Literary Devices

List 1

AllegoryDefinition - Allegory is a figure of speech in which abstract ideas and principles are described in terms of characters, figures and events. The objective of its use is to preach some kind of a moral lesson.

• The Wizard of Oz, in which cowardice is embodied in the lion, thoughtless panic in the scarecrow.

• Hester Prynne’s daughter, Pearl in who is a walking representative of something precious, purchased with a great price.

Irony

Definition – A difference between the appearance and reality. • A man who is a traffic cop gets his license suspended for

unpaid parking tickets.

• The Titanic was promoted as being 100% unsinkable; but, in 1912 the ship sank on its maiden voyage.

Imagery

Definition - Language that appeals to the senses.

• On a starry, winter night in Portugal

• A host, of golden daffodils

• The eerie silence was shattered by her scream.

Ambiguity

Definition - a word, phrase, or statement which contains more than one meaning.

• "Brave men run in my family."

• “Nurse required for a baby about twenty years of age.”

• "We saw her duck”

Mood

Definition - The overall emotion created by the work of literature. • “There was no moon, and everything beneath lay in misty

darkness: not a light gleamed from any house, far or near all had been extinguished long ago: and those at Wuthering Heights were never visible…” (Wuthering Heights)

• “Gimmerton chapel bells were still ringing; and the full, mellow flow of the beck in the valley came soothingly on the ear. It was a sweet substitute for the yet absent murmur of the summer foliage, which drowned that music about the Grange when the trees were in leaf.”

Metaphor

Definition - An imaginative comparison between two unlike things in which one is said to be another thing.

• My brother was boiling mad.

• The assignment was a breeze.

• It is going to be clear skies from now on.

Paradox

Definition - is a statement that appears to be self-contradictory or silly but may include a latent truth.

• “What a pity that youth must be wasted on the young.” – George Bernard Shaw

• Wise fool

• Truth is honey which is bitter.

• “I can resist anything but temptation.” Oscar Wilde

SimileDefinition - A comparison between two unlike things, using a word such as like, as, than or resembles.

• Our soldiers are as brave as a lion.

• Her cheeks are red like a rose.

• He is as funny as a monkey.

Foreshadowing

Definition - an advance hint of what is to come in the later in the story.

• “Life were better ended by their hate,Than death prorogued, wanting of thy love”

• In the balcony scene, Juliet is concerned about Romeo’s safety as she fears her kinsmen may catch him. Romeo says, that he would rather like to have her love and die sooner than not obtain her love and die later.

• In John Steinbeck novel “Of Mice and Men”, George kills Candy’s dog. Later George kills Lennie. Candy is identical to George and Lennie to the dog. Even death of the dog was the same as Lennie’s as both were shot in the back of the head. Candy tells George, “I ought to of shot that dog myself”. He chooses to kill Lennie himself in order to save him from being killed by a stranger.

Internal ConflictDefinition - A struggle or conflict occurring within a character’s mind.• Man vs Himself

• You know you need to study, but you know that there is something good on T.V. You have a decision to make.

• You know something is bad, but you do it anyway.

External Conflict

Definition - A struggle between a character and another character or outside force.

• Jim gets into a fight with Robert.

• The character is attacked by a vicious dog.

• The characters are caught in a blizzard.

Theme

Definition - The insight about human life that is revealed in literary work.

• The insight of a person who has been wronged and seeks revenge.

• The insight of a person with a broken heart.

• The insight of love that does not materialize.

AllusionDefinition – The reference to someone or something that is known from history, literature, religion, politics, sports or some other branch of culture.

• In Taylor Swift’s song, “Love Story”, she mentions a “scarlet letter”.

• In the movie, Men In Black, the characters mention that “Roaches check in, but they don’t check out,” which is from a commercial for Roach Motels.

• In Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, he mentions that “All men are created equal” which is from “The Declaration of Independence”.