or stanza within a poem by a double line break or... (read full stanza explanation with examples) A stanza is a group of lines form a smaller unit within a poem. A single stanza is usually set... (read more)

A character is said to be "static" if they do not undergo any substantial internal changes as a result of the story's major plot developments. Antagonists are often static characters, but any character in a... (read full static character explanation with examples) A character is said to be "static" if they do not undergo any substantial internal changes as a result of... (read more)

Stream of consciousness is a style or technique of writing that tries to capture the natural flow of a character's extended thought process, often by incorporating sensory impressions, incomplete ideas, unusual syntax, and rough grammar. (read full stream of consciousness explanation with examples) Stream of consciousness is a style or technique of writing that tries to capture the natural flow of a character's... (read more)

A syllogism is a three-part logical argument, based on deductive reasoning, in which two premises are combined to arrive at a conclusion. So long as the premises of the syllogism are true and the syllogism... (read full syllogism explanation with examples) A syllogism is a three-part logical argument, based on deductive reasoning, in which two premises are combined to arrive at... (read more)

Symbolism is a literary device in which a writer uses one thing—usually a physical object or phenomenon—to represent something more abstract. A strong symbol usually shares a set of key characteristics with whatever it is... (read full symbolism explanation with examples) Symbolism is a literary device in which a writer uses one thing—usually a physical object or phenomenon—to represent something more... (read more)

Synecdoche is a figure of speech in which, most often, a part of something is used to refer to its whole. For example, "The captain commands one hundred sails" is a synecdoche that uses "sails"... (read full synecdoche explanation with examples) Synecdoche is a figure of speech in which, most often, a part of something is used to refer to its... (read more)

A theme is a universal idea, lesson, or message explored throughout a work of literature. One key characteristic of literary themes is their universality, which is to say that themes are ideas that not only... (read full theme explanation with examples) A theme is a universal idea, lesson, or message explored throughout a work of literature. One key characteristic of literary... (read more)

The tone of a piece of writing is its general character or attitude, which might be cheerful or depressive, sarcastic or sincere, comical or mournful, praising or critical, and so on. For instance, an editorial in a newspaper... (read full tone explanation with examples) The tone of a piece of writing is its general character or attitude, which might be cheerful or depressive, sarcastic or sincere, comical... (read more)

A tragic hero is a type of character in a tragedy, and is usually the protagonist. Tragic heroes typically have heroic traits that earn them the sympathy of the audience, but also have flaws or... (read full tragic hero explanation with examples) A tragic hero is a type of character in a tragedy, and is usually the protagonist. Tragic heroes typically have... (read more)

A trochee is a two-syllable metrical pattern in poetry in which a stressed syllable is followed by an unstressed syllable. The word "poet" is a trochee, with the stressed syllable of "po" followed by the... (read full trochee explanation with examples) A trochee is a two-syllable metrical pattern in poetry in which a stressed syllable is followed by an unstressed syllable.... (read more)

Understatement is a figure of speech in which something is expressed less strongly than would be expected, or in which something is presented as being smaller, worse, or lesser than it really is. Typically, understatement is... (read full understatement explanation with examples) Understatement is a figure of speech in which something is expressed less strongly than would be expected, or in which something... (read more)

Verbal irony occurs when the literal meaning of what someone says is different from—and often opposite to—what they actually mean. When there's a hurricane raging outside and someone remarks "what lovely weather we're having," this... (read full verbal irony explanation with examples) Verbal irony occurs when the literal meaning of what someone says is different from—and often opposite to—what they actually mean.... (read more)

A villanelle is a poem of nineteen lines, and which follows a strict form that consists of five tercets (three-line stanzas) followed by one quatrain (four-line stanza). Villanelles use a specific rhyme scheme of ABA... (read full villanelle explanation with examples) A villanelle is a poem of nineteen lines, and which follows a strict form that consists of five tercets (three-line... (read more)

A zeugma is a figure of speech in which one "governing" word or phrase modifies two distinct parts of a sentence. Often, the governing word will mean something different when applied to each part, as... (read full zeugma explanation with examples) A zeugma is a figure of speech in which one "governing" word or phrase modifies two distinct parts of a... (read more)

• PDF downloads of each of the 136 Lit Terms we cover
• PDF downloads of 1939 LitCharts Lit Guides
• Teacher Editions for every Lit Guide
• Explanations and citation info for 40,890 quotes across 1939 Lit Guides
• Downloadable (PDF) line-by-line translations of every Shakespeare play

Your Complete Guide to Popular Literary Devices in Great Writing

Laura Marie

Laura Marie is a writer and teacher in Ohio. She reads one or two audiobooks every week, loves falling into a good cooking memoir, and debates feasibility of tech from sci-fi books with her husband.

View All posts by Laura Marie

We all know what it means to read “good writing,” right?   Well, no, we don’t. It’s true that we often recognize something as “great” when we see it. Our teachers may reference the “literary devices” that make it good. But if you have to talk about a book in a class, it can be hard to describe “greatness.” This is even more nerve-wracking on a test or quiz. I can’t just write “I liked it” and move on!

What are literary devices?

One of the best ways to connect deeply with texts when you are just learning about how to define good writing is through literary devices. Literary devices are like strategies or techniques that a writer can use. They showcase creative thought and connections between things that might otherwise not be connected. When we notice a great connection being made, we get the opportunity to share it with others in our classes or among our friends who also are reading such a book.

Below are just a few of the literary devices you may encounter as you delve into the great works of literature. You might also notice variations of them in your reading for pleasure, and thinking about literary devices may allow you to marvel even more at the genius of your favorite authors.

15 Common Literary Devices (and What They Mean)

An allusion is a reference to something outside of the present context. For example, if a character makes a quip that is actually a quote from a famous movie, but doesn’t stop to explain it, that is considered an allusion. You can attribute allusions (i.e. explain where they come from), but many books reference other books and other forms of media and just hope that the right readers will “get it.”

Archetypes are those “big-picture” comparisons that tend to show up in a lot of texts, not just the texts of one author. This means that if a book contains “a young person looking to figure out how to become an adult,” they are following an archetype. Characters that fully seem like heroes or villains are also archetypes. This is generally a way that a given character behaves.

Diction contains a lot of things. It includes the kinds of words a writer chooses, the tone or attitude of the words, and as a whole the way that this writer’s work reads differently from every other writer. Many people, for instance, could recognize a new Emily Dickinson poem because of the way she writes (uses a lot of dashes, interesting but simple rhymes, etc.) even if they’ve never seen one before. Her unique diction is partially to blame for this ability.

Epigraphs are the little quotations or snippets at the beginning of a book or the beginning of each chapter. They may seem unrelated, but one good way to analyze a book is to try to see a connection, after you read the book or after you read the chapter, between the text and the original snippet.

These terms are any that make something harsh less harsh. References to violence or crimes, for instance, are often softened by not telling a lot of detail or by using terms that don’t make it as difficult. Think about the difference between “murdered” and “passed away.”

Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing is when something that will be important in the future is emphasized in the present. If, for instance, the narration of a novel mentions how important it is that I took two cookies instead of one, and that dire consequences would result, they are foreshadowing that something important will happen because of the second cookie.

Characters who use hyperbole are using exaggeration that is technically a lie but communicates a truth. For instance, saying “we waited a million years at the office” is almost definitely a lie, but it communicates a deeper truth, that the wait was longer than expected and excruciating in its dullness.

Imagery is a fairly large category of items, but it basically means any words and phrases that help you to create a picture of the scene in a story. When the story stops, for instance, being just a back-and-forth dialogue between characters and gives you some background details or description of their faces, you can refer to that as imagery.

Irony tends to involve a situation that seems like it should never exist due to the nature of the situation itself. People consider someone who hurts themselves while working in a hospital, for instance, to be ironic. Also, irony can create a lot of humor in literature, for example, when a character obsessively plans for five potential outcomes but the sixth, the one that they said would never happen, is what actually takes place.

Metaphor and Simile

Metaphors and similes are comparisons. They help people see a new aspect of something by comparing it to something else. For instance, if a story claims that “night is like a visitor,” they are using a simile and probably trying to emphasize something about how night arrives. Metaphors are similar but they simply state the comparison without drawing attention to the fact that it is a comparison: “Night is a visitor.”

A motif is an item or another element of a story that appears multiple time. It is meaningful through a connection with a particular context. For instance, if the main character sees a black cat crossing the road only once, it might be a general symbol of some kind, but if the same cat shows up only right before a very mysterious event happens, the reader grows to connect those two things.

Personification

The giving of emotions or human attributes to non-human items. So, if the sky seems “somber,” it really is just saying that we associate the human emotion of somberness with the dark gray of a cloudy sky. It is a very poetic way to communicate. It very often shows how the actual human characters feel by making the natural world around them reflect those emotions subtly.

Portmanteau

This is a bit of cleverness where you combine two words to make a new word. Sometimes these words become so popular they enter the common lexicon. Breakfast and lunch combined, for instance, form “brunch.” Many creative authors make up such words.

Whenever an item carries more significance than its literal value. When pursuing a white whale could just literally mean a whale hunt in Moby Dick , but ends up being a stand-in for all pursuits that we grow so obsessed with that we lose all focus on other things, the whale becomes a symbol for all far-off, out-of-reach desires.

When one part of something stands in for the whole. Synecdoche can be a clever way to distinguish a character through their unusual way of speaking. When people refer to their cars as “wheels,” for instance, they aren’t seriously referring to only the wheels. It’s a way to convey the whole car but to distinguish one’s way of speaking.

Want to know more about how to make sense of the works you are reading beyond the literary devices? We’ve got you covered at Book Riot! Read this post on short stories , a primer on poems , and a summary of understanding the distinctions between fiction and non-fiction .

Some sourcing assistance provided by  https://literaryterms.net/  and  https://www.literarydevices.com/

You Might Also Like

No products in the cart.

31 Stylistic Devices for Creative Writers

Today’s guest post is by Rose Scott:

Without figurative language , writing would be plain and shallow. The more stylistic devices you know, the more unique your writing can be. If writing is your passion, you probably already know a dozen or so stylistic devices, but I’m betting there are a few on this list you’ve never heard of.

