Literary Devices

Connotation

refers to a meaning that is implied by a word apart from the thing which it describes explicitly. Words carry cultural and emotional associations or meanings, in addition to their literal meaning or denotations. Words may have positive or negative connotations that depend upon the social, cultural, and personal experiences of individuals. For example, the words childish, childlike and youthful have the same denotative, but different connotative meaning.

Red herring

refers to a misleading,or false,clue that can lead readers down a false path or otherwise distract them from what's really going on in the plot

Euphemism

refers to figurative language designed to replace phrasing that would otherwise be considered harsh, impolite, or unpleasant. This literary device allows for someone to say what they mean indirectly, without using literal language, as a way of softening the impact of what is being said. The reason for this would be the sake of politeness.

Dialogue

refers to spoken lines by characters in a story

Theme

refers to the central, deeper meaning of the story. Writers will convey the theme of their work, and allow the reader to interpret it, rather than directly state the theme. As readers infer, reflect, and analyze a literary theme. They develop a greater understanding of the work itself and can apply this understanding beyond the story as a means of grasping a better sense of the world

Mood

refers to the emotional response that the writer wishes to evoke in the reader through a story

Tone

reflects the writer's attitude toward the subject matter or audience of a literary work

Exposition

a literary device designed to convey important information, within a short story or novel, to the reader. Writers utilize exposition to provide essential backstory for characters, plot, and other narrative elements.

Anthropomorphism

a literary device that can be defined as a technique in which a writer ascribes non-human beings, natural phenomena, or objects

Characterization

a literary device that is used step-by-step in literature to highlight and explain the details about a character in a story. Initially, this is done through the character's behavior, then eventually through his thought processes.

Alliteration

a literary device that reflects repetition in two or more nearby words of initial consonant sounds.

Foreshadowing

a literary device that writers use to hint to readers about something that is to follow or appear later in a story. Foreshadowing is an excellent device for creating suspense and dramatic tension.

Plot

a literary device that writers use to structure what happens in a story. It is the series of actions from the beginning to the end

Point of view

a literary device to indicate the perspective from which the story is told. Essentially, point of view refers to the "eyes" of the narrative voice

Conflict

a literary element that involves a struggle between two opposing forces, usually a protagonist and an antagonist.

Omniscient

a literary technique of writing a narrative in third person point of view, in which the narrator knows and shares the feelings and thoughts of every character in the story.

Climax

a particular point in a narrative at which the conflict or tension hits the highest point. It is a decisive moment or a turning point in a storyline at which the rising action turns around into a falling action.

Narrative Poem

a poem which tells a story, includes characters, and follows a logical sequence

Cliché

an expression that is trite(worn-out overused). This is a phrase or idea that has become a ¨universal¨ device to describe abstract concepts such as time (Better Late Than Never), anger (madder than a wet hen), love (love is blind). However, such expressions are too commonplace and unoriginal.

Poetic Justice

an ideal form of justice, in which the good characters are rewarded and the bad characters are punished. It is a strong literary view that all forms of literature must convey moral lessons. Therefore, writers often use poetic justice to reveal the theme

Parody

an imitation of a particular writer, artist, or genre, exaggerating it deliberately to produce a cometic affect

Hook

an important literary technique that authors use to keep their readers engaged in their stories, which is a hook or narrative hook, which keep readers' interest alive in the book, story, etc. It appears at the beginning of the story, and may contain several pages of a novel, several paragraphs of a short story, or it might be only an opening sentence, or just a single line.

Motif

an object or idea that repeats itself throughout a literary work

Bias

an undue favor, support or backing extended to a person, group, race, or even an argument against another. In other words, it's a single-side or one-sided illogical and non-neutral support of a viewpoint in favor against the other side.

Naritive

another word for a story, and follows a logical sequence referred to as plot

Sarcasm

generally takes the form of an ironic remark, usually intended to mock or satirize something or someone. When a speaker is being sarcastic they are saying something different from what they actually mean. It can convey a writer and/or character's true feelings of anger, frustration, and even derision, though veiled by the presence of humor and wording that is inconsistent with what is intended

Rising action

in a plot series of incidents that create suspense,interest,and tension in a narrative,and includes all decisions,characters' flaws,and background circumstances that together create turns and twists leading to a climax

Suspense

is a feeling of anticipation that something risky or dangerous is about to happen

Simile

is a figure of speech in which two essentially dissimilar objects or concepts are expressly compared with one another through the use of "like" or "as"

Setting

is a literary device that allows the writer of a narrative to establish the time, location, and environment in which it takes place

Imagery

is a literary device that refers to the use of figurative language to evoke a sensory experience or create a picture with words for the reader.Writers appeal to a reader's senses of sight, taste, smell, touch, and sound, as well as internal emotion and feelings.

