Literary Devices.
Foil
A character who provides a striking contrast to another character. EX: Cinderella being beautiful and loyal/loving vs her ugly evil cold hearted stepsis. main character vs someone completely opposite.
Simile
A comparison using "like" or "as". Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, im as fierce as a tiger yet fragile like glass.
Metaphor
A comparison without using like or as. EX: She is a rose, Life is a roller-coaster, he is a living dictionary.
Symbolism
A device in literature where an object represents an idea. EX: a certain shape that represents "peace", red means angry, sign with fork knife means food/restaurant.
Diction
A writer's choice of words and way of arranging those words into sentences. EX: "long I stood" instead of "I stood there a long time",
Tone
Attitude a writer takes toward the audience, a subject, or a character. EX: Can someone tell me what the hell is going on here (aggressive)
Archetype
Basically a stereotype. a reference to a concept, a person or an object that has served as a prototype of its kind and is the original idea that has come to be used over and over again. EX: black people like watermelon and fried chicken.
Theme
Central idea of a work of literature. EX: The Scarlet Ibis" by James Hurst might be expressed as "Pride, love, and cruelty are often intermingled in human relationships,
Mood
In a literary work, This device is the feeling or atmosphere that the author creates for his/her audience. EX: it was a dark stormy night, As he walked into the room, the trees withered and even the smallest of mice crawled away.
Irony
Its primary definition is "the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning,. EX: How nice!" to unpleasant news is an example of verbal irony. a sign saying "we are commited to exsellence."
Juxtaposition
The fact of two things being seen or placed close together with contrasting effect. EX: Beauty and the beast. Young and old, girl and boy, adult and child.
Imagery
The formation of mental images, figures, or likenesses of things. EX: For a brief second, a spike of lightning illuminated the dark purple clouds. The sharp aroma of pine needles filled the air.
Point of view
The method of narrating a short story (First Person, Third, and third person omniscient). EX: I went to the grocery story/she went to the grocery story/ sally went to the grocery store.
Characterization
The methods that a writer uses to develop characters. : physical appearance, speech, actions and thoughts, other characters' reactions. Through what they look like, what they say, their feelings, and direct comments about them. EX: The guy was a total beast, he was ripped asf and had shredded abs and always had his eyes on the ladies.
Conflict
The plot of a story always involves some sort of struggle, between opposing forces. EX: person.vs.person, person.vs.nature aka natural disasters, person.vs.technology aka robots.
Plot
The sequence of events in a story, generally built around a conflict. tells what happens, when, and to whom, using exposition, rising action, climax, and falling action. EX: In "Full Circle" by Sue Grafton, the order of events goes as follows, exposition, rising action which reveals that the narrator is searching for a murderer. Climax and the resolution happens after the narrator finds the murderer and identifies them.
Personification
a figure of speech in which human qualities are attributed to an object, animal, or idea. EX: the car danced across the icy road, Amazing world of gumball, regular show.
Allusion
an indirect reference to another literary work or to a famous person, place, or event. This device assumes a level of familiarity on the part of the reader with the work, person, or event referenced. EX: Hes a real romeo with the ladies. This guy is an Einstein. If it doesn't stop raining i'm going to build an ark.
Hyperbole
extreme exaggeration. EX: i'm so hungry i could eat a horse. my shoes are killing me. I died of laughter.
Foreshadowing
the use of hints and clues to suggest what will happen later in a plot. EX: As the wife waved goodbye to his husband at work she could not help but feel something was wrong. SCARLET IBIS. aunt nicey says dead red birds are bad luck, later that day doodle DIES.