Take a look at this comprehensive list of stylistic devices and see if any might work in your current WIP (work in progress). Of course, you want to be reasonable and not go overboard with forced prose. But I’m sure you can find great places to utilize these wonderful literary techniques.

1. Adnomination

Repetition of words with the same root. The difference lies in one sound or letter. A nice euphony can be achieved by using this poetic device.

Examples: “Nobody loves no one.” (Chris Isaak). Someone, somewhere, wants something.

2. Allegory

Representation of ideas through a certain form (character, event, etc.). Allegory can convey hidden meanings through symbolic figures, actions, and imagery.

Example: Animal Farm by George Orwell is all about the Russian Revolution. And characters stand for working and upper classes, military forces, and political leaders.

3. Alliteration

The repeated sound of the first consonant in a series of words, or the repetition of the same sounds of the same kind at the beginning of words or in stressed syllables of a phrase.

Examples: A lazy lying lion. Peter picked a peck of pickled peppers. Sally sells seashells by the seashore.

4. Allusion

Reference to a myth, character, literary work, work of art, or an event.

Example: I feel like I’m going down the rabbit hole (an allusion to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll).

5. Anaphora

Word repetition at the beginnings of sentences in order to give emphasis to them.

Example: “Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.” (Martin Luther King)

Opposite: Epiphora. Word repetition at the end of sentences.

Example: “And that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” (Abraham Lincoln)

6. Antithesis

Emphasizing contrast between two things or fictional characters.

Example: “Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing; a confusion of the real with the ideal never goes unpunished.” (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)

7. Apostrophe

Directed speech to someone who is not present or to an object.

Example: “Work on, my medicine, work! Thus credulous fools are caught.” (William Shakespeare)

8. Assonance

Repetition of vowels in order to create internal rhyming.

Example: “Hear the mellow wedding bells.” (Edgar Allan Poe)

Related: Consonance. Repetition of consonants.

9. Cataphora

Mentioning of the person or object further in the discourse.

Examples: I met him yesterday, your boyfriend who was wearing the cool hat. If you want some, here’s some cheese. After he had received his orders, the soldier left the barracks.

Arranging text in such a manner that tension gradually ascends.

Example. He was a not bad listener, a good speaker and an amazing performer.

Opposite: Anticlimax. Tension descends.

11. Charactonym (or Speaking Name)

Giving fictional characters names that describe them.

Example: Scrooge, Snow White.

12. Ellipsis

Word or phrase omission.

Example: I speak lots of languages, but you only speak two (languages).

13. Euphemism

Replacing offensive or combinations of words with lighter equivalents.

Example: Visually challenged (blind); meet one’s maker (die)

Opposite: Dysphemism . Replacing a neutral word with a harsher word.

14. Epigram

Memorable and brief saying, usually satirical.

Example: “For most of history, Anonymous was a woman.” (Virginia Woolf)

15. Hyperbole

Exaggeration of the statement.

Example: If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a thousand times.

Opposite: Litotes. Understatement.

Asking a question and answering it right away.

Example: Are you going to leave now? I don’t think so.

There are three types of irony:

• Verbal (Antiphrasis) – using words to express something different from their literal meaning for ironic effect (”I’m so excited to burn the midnight oil and write my academic paper all week long”).
• Situational – result differs from the expectation (Bruce Robertson, a character of Filth, is a policeman. Nonetheless, he does drugs, resorts to violence and abuse, and so on).
• Dramatic – situation is understandable for the audience but not the fictional character/actor (audience sees that the fictional characters/actors will be killed now, though the characters don’t expect it).

Describing people/objects by enumerating their traits.

Example: Lock, stock, and barrel (gun); heart and soul (entirety)

18. Metalepsis

Referencing one thing through the means of another thing, which is related to the first one.

Example: “Stop judging people so strictly—you live in a glass house too.” (A hint at the proverb: people who live in glass houses should not throw stones.)

19. Metaphor

Comparing two different things that have some characteristics in common.

Example: “Love is clockworks and cold steel.” (U2)

20. Metonymy

Giving a thing another name that is associated with it.

Example: The heir to the crown was Richard. (the crown stands for authority)

21. Onomatopoeia

Imitating sounds in writing.

Example: oink, ticktock, tweet tweet

22. Oxymoron

Combining contradictory traits.

Example: Living dead; terribly good; real magic

23. Parallelism

Arranging a sentence in such a manner that it has parallel structure.

Example: “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I may remember. Involve me and I will learn.” (Benjamin Franklin)

Opposite: Chiasmus . An inverted parallelism.

Examples: “To stop, too fearful, and too faint to go.” (Oliver Goldsmith); “My job is not to represent Washington to you but to represent you to Washington.” (Barack Obama)

24. Parenthesis

Interrupting a sentence by inserting extra information enclosed in brackets, commas, or dashes.

Example: Our family (my mother, sister, and grandfather) had a barbeque this past weekend.

25. Personification

Attributing human characteristics to nonhumans.

Example: Practically all animals in fairy tales act like human beings. They speak and have traits that are typical of people.

A kind of wordplay. Here are a few types of puns:

• Antanaclasis – repetition of the same word or phrase, but with a different meaning (“Cats like Felix like Felix.”—“Felix” catfood slogan).
• Malapropism – usage of the incorrect word instead of the word with a similar sound (“optical delusion” instead of “optical illusion”).
• Paradox – self-contradictory fact; however, it can be partially true (“I can resist anything but temptation.”—Oscar Wilde).
• Paraprosdokian – arranging a sentence in such a manner so the last part is unexpected (You’re never too old to learn something stupid).
• Polyptoton – repetition of the words with the same root (“The things you  own  end up  owning  you.”—Chuck Palahniuk).

27. Rhetorical question

Questioning without expecting the answer.

Example: Why not? Are you kidding me?

Direct comparison.

Example: “Your heart is like an ocean, mysterious and dark.” (Bob Dylan)

29. Synecdoche

Generalization or specification based on a definite part/trait of the object.

Example: He just got new wheels. (car)

30. Tautology

Saying the same thing twice in different ways.

Example: first priority; I personally; repeat again

31. Zeugma (or Syllepsis)

Applying a word to a few other words in the sentence in order to give different meaning.

Example: Give neither counsel nor salt till you are asked for it.

Quite a huge list, right? With all these stylistic devices, your writing can potentially be so much more attractive. If you find it difficult to memorize them all, here’s what I recommend you do: make flashcards. Write a stylistic device on one side of the flashcard and its meaning on the other side, then work on memorizing a few a day. Voila! Enjoy your learning and writing.

Feature photo by Heather Wilson Smith

Have you been learning helpful insights on how to spot flaws in your fiction writing? Know some writers who might benefit from these in-depth posts? The book is out!

You can find  5 Editors Tackle the 12 Fatal Flaws of Fiction Writing on all online venues, in print or as an ebook.

Here are some links: Kindle , iBooks , Nook , Kobo , Oyster , and Scribd .

Don’t just give  any book as a gift this holiday season. Give  the book that will help the writers in your life become better writers! They’ll thank you!

Reviewers say:

“I wish I’d had this book when I wrote my first manuscript.”

“Every author needs this book on their shelf. From nothing happening to too much backstory to body parts behaving badly, this book has it all and tells you how to fix it with examples you can follow. Don’t have the money to hire an editor for your novel? Use this book, one of several in the Writer’s Toolbox Series, to mark your own book up in red. The fun part of this book is being able to read each entry and then determining what is wrong with it before you read the answer. Not quite sure what is wrong? That is okay, because the fatal flaw is fixed right before your eyes.”

“Another new and favorite part of the book is the checklist at the end of each chapter. I like having a quick wrap-up to check my work against. It’s great to rifle back through the detailed information after reading, but I’m more likely to use the checklists reminders over and over.”

“I have well over a hundred writing books on my bookcase and dozens more on my Kindle, but Fatal Flaws deserves to become the newest addition.”

“Got a feeling that something’s not quite right in your story? Maybe you don’t even know what it is, but you sense something’s not working? Get this book! It’s a mini-lecture series and workshop taught in a friendly manner. Your writing will significantly improve if you read this book and follow the suggestions.”

“This is an excellent study book for published and non-published writers alike. I love the fact that I got input five different editors. So many teaching books are written by just one person. Besides, where else can you get this much writing instruction for $4.99?”

Exactly! Our thanks to all who did an early read and review. Your comments will help others see the value of this comprehensive book. And may this book help you all to write awesome books in 2016!

~Susanne, Linda, Christy, Robin, and Rachel

Search Posts Here

Subscribe to my blog, similar posts.

How Writers Can Feed Their Muse through Community

Today’s blog post is by Scott Stavrou: Of the many trials Odysseus faced on his long journey home, one of…

The Editorial Burden That Weighs on the Author

In 1957, an editor at Lippincott publishing house received a manuscript on her desk from an unknown author who had…

Is the Stigma of Self-Publishing Finally Gone?

Today’s guest post is by blogger Ben Galley, and he’s writing on a topic that is hot right now. Check…

5 Freelancing Tips That Will Help You Write That Novel

Today’s guest post is by Rob Blair. Thank the Gods of Writing that I’m no longer a full-time freelancer. Those…

It’s That Time Again – Strategic Planning for Authors

As the end of the year looms large, we writers should be thinking about strategic planning. I know—it sounds like…

From Writer to Author to Publisher to Marketer

Today’s guest post is from Book Designer and blogger Joel Friedlander, and this content originally appeared on his website The…

12 Comments

great post! thanks Rose, for a super stellar list of dynamic devices! i’ve saved the list for future and fair-constant reference. there’s always something good on this blog! Merry Christmas everyone!!

Oh man, it’s like Christmas has come early. I love posts like this – and I’ll both share it *and* copy it to my desktop ha!

Items I didn’t know about but immediately fell in love with: adnomination, anaphora, hypophora (I hadn’t realised, but I do this all of the time, which now seems pretty annoying!), and zeugma. Thank you once again!

Glad you enjoyed this post! Have a happy Christmas!

Thanks much for you “31 Stylistic Devices … …” I was in the process of writing a transcript when I sort of stumbled across the need to correctly define a scenario.

I did a quick surf, directly asking for what I wanted, this popped up. I scanned your list and had the “Eureka!” moment. “METAPHOR!”

It’s really great of you also sharing without obligation. We do a lot of that in our realm of things.