Epic

is a long narrative poem that is elevated and dignified in theme, tone, and style. As a literary device, an epic celebrates heroic deeds and historically (or even cosmically) important events. An epic usually focuses on the adventures of a hero who has qualities that are superhuman or divine.

Adage

is a short, pointed, and memorable saying that is based on facts, and which is considered a veritable truth by the majority of people. Famous examples of these become popular due to their usage over a long period of time. Unlike Aphorisms, they do not seek to teach a moral lesson.

Static Character

is one that does not change much or at all as a result of the story.

Symbol

is something that stands for or suggests something else beyond its universal meaning

Resolution

is the solution of a complicated conflict in a story, and comes after the falling action of the plot

Dialect

is the specific language or adaptation of a language used by the people of a specific area, class, district, or any other group of people. This term involves the spelling, sounds, grammar and pronunciation used by a particular group of people and it distinguishes them from other people around them. It is a common way of characterization as it elaborates the geographic and social background of any character.

Irony

literary device in which contradictory statements or situations reveal a reality that is different from what appears to be true. There are many forms of irony featured in literature. Irony only works as a literary device if the reader understands the difference between what should happen in a literary work, and what actually happens.

Prologue

means "before word" and is an opening of a story that gives background details

Falling Action

occurs right after the climax, when the main problem of the story resolves. It is one of the elements of the plot of the story. It wraps up the narrative, resolves its loose ends, and leads toward the closure.

Verbal Irony

occurs when a character uses a statement with underlying meanings that is the opposite of its literal meaning. It is done on purpose.

Legends

stories about people and their actions, or deeds they perform to save their people or nations. The people mentioned in them might have lived sometime in known history. They are told to serve a specific purpose, and can be based on facts-but they are not completely true

Metaphor

a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two non-similar things by saying one thing IS the other

Dramatic Irony

Storytellers use this irony as a useful plot device for creating situations in which readers or the audience knows more about the situations, the cause of conflicts, and their revolutions before the leading characters or actors.

Personification

a figure of speech in which an idea or thing is given human attributes and or feelings or is spoken of as if is were human

Oxymoron

a figure of speech pairing two words together that are opposing and/or contradictory, often an adjective and a noun

Analogy

a figure of speech that creates a comparison by showing how two seemingly different entities are alike, along with illustrating a larger point due to their commonalities

Aphorism

a brief statement that expresses a general principle about life usually only one sentence long. The author of one is normally known

Epilogue

a chapter at the end of a work of literature, after the conclusion of the work. It is not part of the main plot, but instead, provides closure to the story and answers any remaining questions the reader may have. They add any new information the author would like the reader to know.

Hyperbole

a figure of speech and literary device that creates heightened effect through deliberate exaggeration

Allusion

a reference, typically brief, to a person, place, thing, an event, or other literary work with which the reader is presumably familiar.

Anticlimax

a rhetorical device that can be defined as a disappointing situation, or a sudden change in the story(plot) from an important idea to a ludicrous or a trivial one. It is when, at a specific point, expectations are raised, everything is built-up, and then suddenly something boring or disappointing happens:

Essay

a short form of literary composition based on a single subject matter. It is subjective, in that the author is writing on a topic that he/she has interpreted and is reacting to with a personal point of view.

Epiphany

a sudden realization or discovery that illuminates a new perception or awareness. It is often used to describe a rapid feeling of clarity or insight: what many describe as an "aha!" moment. Epiphanies often take place at the climax of the story.

Cliffhanger

a type of narrative or a plot device in which the end is curiously abrupt, so that the main characters are left in a difficult situation, without offering any resolution of conflicts.

Onomatopoeia

a word that imitates the natural sounds of something

Denotation

a word's literal, dictionary definition; it is the objective meaning of a word, with no associated meaning.

Idiom

a word/phrase whose figurative meaning is different from its literal meaning. The meaning of an idiom doesn't rely on the literal definition of its words, but rather the figurative context of how words are used.

Indirect characterization

the kind of characterization in which the reader must rely on their thought process, behavior, speech, etc as well as by the response of other characters to that character to deduce for themselves the characteristics of the character

Direct characterization

the kind of characterization that takes a direct approach to building a character. It uses another character, narrator, or the protagonist himself to tell the readers of audience about the subject

Protagonist

the main character or leading figure in poetry, narrative, novel or any other story

Dynamic character

undergoes changes throughout the narrative due to conflicts he encounters on his journey.

Narrator

who is telling the story