Literary Device; jmk

Description:	Glossary of Literary Devices for Better Writing
Category:	English Vocabulary
Created by:	jeweljen on 2005-10-18

Term	Definition





Alliteration	The repition of inital consonant sounds; such as "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers".

Allusion	References to literary, artistic, scientific, or historical people, places, or things; the storm was small, not like the "Katrina catastrophe" in 2005.



Antithesis	A statement in whcih direct opposites are contrasted in the same sentence.

Aphorism	A brief, sometimes clever saying that expresses a principle, truth or observation about life; such as "The early bird catches the worm:.
Apostrophe	A literary device in which the speaker directly addresses someone dead, someone missing, an abstract quality, or something non human as if she/he/it were present.
Appositive	A clause, set off by commas or a comma and a period , that gives greater detail or a clue to context; such as The boy, with the blue shirt, was not happy and threw a tantrum.


Inference	A conclusion, possibly based on several pieces of evidence; like putting "mental" puzzle pieces together.
Aside	It is a written digression, a time in a novel, when the author steps outside the story, speaking directly to the reader.


Cause and Effect	An organizational pattern in which the author analyzes reasons for a chain of events.
Characterization	The process by which the writer reveals the personalities of the people of the work.
Chronological or sequencial order	An organizational pattern that places the events in the order of occurrence.




Comparison and Contrast	Organizational pattern that shows similarities and/or differences



Conflict	The tension created in the story by the struggle or outcome of the stuggle; one of the narrative devices to address the tone of the passage; the tip of the plot summary web

Contrast	A literary technique in which the author examines two opposites.




Didactic	A type of writing that is preachy or bossy.




Epigram	A brief, clever, and usually memorable statement.
Euphemism	The substitution of a mild or less negative word or phrase for a harsh or blunt one; such as "potty" for toilet and "boogies" for snot

Foreshadoing	A literary technique in which the author gives hints about future events.
Hyperbole	A figure of speech in which the author over exaggerates to accomplish some purpose; a "tragic meal" or a "deadly smell"
Imagery	Sentences that appeal to the five senses.

Juxtaposition	Placing two items side by side to create a certain effect, reveal an attitude, or accomplish a purpose.
Metaphor	A direct comparison in which an unknown item is understood by directly comparing it to a known item; such as, The ship was a "toy" on the stormy sea. Often contains the word "was" or "is".

Oxymoron	A juxtaposition of two unlike things to create ambiguity through contradiction; such as a "happy funeral".
Onomatopoeia	Using a word that emits the sound of the word; such as pop, crunch, smash, pow, bing


Parallelism or Parallel structure	Recurrent syntactical similarity. In this structural arrangement several parts of a sentence or several sentences are developed and phrased similarly; such as I came, I say, I conquered OR Then God said, Then God said

Personification	Metaphorically represents an animala or inanimate object as having human attricutes, attributes of form, character feeling, behavior, and so on; such as, The angry ocean swallowed the oceanliner in one gulp.
Pun	A play on words based upon the multiple meanings of words; such as, "You stink" which could mean 1. untalented or 2. bad odor

Rhetorical question	A literary device in which a question is asked that actually requires no answer; such as, How stupid is that?


Simile	An indirect comparison using like or as. for example, small as a mouse, big as a house,
Stereotypes	Anything that represents something in a typical way; such as the drunk, the nurse, the cop, the grandmother. A picture of that character pops into your mind.


Satire	Humourous writing that comments on flaws, customs, personality, institutions or ideas. For example, "The Simpsons" cartoon constantly satires someone or something.
idiom	An informal word or phrase that is not literal; for example, "beats me" or" keep an eye on him"