Okay! Thanks again! Please, have a great weekend!

P.S. For you Ms. Lakin. Thanks for making this site available! Please, have a great weekend, as well!

Thanks for the kind words! Glad you are getting some benefit from the blog’s content!

Do you have a list of stylised paragraphs? Not just the main 4 (descriptive, narrative, expository, and persuasive), but other types of paragraphs that apply rhetorical ornaments and devices.

Forgot to say thank you for this lovely and informative post.

Wow this post has boost my understanding of the analysing the prose techniques in a book. Thank u very much

I greatly appreciate the time and effort you put into constructing this list. I especially enjoy how you introduced me to unfamiliar and complex stylistic devices. I will attempt to incorporate these techniques in my future writing. Synecdoche is a wonderful device that I have not heard of before, I’ll have to steal it :P. Is there any way I can contact you? I would love to have a nerdy conversation about English!

Sincerely, Jenny Wales

It was interesting when you talked about how parallelism arranges sentences so their structure is parallel to each other. I’ve been wanting to find some poetry online to help me sort through my emotions from a loved one’s death last month. Thanks for teaching me these writing devices to look out for so I can understand the poems as effectively as possible.

Hi Rose I like your terms and I am using it on my writing my thesis on stylistics.

Actually, there are 32 stylistic devices in your list, since there are two no. 17.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

[related_books]

Next Steps for Your Manuscript

Free Amazon Email Course

Guest Blogging

Get your Free Ebook!

Subscribe to my email blasts to level up your writing and be notified of upcoming events and offers!

Review Cart

What are your chances of acceptance?

Calculate for all schools, your chance of acceptance.

Your chancing factors

Extracurriculars.

30 Literary Devices Every High Schooler Needs to Know (With Examples)

Is your profile on track for college admissions?

Our free guidance platform determines your real college chances using your current profile and provides personalized recommendations for how to improve it.

Writing is a staple of your education and fundamental to nearly every profession, no matter what industry. How do you make your writing effective? One important component of great writing is the use of literary devices.

Why Should I Understand Literary Devices?

Literary devices improve your writing. You can use them in your courses and college essays and on the SAT writing section , not to mention in your college coursework and future profession.

Understanding literary devices also helps you comprehend the work of others. For example, on the SAT reading test , you’ll need to understand and analyze the work of others. Being able to spot the literary devices the author is using will help you get a sense of the overall meanings behind the passages you encounter.

This is also useful knowledge to have for any social science or humanities class, where you’ll be expected to analyze and understand long works.

30 Literary Devices You Should Know

1. allegory.

What is It: A work that symbolizes or represents an idea or event.

Example: The novel Animal Farm by George Orwell is an allegory for the Russian Revolution, with characters representing key figures in the movement.

2. Alliteration

What is It: The repetition of the same or similar consonant sounds in succession.

Example: She sells seashells by the seashore.

3. Allusion

What is it: An indirect reference to a person, place, thing, event, or idea .

Example: The song “American Pie” by Don McLean is full of allusions to events that occurred in the 1950s and 60s. For instance, “February made me shiver” is an allusion to the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly on February 3, 1959.

What is it: A parallel between disparate ideas, people, things, or events that is more elaborate than a metaphor or simile.

Example : “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet.” —William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet , Act 2, Scene 2

In this instance, Romeo is drawing an analogy between Juliet and a rose.

5. Anthropomorphism

What is it: The interpretation of a nonhuman animal, event, or object as embodying human qualities or characteristics.

Example: Inanimate objects such as Mrs. Potts and Lumiere are anthropomorphized in Beauty and the Beast .

6. Anachronism

What is it: An intentional or unintentional error in chronology or a timeline.

Brutus: “Peace! Count the clock.”

Cassius: “The clock has stricken three.”

—William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar , Act 2, Scene 1

Mechanical clocks did not exist in 44 A.D., when the play takes place, so this the inclusion of the clock here is an anachronism.

7. Colloquialism

What is it: An informal piece of dialogue or turn of phrase used in everyday conversation.

Example: Contractions such as “ain’t” are colloquialisms that are used in everyday conversation or dialogue to make the speaker and speech sound more authentic.

What is it: The word choice and speaking style of a writer or character.

Example: Diction is involved in almost every piece of writing because it is a vehicle for conveying the tone of the work. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , Huck speaks in a distinctive way characterized by his lack of education and outsider status. This is his diction.

What is it: A poem expressing grief over a death.

Example: O Captain! My Captain! by Walt Whitman is an elegy for Abraham Lincoln.

10. Epiphany

What is it: A moment of sudden realization by a character.

Example : In the movie Clueless , Cher has an epiphany that she is in love with her stepbrother, Josh.

11. Euphemism

What is it: A less provocative or milder term used in place of a more explicit or unpleasant one.

Example: “I have to let you go” is a euphemistic expression for firing someone.

12. Foreshadowing

What is it: Hinting at future or subsequent events to come to build tension in a narrative.

Example: In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth , the witches portend evil, chanting, “Something wicked this way comes.”

13. Hyperbole

What is it: A statement that is obviously and intentionally exaggerated.

Example: “I have a million things to do” is a hyperbolic statement, since no individual actually has one million items on her to-do list.

What is it: A figure of speech that is indecipherable based on the words alone.

Example: “Don’t cut any corners” is an idiom; on its surface, it doesn’t make sense but is a known phrase that means don’t take shortcuts.

15. Imagery

What is it: A compilation of sensory details that enable the reader to visualize the event.

Example: “Now small fowls flew screaming over the yet yawning gulf; a sullen white surf beat against its steep sides; then all collapsed, and the great shroud of the sea rolled on as it rolled five thousand years ago.” —Herman Melville, Moby-Dick

In this passage, Melville uses vivid imagery such as the “yawning gulf” and “sullen white surf” to capture the scene.

What is it: An instance of language conveying the opposite of its literal meaning:

• Verbal irony: speech that conveys the opposite of its literal meaning
• Situational irony: An event that occurs that is the opposite of what is expected
• Dramatic irony: Usually applied to theater or literature, an instance in which the audience knows something the characters involved do not

Verbal Irony: “That’s nice” as a response to an insulting statement is an instance of verbal irony.

Situational irony:  In Oedipus Rex , Oedipus’s parents abandon him to prevent the prophecy of him killing his father and marrying his mother from coming true. The abandonment itself leads him to fulfill the prophecy.

Dramatic irony: In Psycho , the audience knows a killer approaching, but Marion does not.

Discover your chances at hundreds of schools

Our free chancing engine takes into account your history, background, test scores, and extracurricular activities to show you your real chances of admission—and how to improve them.

17. Juxtaposition

What is it: Ideas, people, images, ideas, or object placed next to one another to highlight their differences.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way.”

—Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

Here, Dickens juxtaposes multiple circumstances, uses opposites for emphasis.

18. Malapropism

What is it: An incorrect word intentionally or unintentionally used in place of a similar-sounding one, sometimes used for humorous effect.

“Our watch, sir, have indeed comprehended two auspicious persons.”

—William Shakespeare, Much Ado Without Nothing, Act 3, scene 5

The malapropisms, in this case, are the misuse of “comprehended” in place of “apprehended” and “auspicious” instead of “suspicious.”

19. Metaphor

What is it: A comparison of two ideas, events, objects, or people that does not use “like” or “as.”

An extended metaphor is a lengthy metaphor that continues the comparison for several sentences, paragraphs, or even pages.

“But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?

It is the East, and Juliet is the sun!

Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,

Who is already sick and pale with grief.”

—William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet , Act 2, Scene 2

Here, the sun is a metaphor for Juliet.

What is it: The general feeling the speaker evokes in the reader through the atmosphere, descriptions, and other features.

“Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,

Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before”

—Edgar Allen Poe, The Raven

Poe evokes an air of mystery in the opening lines of his poem, setting a dark mood.

21. Onomatopoeia

What is it: A word the is closely associated or identical to the sound it describes.

Example: Buzz

22. Oxymoron

What is it: A pairing of seemingly contradictory terms used to convey emphasis or tension.

“A fine mess”: this is an oxymoronic characterization because “fine” is typically associated with beauty and order, while “mess” is the opposite.

23. Paradox

What is it: An apparent contradiction that, upon further unraveling, may contain truth, used for effect on the reader.

Hamlet: “I must be cruel to be kind.”

—William Shakespeare, Hamlet , Act 3, Scene 4

In this instance, Hamlet must, in fact, act in a seemingly cruel way in order to ultimately be kind.

24. Personification

What is it: Lending descriptions generally applied to human beings to nonhumans. This term differs from anthropomorphism in that the nonhuman entities are not thought to behave in human-like ways but are merely described in these terms.

Example: The shadows danced on the wall.

Shadows do not actually dance, but the lending of the human action personifies them.

25. Repetition

What is it: Multiple instances of a word or phrase, often in succession, used for emphasis.

“The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

— Robert Frost’s Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

The repetition emphasizes the length of the speaker’s journey.

What is it: A phrase or entire work that uses irony to critique behaviors, events, people, or vices.

Example : Animal Farm is a work of satire, critiquing Stalinism and the politics Soviet Union.

What is it: A comparison between objects, events, or people that uses “like” or “as.”

“I wandered lonely as a cloud

that floats on high o’er vales and hills.”

—William Wordsworth, Daffodils

“Lonely as a cloud” is a simile, comparing the states of isolation.

28. Symbolism

What is it: Something used to represent a larger concept or idea.

In Macbeth , the “spot” Lady Macbeth cannot get off her dress is a symbol of her guilt-stained conscience.

29. Synecdoche

What is it: An instance of a part representing a whole or vice versa.

Example: When someone refers to looking out at a “sea of faces,” the faces represent whole people.

What is it: The speaker or narrator’s attitude toward the subject of the piece, distinct from mood in that it is not used to evoke a particular feeling in the reader.

“I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.”

—Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken

The speaker is evoking a tone of unhappiness and possible regret with the words “with a sigh.”

To learn more about using rhetorical devices, read How to Use Rhetorical Devices in Your College Essay .

Looking for help navigating the road to college as a high school student? Download our free guide for 9th graders , and our  free guide for 10th graders . Our guides go in-depth about subjects ranging from academics ,  choosing courses ,  standardized tests ,  extracurricular activities ,  and much more !

Want access to expert college guidance — for free? When you create your free CollegeVine account, you will find out your real admissions chances, build a best-fit school list, learn how to improve your profile, and get your questions answered by experts and peers—all for free. Sign up for your CollegeVine account today to get a boost on your college journey.

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

Better Creative Writing – 10 Most Common Literary Devices

11+ Past Papers Bundle

As a creative writer, you must captivate your reader’s attention and enhance their experience by providing ways to better understand the text. For this, creative writing experts use literary devices to help them evoke the admiration of the text and make their writing impressive.

What are the literary devices? and why do we need literary devices for creative writing?

Literary devices are tools used by writers to better express their ideas and enhance their creative writing. These devices help highlight special concepts and ideas using text. As a result, it enhances the readers understanding of the text.

10 most common literary devices used in creative writing

Personification, foreshadowing.

Now let’s learn more about each literary device.

A simile is a figure of speech that compares two different things by highlighting the similarities. Similes use “ like ” and “ as ” to establish the similarity relationship. Whenever you see the use of “as” in a sentence, it is most likely a simile.

Examples “The truck parked on the driveway was as big as an elephant.” “Martha won the race. She was as fast as lightning.” “Zak is a shy boy but as soon as he starts singing he is as brave as a lion.”

The purpose of a simile is to help paint the picture in the readers’ mind by comparing the characteristics with another well-known subject. For example, by comparing something with snow you help the reader imagine how white that thing is.

A  metaphor  is a figure of speech that describes an object or action in a way that isn’t literally true but helps explain an idea or make a point. It states that one thing is another thing even when literally it is not.

A metaphor should not be confused with a simile . Both are ways to compare a subject with another thing. A metaphor states that the subject “ is ” another thing whereas a simile highlights the similarity.

Examples “Martha’s new school English teacher is a dragon” “When Evie’s mum returned from work, she found the children’s room was a war zone.” “The next day of Christmas was amazing. The streets were covered with a white blanket of snow.”

The purpose of a metaphor is to paint striking images in the readers’ mind to help better express the ideas and to make the writing more effective.

Personification is when something non-human, object or animal, is given human-like qualities like yelling, howling, waving, crying etc. It’s a way of describing something as if it was a person to make the sentence sound more exciting.

Examples “I could not get enough sleep as the wind was howling all night” “My clock yelled at me in the morning and scared me to death” “When we returned from a weekend holiday, the plants in the pots were begging for water”

The purpose of personification is to evoke human emotions for non-human things so that the readers can better connect to the things. It helps to convey ideas in a way that people can relate to.

The art of exaggerating or stretching the truth to express a feeling or idea even though literally it is not possible.

Examples “ Jack will live for a hundred years.” “I’m so tired that I can sleep for a week.” “This suitcase weighs a ton.” “I’m dying of thirst. Can you please get me something to drink?” “We have waited decades for you to release an update. “

The purpose of hyperbole is to amplify personal response by the method of exaggeration. Hyperbole is used commonly in everyday speech and you are sure to have encountered or even used it without realising.

Imagery is a powerful sensory language technique that helps the reader imagine the world using descriptive details of the five senses i.e. taste ,  touch ,  sight ,  smell , and  sound . Imagery can also pertain to movement, emotions and feelings.

Examples “We carefully held hands as we crawled through the prickly bushes surrounding us.” “On our way back to the camp site we saw a black bear standing 8 feet tall with claws clamped on the trunk of a tree.” “The repulsive sweaty odour of his workout clothes made it difficult to continue the conversation.”

The purpose of imagery is to bring the writing to life, create the mood, help the reader visualise the imaginary world and make the reader feel like they are part of the experience that the author has created.

Symbolism is the use of symbols to depict deeper meanings and qualities. Like, the dove is the symbol of peace, black is the symbol of evil. Most symbols are not universal and may be used to signify different ideas and qualities. Like, the colour white can be used to signify a death in one context and purity in another context.

Examples “A river of red flowed through the battleground” “Everyone was asked to dress in white at the funeral of the famous Bollywood actor.”

The purpose of symbolism is to signify ideas and qualities that are different from their literal sense.

Flashbacks are used to introduce past events. It is either used to introduce events that happened before the story or to reflect on the events that happened earlier in the story.

Examples “As she fastened the seat belt, she remembered the time when she fell off of the top of a slide in her childhood.”

The purpose of a flashback is to convey to the reader some information about the characters background or the motives for the existing conflicts in the story.

Foreshadowing is the technique used by writers to inform their readers about an event that has to happen later in the story. It is a hint to what is going to happen later in the story.

Examples “Parents who recently moved to San Fransisco, reassures their daughter that everything at her new school is going to be fine.” – foreshadows that something might happen at the school. “The main character always looks worried and careful when going out” – foreshadows of something bad happening later and keeps the readers thinking of what may happen later.

The purpose of the foreshadowing is to help readers develop some expectations from the story or build suspense.

A motif is a recurring pattern or an idea that repeats in the story to reinforce the theme.

Examples In the Harry Potter movie, Harry’s scar is highlighted multiple times throughout the story.

The purpose of a motif is to reinforce the core theme and remind the readers of what the whole idea of the story is about.

An allegory is a literary device to express a deeper meaning, concept or hidden idea. In other words, it is a type of writing that speaks to imply a different idea that represents a larger point about human nature or society.

Examples In Animal Farm by George Orwell, the author shows how animals fight for equality which mirrors the Russian Revolution of 1917 and is a good example of allegory.

The purpose of the allegory is the make the reader understand a deeper concept that is not directly represented in the surface story. Like, you can use allegory to express the pain and suffering experienced by the characters without explicitly talking about it.

Book Recommendation

Unleash Your Creative Powers: A Handbook on Literary Devices for Kids (Amazon)

More reading

A Simple Guide To Personification With Examples Symbols in Literature: Definition and Examples of Symbolism Examples of Figurative Language: Guide to 12 Common Types Allusion Defined: 25+ Allusion Examples from Literature & Life Onomatopoeia Definition and Examples – Sound Words Oxymorons – A Writers Secret Weapon Explained Examples of allegory BBC Bitesize – What is symbolism Rhetorical Devices – 10 most common rhetorical devices Comprehensive list of adjectives for kids

KS1, KS2, SATS & 11+ Practice

• school Campus Bookshelves
• menu_book Bookshelves
• perm_media Learning Objects
• login Login
• how_to_reg Request Instructor Account
• hub Instructor Commons

Margin Size

• Download Page (PDF)
• Download Full Book (PDF)
• Periodic Table
• Physics Constants
• Scientific Calculator
• Reference & Cite
• Tools expand_more
• Readability

selected template will load here

This action is not available.

10: Literary Devices Glossary

• Last updated
• Save as PDF
• Page ID 101155

• Heather Ringo & Athena Kashyap
• City College of San Francisco via ASCCC Open Educational Resources Initiative

\( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \)

\( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)

\( \newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)

( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\)

\( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\)

\( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\)

\( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\)

\( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)

\( \newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\)

\( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\)

\( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\)

\( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\)

\( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\)

\( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\)

\( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\)

\( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

\( \newcommand{\vectorA}[1]{\vec{#1}}      % arrow\)

\( \newcommand{\vectorAt}[1]{\vec{\text{#1}}}      % arrow\)

\( \newcommand{\vectorB}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \)

\( \newcommand{\vectorC}[1]{\textbf{#1}} \)

\( \newcommand{\vectorD}[1]{\overrightarrow{#1}} \)

\( \newcommand{\vectorDt}[1]{\overrightarrow{\text{#1}}} \)

\( \newcommand{\vectE}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash{\mathbf {#1}}}} \)

Literary devices are the tools writers use to bring literature to life. Literature is like art with words: in the same way an artist might use paintbrushes, textures, colors, and different mediums, so might a writer use literary devices to render their real or imagined worlds and characters.

Literary Devices

The following vocabulary list represents just a few of the most common literary devices.

usually didactic (meant to impart a lesson), an allegory is a kind of story in which abstract concepts (such as love, war, or death) became objects, characters, or places in the story. For example, consider Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave,” where light symbolizes knowledge and darkness symbolizes ignorance.

Alliteration

multiple words in a row which start with the same sound (vowel or consonant). Example: silly snakes slither silently.

an indirect reference, usually to another work, outside of the text, without explicitly naming the reference point. For example, in Hamlet , the scene of Old Hamlet being poisoned in the castle garden by his brother -- who is referred to as a “serpent” -- would likely be a familiar allusion to the Biblical Garden of Eden for highly religious Elizabethan readers (1.5.36).

Anagnorisis

the scene of recognition in a Tragedy, as described in Aristotle’s Poetics . In this scene, the tragic hero realizes their true identity or tragic flaw (hamartia). Example: when in Antigone by Sophocles Creon finally admits he made the wrong decision about sentencing Antigone to death for burying her brother in accordance with the will of the Gods.

a repeated grammatical structure for rhetorical effect. For example, Frederick Douglass often uses anaphora for emphasis: "O that I were free! O, that I were on one of your gallant decks, and under your protecting wing! Alas! betwixt me and you, the turbid waters roll. Go on, go on. O that I could also go! Could I but swim! If I could fly! O, why was I born a man, of whom to make a brute! The glad ship is gone; she hides in the dim distance. I am left in the hottest hell of unending slavery. O God, save me!" In this instance, the repeated use of "O" adds rhythmic and dramatic emphasis to his feelings of disappointment of seeing ships move freely while he is enslaved.

an opposing force to the protagonist. The antagonist may be a villain, but not necessarily: it could be an animal, an abstract concept, or the environment. Example: the antagonist in Hamlet might be Claudius; in Antigone, Creon.

Anthropomorphism

imbuing a nonhuman entity with human behaviors or attributes. Example: the daffodils in Wordsworth’s “I wandered lonely as a cloud” are described as “dancing,” which is a distinctly human behavior (6). Similar to personification , but slightly different.

a type of protagonist who may not have the moral uprightness required of a hero. This character usually elicits the sympathy of their audience, but may be morally unscrupulous in their methods (such as an assassin who murders child abusers). A popular culture example of this would be Deadpool, because he is the main character and generally audiences cheer him on, but he speaks using inappropriate language, is sexually promiscuous and tends to be chaotic and over-the-top in his violence.

the opposite of a thesis. Example: if one’s main argument, or thesis, is that Hamlet is crazy and the ghost is a hallucination, the antithesis would be that Hamlet is sane and the ghost is real.

multiple vowel sounds in close proximity within a text. For example, “my mouth wound itself around the soulful sounds of the poem’s words.”

Autobiography

a work of creative nonfiction written about the author’s life, as written by the author (as opposed to being written by someone other than the author). An example of this would be the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass. Compare to biography

Bildungsroman

a coming of age story, usually involving a young person becoming an adult (and changing fundamentally by surviving a challenging moment). A pop culture example would be the Harry Potter series, which chronicles Harry Potter’s difficult teenage years.

a nonfiction story about a person’s life, written by someone other than the person who lived the life. Compare to autobiography

a pause or break within the line of a poem. Often defined in comparison to a line break or an enjambment.

the purgation of emotion, usually pity and fear, at the end of a play. According to Aristotle in Poetics , this is one of the defining characteristics of a Tragedy.

leverage of reverse grammatical structure for rhetorical effect: think of it like a boomerang of words. For example, consider this excerpt from Paradise Lost by John Milton: “The mind is its own place, and in it self/Can make a Heav’n of Hell, a Hell of Heav’n” (1. 254-55). In this case, heaven of hell hell of heaven reverses the words and ideas, bringing them back unto themselves with new meaning.

Chremamorphism

imbuing a human being with the qualities of a nonhuman inanimate object or machine. For example, in “I wandered lonely as a cloud” by William Wordsworth, the speaker describes themselves as a cloud.

a phrase or trope which has been used so many times that it has, some would argue, outrun its extended warranty so that it becomes boring and uncreative. For example, Robert Burns' image of love as a "red rose" has been so used that it has become cliche.

Colloquialism

an informal word used in common, everyday speech. A word you likely would be ill advised to use in a formal job interview. For example, Californians often say “hella” (though this phrase was already dated by the time this textbook goes into publication)

a type of play which usually deals with less serious themes, centers on entertainment, may feature more bawdy or common characters, and often ends with a literal or metaphorical wedding. Often juxtaposed with Tragedy. An example of this would be A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare

is the tension in a literary work created by opposition between one or more of the following characters: (1) protagonist vs. antagonist (2) protagonist vs. self (3) protagonist vs. environment (4) protagonist vs. society, or some other oppositional relationship. Without conflict there can be no plot. For example, the conflict in Hamlet is between Hamlet (protagonist) and Claudius(antagonist), but also could be interpreted as between Hamlet and his own self-doubt.

two or more words in close proximity which share a consonant sound. For example, “the s lithering s na k e s ha k es i ts li ttl e ra tt le.”

two adjoining lines of poetry which share an end rhyme. Most of Shakespeare’s sonnets end with a couplet. For example, the final two lines of Sonnet 18:

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see , (13)

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee . (14)

Creative Nonfiction

as Lee Gutkind, editor of Creative Nonfiction magazine defines it, “true stories, well told. ” That is, Creative Nonfiction boasts all of the literary adornments that ficiton does (literary devices, skilled writing) but rather than stemming from the imagination, the stories relayed in Creative Nonfiction are true.

Descriptive Imagery

is the use of sensory details to immerse a reader in the story. Descriptive imagery can include visual (sight), auditory (sound), olfactory (smell), tactile (touch), or gustatory (taste) imagery. For example, "My breath escaped in ragged bursts , my quadriceps burning as I crested the summit. The lake stretched before me, aquamarine, glistening in the hot August afternoon sun . Ponderosa pines lined its shores, dropping their spicy-scented needles into the clear water. Despite the heat, the Montana mountain air tasted crisp ." In this excerpt, the reader is able to picture the scene almost as if they are there.

Deus Ex Machina

literally translating to “God in the machine,” in Greek drama the deus ex machina was a literal machine that dropped down an actor playing a God on the stage for dramatic effect, usually to save a hero at the last minute from a sticky situation. In literature nowadays, this literary device refers to a somewhat non-believable plot device which saves the hero from an otherwise intractable situation.

words spoken by characters in a literary work, often in the form of a conversation.

word choice. Paying attention to diction helps determine the tone of a literary work.

Double Entendre

a word or phrase which has multiple meanings, often to snarky, bawdy, or humorous effect. For example, when Claudius asks Hamlet why the clouds hang on him, Hamlet responses that he is “too much in the sun.” The word sun means the sun, as in the big star which heats our planet, but also son, as in he is not only Old Hamlet’s son, but now also the stepson of Claudius. Hamlet is expressing petulance towards his uncle for this reason.

a work of literature which is meant to be performed by actors rather than simply read.

Dynamic character

a character who changes significantly over the course of a story.

the description of a work of art within a work of literature. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde famously describes the painting of Dorian Gray.

a poem expressing grief over the dead. For example, “Extempore Effusion upon the Death of James Hogg” was written by William Wordsworth in memory of poet James Hogg.

is the dropping of a syllable in a word, usually to make the word fit in a poetic meter. For example, in William Wordsworth’s poem “I wandered lonely as a cloud,” one of the lines reads “that floats on high o’er vale and hill.” In this line, the word “over” is shortened to “o’er” in order to reduce its syllabus from two to one, so that it fits in with the iambic tetrameter of the rest of the poem.

is when a sentence continues from one line of poetry to the next without punctuation or pause.

a type of story written in letter or journal entry form. “Bajadas” by Francisco Cantu is a journal of Cantu’s experiences while working as a border patrol agent, as indicated by the dates written at the top of each vignette. This is a classic epistolary story.

is a term coined by Russian formalists to describe the chronological order of events in a story. This is often juxtaposed with syuzhet, or the way in which events in the story are ordered or represented, which may or may not be chronological. See linear and nonlinear narratives.

a story invented from the imagination of a writer. Distinct from Nonfiction and Creative Nonfiction, which is based in reality.

a plot device where the narrative goes back in time. For example, in “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce, the present moment of the story takes place while Farquhar is on the bridge waiting to be hanged by the Union soldiers, but the plot jumps back in time to tell the story of how Farquhar arrived at this current predicament.

Flashforward

a plot device where the narrative jumps forward in time.

a character which, through juxtaposition, reveals something about another character; a kind of shadow character. For example, while Hamlet dilly dallies over whether or not to avenge his father’s death, hot-spirited Laertes wastes no time in demanding vengeance for his father’s death.

Foreshadowing

is when the author gives hints about the plot developments to come before they happen. For example, in Antigone , Tiriesias warns Creon something awful will happen to his family unless he apologizes to the Gods and frees Antigone.

the style of writing. The most common genres of literature are creative nonfiction, fiction, drama and poetry. Within these genres, there are subgenres, like short stories, flash fiction, lyric poetry, and so forth. Genre is a means of categorization for works of literature.

according to Aristotle, hamartia is the “fatal flaw” which brings about the downfall of the tragedy’s hero. For example, in Antigone , Creon's fatal flaw is that he is too prideful (see: hubris ).

a protagonist of a story who represents the moral values of the society depicted in the story and is generally meant to be looked upon favorably by readers. For example, Superman would be an archetypical hero. The protagonist is often the hero of the story, but not always.

one of the most common examples of hamartia, at least in Ancient Greek tragedies, hubris is the tragic flaw of excessive pride

an exaggeration for rhetorical effect; for example when Wordsworth describes the field of daffodils in “I wandered lonely as a cloud” as “ten thousand saw I at a glance,” he likely did not literally count ten thousand daffodils, but the number is meant to demonstrate the immense quantity

Iambic Pentameter

a style of poetic meter in which five sets of iambs (or ten syllables) appear per line of poem. Each iamb contains an unstressed and stressed syllable. For example, "Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day?" in Shakespeare's Sonnet 118 is a solid example of Iambic Pentameter.

descriptive, immersive details meant to paint a picture in the reader’s mind: the five kinds of description follow the five senses: auditory (sound), tactile (touch), gustatory (taste), olfactory (smell), and the most common, visual (sight). See: descriptive imagery

a meaning or outcome contrary to what is expected. The three types of irony include

• Dramatic irony: when the reader or audience knows something characters don’t
• Situational irony: when a character holds a position or has an expectation that is reversed or fulfilled in an unexpected way
• Verbal irony: when a speaker or narrator says one thing and means the reverse (e.g., sarcasm)

an organizational tool in a poem, a line is usually a sentence or part of a sentence running horizontally across the page. Think of it as a horizontal poetic thought.

an organizational tool in a poem, a line break is when one line ends and another begins

Linear Narrative

a story where the plot unfolds chronologically, without flashbacks or flashforwards (see fabula , nonlinear narrative )

a poem that expresses the speaker’s thoughts and feelings.

Magical Realism

a style of writing in which fantastical elements are described in realistic detail, as popularized by Latin American writers such as Gabriel García Márquez, Jorge Luis Borges & Isabel Allende. “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings” is a popular example of magical realism, in that the angel in the story is described in gritty detail.

a creative nonfiction work about a person’s life, where the author is the protagonist.

the use of figurative language to describe one object using another for rhetorical effect, without using the words "like" or "as." For example, when Hamlet describes Claudius as a "snake" or Polonius as a "rat" and "fishmonger."

related to the rhythm of the story, meter is determined by stressed and unstressed syllables. Different poems use different types of meter for effect. See iambic pentameter

is a use of figurative language in which one thing is represented by another thing associated with it. For example, one might say “he relinquished the crown” to insinuate someone giving up their role as king, where crown stands in for the king and is simultaneously symbolic of power.

a fictional story of epic proportions, usually told to explain the world, promote a religion, or imbue a society with values. An example of a myth would be the myth of narcissus written in Ovid’s Metamorphoses , which explained the origins of daffodils and echoes & also showed that Greeks saw excessive pride as an undesirable trait.

Narrative Poem

a poem that tells a story and includes elements of fiction.

the speaker of the story, who may be a character within the story or an objective, unnamed narrator; the perspective from which the story is told.

an umbrella term which encompasses creative nonfiction, nonfiction is simply the antithesis of fiction: written work depicting reality. The difference between creative nonfiction and nonfiction is that creative nonfiction strives to be literary while nonfiction is often more informational in nature (see: a science textbook, or a historical account, for example).

Nonlinear Narrative

is a story which is not relayed chronologically. It may have flashbacks or flashforwards.

a work of prose, usually fiction, usually 50,000 words or longer. For example, Beloved by Toni Morrison is a novel.

Objective Correlative

a phrase coined by poet T.S. Eliot, the objective correlative is the idea that a particular object, setting or symbol can evoke emotion; for example, a desert can prompt feelings of emptiness or loneliness

a poem written in praise of its subject; for example, "Ode on a Grecian Urn" and "To Autumn" by John Keats are both written in praise of the Grecian Urn and the season of fall, respectively.

Onomatopoeia

words that sound like the object they are intending to describe. For example, the word “shush” phonetically sounds like the action it is intended to represent. Other examples include bang, thud, hiss.

a combination of contradictory or opposite ideas, qualities, or entities. For example, Mrs. Mallard experiences "monstrous joy" after hearing news of her husband's death in "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin.

the reversal of fortune which occurs to a tragic hero, as defined by Aristotle in Poetics. An example of peripeteia is when Creon, who has all the power and control in Antigone, suddenly finds out his son and wife have died, and his entire world is flipped upside down.

Personification

giving human qualities to animals or objects for the sake of imagery. For example, “the trees’ branches reached towards the sun like arms.” Similar to anthropomorphism

Perspective

the lens through which the story is told. For example, the story might be told in first person (I, me), second person (you) or third person (it, they, she, he, nouns). See Point of View

is the events or action of the story, and the order in which the events are told.

is difficult to define, as it is amorphous: often, one can recognize poetry by its use of line, meter, and stanzas (i.e. it is not written in prose), but poetry can also (though less commonly) be written in prose. A poem may rhyme (or not), but usually the emphasis of poetry is to evoke a feeling in the reader in surprising ways.

Point of View

the perspective through which the story is told. For example, the story might be told in first person (I, me), second person (you) or third person (it, they, she, he, nouns). Point of View can even shift throughout the story, moving from one character’s perspective to another, or from characters to a narrator. The four main points of view include

• First-person narration: the narrator is telling the story from their perspective, using pronouns like I, me, and we
• Second-person narration: the narrator is telling the story from their perspective, directly addressing the reader using words like you, your
• Third-person limited narration: the narrator comes across as more impartial, using objective nouns like they, her, she. They may only be able to see from this perspective, and not into the heads of different characters
• Third-person omniscient narration : the narrator has a God's eye view and can get into different characters' heads and perspectives, seeing the story in a way that would not be possible in real life

articles or objects on a stage during a play that are sometimes symbolic.

written work without line breaks AKA anything that is not a poem, such as fiction and creative nonfiction.

Protagonist

the main character of a story, who is often but not always the hero of the story. For example, the protagonist of Paradise Lost by John Milton is Satan, even though most would not consider him a hero.

a play on words, usually for comedic or rhetorical effect. Often it relies upon a word having two meanings or sounding like another word. For example, if someone says a joke/pun and I respond with “very punny!”, I am responding to a pun with a pun, since “punny” sounds like “funny” but also indicates awareness of the original statement’s status as a pun. Similar to the double entendre .

a cluster or stanza of four lines in a poem

a style of literature in which, whether fiction or nonfiction, events are described as realistically as possible; that is, true to life. For example, Ambrose Bierce,who fought for the Union during the Civil War, described war in brutal, gritty detail in his stories, whereas many previous authors described war as heroic and glorious. See verisimilitude .

when a literary work refers to an outside work and explicitly names that outside work. For example, when Hamlet describes his father as "Hyperion" and Claudius as a "satyr," audiences can easily find the works or ideas to which he references; Greek mythological figures (1.2.140).

two words paired together with similar sounds, for example "boon" and "moon"

the "heartbeat" of language in which words fall into patterns for euphonic or discordant effect. Often this is achieved through syllabic emphasis such as meter.

a work of literature whose principal subject is love between two characters

Romanticism

a literary and artistic movement in the 18th and 19th centuries largely viewed as a reaction against Enlightenment and Industrialization which emphasized the value of nature over industry, feelings over logic, and a sense of nostalgia for the past

the design, decoration, and scenery on a stage during a play.

the place(s) where the action of the story or poem takes place. For example, “Bajadas” by Francisco Cantú takes place on the U.S. Mexico border, and Hamlet takes place in Denmark.

a figurative use of language in which one thing is compared to another using the words, similar to a metaphor except it uses the words “like” or “as.” For example, Robert Burns’ famous poem “A Red, Red Rose” begins with the line “O my Luve is like a red, red rose” (1).

the narrator of a poem; the voice or perspective through which a poem is told. For example, the speaker in “Richard Cory” by Edwin Arlington Robinson is presumably a townsperson who watches Richard Cory from a distance.

Stage Directions

written instructions in a script that inform how to stage, perform, or imagine a play.

is a poem paragraph: that is, a poem may be divided into clumps of lines for rhetorical effect. If there are no spaces, the poem is described as being only one stanza. Some poems, like Wordsworth’s “I wandered lonely as a cloud,” have multiple stanzas.

Static Character

a character who does not change significantly over the course of a story.

Stream of Consciousness

is when the point of view dips in and out of third person into characters’ points of view seamlessly, as if the reader is dipping their toes in a stream of the thoughts and ideas of characters.

is the use of a physical object to represent an abstract idea. For example, while physically a piece of colored cloth, to some the United States’ flag represents freedom, to others sacrifice, and to others oppression.

figurative language in which a part stands in for the whole. For example, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass describes a scene on the "Chesapeake Bay, whose broad bosom was ever white with sails from every quarter of the habitable globe" where the sails represent ships. See: metonym

Synesthesia

the mixing of senses or descriptive imagery; using one sense to describe another. For example, the phrase “summer tastes yellow” mixes gustatory imagery (taste) with visual imagery (yellow).

the order of words in a sentence. For example, in Hamlet, when Polonius says “To thine own self be true,” he disorders the syntax used in contemporary spoken language (be true to yourself); writers often manipulate syntax for rhetorical effect

is a Russian formalist term used to describe the manner in which a story is told rather than the content of the story. See: nonlinear narrative . It is often paired with the term fabula , meaning the actual chronological story events. While fabula might describe the story events, syuzhet describes the order in which they are related in the narrative. For example, in "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce, the fabula is that a Confederate Soldier gets caught attempting to burn down a Union Bridge and is hanged by Union soldiers for his crime. The syuzhet of the story is much more fragmented and jumps around in time.

the main idea(s) of a work of literature. For example, some of the themes of Hamlet might be grief, vengeance, or political corruption.

the main argument of an essay. A strong thesis in literary criticism is a debatable interpretation of a literary work, based on observations about that work.

can be described as the attitude or mood of the work, and the style of narration. For example, the tone of Hamlet is dark and scathing, while A Midsummer Night’s Dream is dreamlike and, overall, happy

as defined by Aristotle in his work Poetics, is “an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play; in the form of action, not of narrative; through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these emotions.” Classic examples of Tragedy might include the Oedipus Trilogy by Sophocles or Hamlet by William Shakespeare

Tragic Hero

as defined by Aristotle’s Poetics , the tragic hero is the focal character of a tragedy, who is mostly good but due to some flaw (hamartia) is doomed to fall. The character must go through plot elements such as peripeteia (reversal of fortune), anagnorisis (recognition), and ultimately result in catharsis (purgation of pity and fear). Creon in Sophocles’ Antigone is often cited as a tragic hero archetype; Hamlet might also be described as a tragic hero.

any type of figurative language, or figurative phrase, repeatedly used to describe a literal situation. For example, when poet Robert Burns refers to his love as a "red, red rose," this is a trope of the rose as a symbol of love. A trope has also come to have negative connotations as a use of figurative language which has become overused, such as the aforementioned rose as love metaphor.

Unreliable Narrator

is a first-person narrator of a work of literature who is not to be trusted. They may be morally questionable or dishonest, or have a flaw which makes them difficult to understand for the reader. One example of an unreliable narrator might be the narrator in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Purloined Letter," because he is clearly biased towards Dupin and seems to get all of his information third-hand rather than witnessing it himself.

Verisimilitude

is how realistic a work of literature seems. It does not necessarily mean the work is true: for example, a work of fiction can have strong verisimilitude in that the reality of the text is so artfully rendered that it seems real to the reader. To put it colloquially, verisimilitude is what Stephen Colbert might call the “truthiness” of a work. For example, though fictional, "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien conveys a realistic portrayal of the Vietnam War due to the rich description, colloquial soldier language, and likely because of Tim O'Brien's real-life experiences during the Vietnam War.

is a method of organizing a work of literature wherein rather than telling the story chronologically, the story is told through snapshots of brief scenes or moments. For example, “Bajadas” by Francisco Cantu told through a series of vignettes about the narrator’s time on the border.

Zoomorphism

is the opposite of anthropomorphism; that is, it is describing human characters with animal-like qualities, or reducing humans to animals. For example, in Hamlet , Hamlet describes Claudius as goatlike (satyr), as a serpent, and Polonius as a rat.

is a grammatical construct where a single word or phrase yokes together two different ideas for rhetorical effect. For example, “the flowers withered and so did she.” Here “withered” yokes together “flowers” and “she,” using the verb in a traditional way as it is applied to flowers, but in a figurative way to imply sadness or defeat when applied to “she.”

C-ID Alignment

This knowledge resource aligns with California Community Colleges C-ID ENGL 110

Course Content

• Literary terminology, devices, and critical approaches

Student Learning Outcomes

• 7: Use style, diction, and tone appropriate to the academic community and the purpose of the specific writing task
• 9: Define common literary terms and apply these to analysis of specific texts

What do the words “anaphora,” “enjambment,” “consonance,” and “euphony” have in common? They are all literary devices in poetry—and important poetic devices, at that. Your poetry will be greatly enriched by mastery over the items in this poetic devices list, including mastery over the sound devices in poetry.

This article is specific to the literary devices in poetry. Before you read this article, make sure you also read our list of common literary devices across both poetry and prose, which discusses metaphor, juxtaposition, and other essential figures of speech.

We will be analyzing and identifying poetic devices in this article, using the poetry of Margaret Atwood, Louise Glück, Shakespeare, and others. We also examine sound devices in poetry as distinct yet essential components of the craft.

Poetic Devices: Contents

• Metonymy & Synecdoche
• Enjambment & End-Stopped Lines
• Internal & End Rhyme
• Alliteration
• Consonance & Assonance
• Euphony & Cacophony

Literary Devices in Poetry: Poetic Devices List

Let’s examine the essential literary devices in poetry, with examples. Try to include these poetic devices in your next finished poems!

1. Anaphora

Anaphora describes a poem that repeats the same phrase at the beginning of each line. Sometimes the anaphora is a central element of the poem’s construction; other times, poets only use anaphora in one or two stanzas, not the whole piece.

Consider “ The Delight Song of Tsoai-talee ” by N. Scott Momaday.

I am a feather on the bright sky I am the blue horse that runs in the plain I am the fish that rolls, shining, in the water I am the shadow that follows a child I am the evening light, the lustre of meadows I am an eagle playing with the wind I am a cluster of bright beads I am the farthest star I am the cold of dawn I am the roaring of the rain I am the glitter on the crust of the snow I am the long track of the moon in a lake I am a flame of four colors I am a deer standing away in the dusk I am a field of sumac and the pomme blanche I am an angle of geese in the winter sky I am the hunger of a young wolf I am the whole dream of these things

You see, I am alive, I am alive I stand in good relation to the earth I stand in good relation to the gods I stand in good relation to all that is beautiful I stand in good relation to the daughter of Tsen-tainte You see, I am alive, I am alive

This poem is an experiment in metaphor: how many ways can the self be reproduced after “I am”? The simple “I am” anaphora draws attention towards the poet’s increasing need to define himself, while also setting the poet up for a series of well-crafted poetic devices.

Anaphora describes a poem that repeats the same phrase at the beginning of each line.

The self shapes the core of Momaday’s poem, as emphasized by the anaphora. Still, our eye isn’t drawn to the column of I am’s, but rather to Momaday’s stunning metaphors for selfhood.

A conceit is, essentially, an extended metaphor . Which, when you think about it, it’s kind of stuck-up to have a fancy word for an extended metaphor, so a conceit is pretty conceited, don’t you think?

In order for a metaphor to be a conceit, it must run through the entire poem and be the poem’s central device. Consider the poem “ The Flea ” by John Donne. The speaker uses the flea as a conceit for physical relations, arguing that two bodies have already intermingled if they’ve shared the odious bed bug. With the flea as a conceit for intimacy, Donne presents a poem both humorous and strangely erotic.

A conceit must run through the entire poem as the poem’s central device.

The conceit ranks among the most powerful literary devices in poetry. In your own poetry, you can employ a conceit by exploring one metaphor in depth. For example, if you were to use matchsticks as a metaphor for love, you could explore love in all its intensity: love as a stroke of luck against a matchbox strip, love as wildfire, love as different matchbox designs, love as phillumeny, etc.

3. Apostrophe

Don’t confuse this with the punctuation mark for possessive nouns—the literary device apostrophe is different. Apostrophe describes any instance when the speaker talks to a person or object that is absent from the poem. Poets employ apostrophe when they speak to the dead or to a long lost lover, but they also use apostrophe when writing an ode to something, such as Ode to a Grecian Urn or an Ode to the Women in Long Island .

Apostrophe is often employed in admiration or longing, as we often talk about things far away in wistfulness or praise. Still, try using apostrophe to express other emotions: express joy, grief, fear, anger, despair, jealousy, or ecstasy, as this poetic device can prove very powerful for poetry writers.

4. Metonymy & Synecdoche

Metonymy and synecdoche are very similar poetic devices, so we’ll include them as one item. A metonymy is when the writer replaces “a part for a part,” choosing one noun to describe a different noun. For example, in the phrase “the pen is mightier than the sword,” the pen is a metonymy for writing and the sword is a metonymy for fighting.

Metonymy: a part for a part.

In this sense, metonymy is very similar to symbolism , because the pen represents the idea of writing. The difference is, a pen is directly related to writing, whereas symbols are not always related to the concepts they represent. A dove might symbolize peace, but doves, in reality, have very little to do with peace.

Synecdoche is a form of metonymy, but instead of “a part for a part,” the writer substitutes “a part for a whole.” In other words, they represent an object with only a distinct part of the object. If I described your car as “a nice set of wheels,” then I’m using synecdoche to refer to your car. I’m also using synecdoche if I call your laptop an “overpriced sound system.”

Synecdoche: a part for a whole.

Since metonymy and synecdoche are forms of symbolism, they appear regularly in poetry both contemporary and classic. Take, for example, this passage from Shakespeare’s A Midsommar Night’s Dream :

Shakespeare makes it seem like the poet’s pen gives shape to airy wonderings, when in fact it’s the poet’s imagination. Thus, the pen becomes metonymous for the magic of poetry—quite a lofty comparison, which only a bard like Shakespeare could say.

5. Enjambment & End-Stopped Lines

Poets have something at their disposal which prose writers don’t: the mighty line break. Line breaks and stanza breaks help guide the reader through the poem, and while these might not be hardline “literary devices in poetry,” they’re important to understanding the strategies of poetry writing.

Line breaks can be one of two things: enjambed or end-stopped. End-stopped lines are lines which end on a period or on a natural break in the sentence. Enjambment, by contrast, refers to a line break that interrupts the flow of a sentence: either the line usually doesn’t end with punctuation, and the thought continues on the next line.

Let’s see enjambed and end-stopped lines in action, using “ The Study ” by Hieu Minh Nguyen.

Most of the poem’s lines are enjambed, using very few end-stops, perhaps to mirror the endless weight of midsummer. Suddenly, the poem shifts to end-stops at the end, and the mood of the poem transitions: suddenly the poem is final, concrete in its horror, horrifying perhaps for its sincerity and surprising shift in tone.

Line breaks and stanza breaks help guide the reader through the poem.

Enjambment and end-stopping are ways of reflecting and refracting the poem’s mood. Spend time in your own poetry determining how the mood of your poems shift and transform, and consider using this poetry writing strategy to reflect that.

Zeugma (pronounced: zoyg-muh) is a fun little device you don’t see often in contemporary poetry—it was much more common in ancient Greek and Latin poetry, such as the poetry of Ovid. This might not be an “essential” device, but if you use it on your own poetry, you’ll stand out for your mastery of language and unique stylistic choices.

A zeugma occurs when one verb is used to mean two different things for two different objects. For example, I might say “He ate some pasta, and my heart out.” To eat pasta and eat someone’s heart out are two very different definitions for ate: one consumption is physical, the other is conceptual. The key here is to only use “ate” once in the sentence, as a zeugma should surprise the reader.

Now, take this excerpt from Ovid’s Heroides 7 :

Can you identify the zeugmas? “Bear” and “weigh” are both used literally and figuratively, bearing weight to the speaker’s laments.

Zeugmas are a largely classical device, because the constraints of ancient poetic meter were quite strict, and the economic nature of Latin encouraged the use of zeugma. Nonetheless, try using it in your own poetry—you might surprise yourself!

7. Repetition

Strategic repetition of certain phrases can reinforce the core of your poem.

Last but not least among the top literary devices in poetry, repetition is key. We’ve already seen repetition in some of the aforementioned poetic devices, like anaphora and conceit. Still, repetition deserves its own special mention.

Strategic repetition of certain phrases can reinforce the core of your poem. In fact, some poetry forms require repetition, such as the villanelle . In a villanelle, the first line must be repeated in lines 6, 12, and 18; the third line must be repeated in lines 9, 15, and 19.

See this repetition in action in Sylvia Plath’s “ Mad Girl’s Love Song. ” Notice how the two repeated lines reinforce the subjects of both love and madness—perhaps finding them indistinguishable? Take note of this masterful repetition, and see where you can strategically repeat lines in your own poetry, too.

Learn more about this poetic device here: 

Repetition Definition: Types of Repetition in Poetry and Prose

Sound Devices in Poetry

The other half of this article analyzes the different sound devices in poetry. These poetic sound devices are primarily concerned with the musicality of language, and they are powerful poetic devices for altering the poem’s mood and emotion—often in subtle, surprising ways.

What are sound devices in poetry, and how do you use them? Let’s explore these other literary devices in poetry, with examples.

8. Internal & End Rhyme

When you think about poetry, the first thing you probably think of is “rhyme.” Yes, many poems rhyme, especially poetry in antiquity. However, contemporary poetry largely looks down upon poetry with strict rhyme schemes, and you’re far more likely to see internal rhyming than end rhyming.

Internal rhyme is just what it sounds like: two rhyming words juxtaposed inside of the line, rather than at the end of the line. See internal rhyme in action Edgar Allan Poe’s famous “ The Raven ”:

Each of the rhymes have been assigned their own highlighted color. I’ve also highlighted examples of alliteration, which this article covers next.

Despite “The Raven’s” macabre, dreary undertones, the play with language in this poem is entertaining and, quite simply, fun. Not only does it draw readers into the poem, it makes the poem memorable—after all, poetry used to rhyme because rhyme schemes helped people remember the poetry, long before people had access to pen and paper.

Why does contemporary poetry frown at rhyme schemes? It’s not the rhyming itself that’s odious; rather, contemporary poetry is concerned with fresh, unique word choice , and rhyme schemes often limit the poet’s language, forcing them to use words which don’t quite fit.

contemporary poetry is concerned with fresh, unique word choice, and rhyme schemes often limit the poet’s language

If you can write a rhyming poem with precise, intelligent word choice, you’re an exception to the rule—and far more skilled at poetry than most. Perhaps you should have been born a bard in the 16th century, blessed with the king’s highest graces, splayed dramatically on a decadent chaise longue with maroon upholstery, dining on grapes and cheese.

9. Alliteration

Alliteration is a powerful, albeit subtle, means of controlling the poem’s mood.

One of the more defining sound devices in poetry, alliteration refers to the succession of words with similar sounds. For example: this sentence, so assiduously steeped in “s” sounds, was sculpted alliteratively. (This s-based alliteration is called sibilance!)

Alliteration is a powerful, albeit subtle, means of controlling the poem’s mood. A series of s’es might make the poem sound sinister, sneaky, or sharp; by contrast, a series of b’s, d’s, and p’s will give the poem a heavy, percussive sound, like sticks against a drum.

Emily Dickenson puts alliteration to play in her brief poem “ Much Madness .” The poem is a cacophonous mix of s, m, and a sounds, and in this cacophony, the reader gets a glimpse into the mad array of the poet’s brain.

Alliteration can be further dissected; in fact, we could spend this entire article talking about alliteration if we wanted to. What’s most important is this: playing with alliterative sounds is a crucial aspect of poetry writing, helping readers experience the mood of your poetry.

10. Consonance & Assonance

Along with alliteration, consonance and assonance share the title for most important sound devices in poetry. Alliteration refers specifically to the sounds at the beginning: consonance and assonance refer to the sounds within words. Technically, alliteration is a form of consonance or assonance, and both can coexist powerfully on the same line.

Consonance refers to consonant sounds, whereas assonance refers to vowel sounds. You are much more likely to read examples of consonance, as there are many more consonants in the English alphabet, and these consonants are more highly defined than vowel sounds. Though assonance is a tougher poetic sound device, it still shows up routinely in contemporary poetry.

In fact, we’ve already seen examples of assonance in our section on internal rhyme! Internal rhymes often require assonance for the words to sound similar. To refer back to “The Raven,” the first line has assonance with the words “dreary,” “weak,” and “weary.” Additionally, the third line has consonance with “nodded, nearly napping.”

These poetic sound devices point towards one of two sounds: euphony or cacophony.

11. Euphony & Cacophony

Poems that master musicality will sound either euphonious or cacophonous. Euphony, from the Greek for “pleasant sounding,” refers to words or sentences which flow pleasantly and sound sweetly. Look towards any of the poems we’ve mentioned or the examples we’ve given, and euphony sings to you like the muses.

Cacophony is a bit harder to find in literature, though certainly not impossible. Cacophony is euphony’s antonym, “unpleasant sounding,” though the effect doesn’t have to be unpleasant to the reader. Usually, cacophony occurs when the poet uses harsh, staccato sounds repeatedly. Ks, Qus, Ls, and hard Gs can all generate cacophony, like they do in this line from “ Rime of the Ancient Mariner ” from Samuel Taylor Coleridge:

Reading this line might not be “pleasant” in the conventional sense, but it does prime the reader to hear the speaker’s cacophonous call. Who else might sing in cacophony than the emotive, sea-worn sailor?

What’s something you still remember from high school English? Personally, I’ll always remember that Shakespeare wrote in iambic pentameter. I’ll also remember that iambic pentameter resembles a heartbeat: “love is a smoke made with the fumes of sighs .” ba- dum , ba- dum , ba- dum .

Metrical considerations are often reserved for classic poetry. When you hear someone talking about a poem using anapestic hexameter or trochaic tetrameter, they’re probably talking about Ovid and Petrarch, not Atwood and Glück.

Still, meter can affect how the reader moves and feels your poem, and some contemporary poets write in meter.

Before I offer any examples, let’s define meter. All syllables in the English language are either stressed or unstressed. We naturally emphasize certain syllables in English based on standards of pronunciation, so while we let words like “love,” “made,” and “the” dangle, we emphasize “smoke,” “fumes,” and “sighs.”

Depending on the context, some words can be stressed or unstressed, like “is.” Assembling words into metrical order can be tricky, but if the words flow without hesitation, you’ve conquered one of the trickiest sound devices in poetry.

Common metrical types include:

• Iamb: repetitions of unstressed-stressed syllables
• Anapest: repetitions of unstressed-unstressed-stressed syllables
• Trochee: repetitions of stressed-unstressed syllables
• Dactyl: repetitions of stressed-unstressed-unstressed syllables

Finding these prosodic considerations in contemporary poetry is challenging, but not impossible. Many poets in the earliest 20th century used meter, such as Edna St. Vincent Millay. Her poem, “ Renascence ,” built upon iambic tetrameter. Still, the contemporary landscape of poetry doesn’t have many poets using meter. Perhaps the next important metrical poet is you?

Mastering the Literary Devices in Poetry

Every element of this poetic devices list could take months to master, and each of the sound devices in poetry requires its own special class. Luckily, the instructors at Writers.com know just how to sculpt poetry from language, and they’re ready to teach you, too. Take a look at our upcoming poetry courses , and take the next step in mastering the literary devices in poetry.

Sean Glatch

41 comments.

Very interesting stuff! I’m looking forward to incorporating some of these devices in my future poetry.

Incredible. Somes are new btw.

Wow … learned alot with this…. thanks

Well illustrated, simple language and easily understood. Thank you.

While thinking of an appropriate inscription for my dad’s headstone, the following two thoughts came to mind:

“He served his country with honor and he honored his wife with love.”

Can the above be described as being an example of any particular kind of literary or poetic device?

Hi Louis, good question! This is an example of polyptoton, a repetition device in which words from the same root are employed simultaneously. You can learn more about it at this article: writers.com/repetition-definition

You’re also close to using what’s called a syllepsis or zeugma. From the Greek for “a yoking,” a zeugma is when you use the same verb to mean two different things. An example: “He ate his feelings–and the cheesecake.” “Ate” is being used both figuratively and literally, “yoking” the two meanings together.

Your sentence uses honor as both a noun and a verb, which makes it a bit distinct from other zeugmas. Regardless, it’s a thoughtful sentiment and a lovely sentence. I hope this helps!

It’s called a polyptoton. Repetition, in close proximity, of different grammatical forms of the same root word. Honor/noun Honored/ verb It’s not zeugma when the word which would be yoked, is instead repeated. I discovered this literary device one day, some years into my teaching career, by reading the literary dictionary with my students. We were very happy to find the term, after several students had inquired about a passage we were analyzing, and I had no answer (except a form of repetition). The class cheered when I read it out. I can’t imagine that happening today…

Isn’t it alliteration… ‘h’ sound is repeated 🤔

It is an alliteration, zeugma, assonance, consonance

It is called a polyptoton — a literary device of repetition involving the use, in close proximity, of more than one grammatical form of the same word. In this case honor (noun) and honored (verb). Famous example: “The Greeks are strong and skilful in their strength, Fierce to their skill, and to their fierceness valiant.” Strong/strength & skilful/skill & fierce/fierceness = adjective/noun forms — in very close proximity (within a single sentence).

It’s a powerful dream of mine you just inspired me

These are very helpful! I am a poet, and I did not know about half of these! Thank you.

We’re so glad this article was helpful! Happy writing 🙂

I am definitely loving this article. I have learnt a lot.

Thank you so much for this article. it is quite refreshing and enlightening.

the article was helpful during my revisions

As apostrophe is used to make a noun possessive case, not plural. (#3)

You’re correct when it comes to the grammatical apostrophe, but as a literary device, apostrophe is specifically an address to someone or something that isn’t present in the work itself. For some odd reason, they share the same name. 🙂

You can learn more about the apostrophe literary device here . I hope this makes sense!

@Sean Glatch

I believe this comment was intended as a correction to the phrase ‘the punctuation mark for plural nouns’ used in the article. Plural nouns aren’t apostrophised, which makes that an error.

Very knowledgeable to learn, I want to learn more……

Very knowledgeable and detailed.

I think that a cool literary device to add would be irony. Its my favorite 🙂

Thanks, Patricia! We have an article on irony at this link .

Happy writing!

I am a student currently studying English Literature. Really appreciate the article and the effort put into it because its made some topics more clear to me. However, is there any place where I can find more examples of the devices Enjambement, metonymy, iambic pentameter, consonance & cacophony? Would appreciate it a bunch❤ Thank you again for the article

I’m so glad this article was helpful! We cover a few more topics in poetry writing at this article: https://writers.com/what-is-form-in-poetry

in my high school in uganda, we study about these devices that’s if you offer literature as a subject

Very helpful and relevant…

I just came here to check out some poetic devices so that I can pass through my exam…but looking at these comments made me feel like…where am I? Is this the land of the angels? Thanks for the motivation, probably not a poet but I am writing stories now, made a good one already.

Very precious knowledge . Thanks alot.

Thank you, You have taught me a lot .

Really needed this for my AP Lit class, thanks for making it so understandable!

This article was extremely informative. I love the platform. Wonderful to find other individuals passionate about language. I absolutely enjoyed the discourse.

I have learnt a lot, may God bless you forever. Thank you so much.

This was very informative to read, thank you. i do have one question. I have searched over the internet and I’m struggling to find my answer. Do you know if there’s a name for when a poem starts with a rhetorical question in the beginning line, and then answers it in the very last line. Take ‘Who’s For the Game?’ by Jessie Pope as an example. Thx

Fantastic thank you very helpful

ELA educator here; glad to have this well-written and concise information for my classroom! Thank you! Instagram @jenlee_123

Thank you very much, I have learned a lot. Hopefully I’ll do the best in my assignments.

Thank you. I polished my dusty knowledge of literature.

Thank you so much. I needed this for my AP LIT exam. Now I can write my essay – Ish Da Fish

I needed a quick review and this is perfect. Thank you.

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Welcome to the Purdue Online Writing Lab

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

The Online Writing Lab at Purdue University houses writing resources and instructional material, and we provide these as a free service of the Writing Lab at Purdue. Students, members of the community, and users worldwide will find information to assist with many writing projects. Teachers and trainers may use this material for in-class and out-of-class instruction.

The Purdue On-Campus Writing Lab and Purdue Online Writing Lab assist clients in their development as writers—no matter what their skill level—with on-campus consultations, online participation, and community engagement. The Purdue Writing Lab serves the Purdue, West Lafayette, campus and coordinates with local literacy initiatives. The Purdue OWL offers global support through online reference materials and services.

A Message From the Assistant Director of Content Development 

The Purdue OWL® is committed to supporting  students, instructors, and writers by offering a wide range of resources that are developed and revised with them in mind. To do this, the OWL team is always exploring possibilties for a better design, allowing accessibility and user experience to guide our process. As the OWL undergoes some changes, we welcome your feedback and suggestions by email at any time.

Please don't hesitate to contact us via our contact page  if you have any questions or comments.

All the best,

Social Media

Facebook twitter.