LITERARY DEVICESNOTES FOR THE ENTIRE YEAR

MOODDEFINITION:

the general sense or feeling a reader is supposed to get from a text

EXAMPLE(S):nostalgic, somber, sad, elated, happy

IMAGERYDEFINITION:

Descriptive language that uses sensory details (sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste)

EXAMPLE(S):The winter evening settles downWith smell of steaks in passageways.Six o'clock.The burnt-out ends of smoky days.

HYPERBOLEDEFINITION:

an extreme exaggeration to emphasize an idea

EXAMPLE(S):This book weighs a ton!

PERSONIFICATIONDEFINITION:

Giving human traits, qualities, or characteristics to non-human objects

EXAMPLE(S):The stars danced playfully in the moonlit sky.

PUNDEFINITION:

A form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect.

EXAMPLE(S):I took up teaching fencing as I wanted my students to get the point.

METAPHORDEFINITION:

Comparing two unlike things without using “like” or “as.”

EXAMPLE(S):The assignment was a breeze.

SIMILEDEFINITION:

Comparing two unlike things mandatorily using the words “like” or “as.”

EXAMPLE(S):The student ran through the room like a tornado.

PLOTDEFINITION:

the series of events and actions that takes place in a story

EXPOSITIONDEFINITION:

the beginning of the story, establishment of setting and characters

RISING ACTIONDEFINITION:

the problem faced by the characters is introduced and it also includes the events in the story leading up to the climax

CLIMAXDEFINITION:

conflict is solved; point of highest reader interest and tension

FALLING ACTIONDEFINITION:

the action that follows the climax and reveals its results

RESOLUTIONDEFINITION:

how it all turns out

FORESHADOWINGDEFINITION:

the author provides hints or clues to help the reader predict future events

EXAMPLE(S):When Ruth Jones’s alarm clock woke her at seven o’clock that morning, she had no idea that today would be the longest day of her life.

IRONYDEFINITION:

a mismatch between what is said and what is meant (verbal irony), what a character knows and what the audience knows (dramatic irony), or what is expected and what actually happens (situational irony)

EXAMPLE(S):• Verbal Irony: I love being grounded!• Dramatic Irony: We know Romeo & Juliet will die before they do.

• Situational Irony: The firefighter was an arsonist.

THEMEDEFINITION:

A single sentence that conveys the universal message or lesson from the story or text.

EXAMPLE(S):In order to have a successful future, we should work hard now.

CONFLICTDEFINITION:

external conflict exists when a character struggles against some outside force, such as another character, nature, or society; internal conflict exists within the mind of a character who is torn between different courses of action.

EXAMPLE(S):External Conflict: A man is wrestling a bear.Internal Conflict: A man is battling an addiction.

SUMMARYDEFINITION:

a brief statement or account of the main or essential points of something.

EXAMPLE(S):Batman, Gordon and Harvey Dent are forced to deal with the chaos unleashed by a terrorist mastermind known only as the Joker, as he drives each of them to their limits.

ORDER OF IMPORTANCEDEFINITION:

Items are arranged from least important to most important (or vice versa)

EXAMPLE(S):To prepare for a test, (1) pay attention in class, (2) sleep well, and (3) eat breakfast.

CHRONOLOGICAL ORDERDEFINITION:

items, events, or even ideas are arranged in the order in which they occur.

EXAMPLE(S):I woke up this morning, went out to lunch at noon, and fell asleep at night.

PROBLEM AND SOLUTIONDEFINITION:

divides information into two main sections, one that describes a problem and one that describes a solution

EXAMPLE(S):If living in a dangerous neighborhood, one might recommend locks, surveillance cameras, or even moving.

CAUSE AND EFFECTDEFINITION:

used to show the different causes and effects of various conditions

EXAMPLE(S):By smoking for decades, she eventually developed lung cancer.

ALLITERATIONDEFINITION:

the repetition of consonant sounds at the start of neighboring words

EXAMPLE(S):Tim used his tools to make toys for tots.

POINT OF VIEWDEFINITION:

the perspective from which a story is told

EXAMPLE(S):You provide the perspective for a personal narrative.

1ST-PERSON POINT OF VIEWDEFINITION:

The story is narrated by a character in the plot, so he or she will use pronouns like “I,” “me,” “we,” or “us.”

EXAMPLE(S):I told him, “You better get out of here!”

2ND-PERSON POINT OF VIEWDEFINITION:

story is told through the use of “you”; may be for instructional purposes

EXAMPLE(S):To bake the pizza, you first need to preheat the oven.

3RD-PERSON POINT OF VIEWDEFINITION:

The story is narrated by a person not involved in the plot, and all of the information provided is only gained by the 5 senses (no one’s thoughts or feelings are revealed, but they might be inferred)

EXAMPLE(S):Tom and Jeff both shrugged their shoulders when Rick asked where his pencil was.

3RD-PERSON OMNISCIENT POINT OF VIEWDEFINITION:

The narrator is not a person in the plot, but the thoughts and feelings of two or more characters are revealed

EXAMPLE(S):They are happy.

3RD-PERSON LIMITED POINT OF VIEWDEFINITION:

The narrator is not a person in the plot, but the thoughts and feelings of only one character are revealed.

EXAMPLE(S):Sally smiled when she entered the room. Mike was excited to see her.

FLASHBACKDEFINITION:

a scene or moment that takes the story back in time from the current point.

EXAMPLE(S):A woman walks by with a particular perfume; when you smell it, you immediately relive a memory from when you were 5, fell off your bike, and were helped by a woman wearing that same fragrance.

DIRECT CHARACTERIZATIONDEFINITION:

When the narrator describes a character by directly stating that character’s personal traits

EXAMPLE(S):Curley was quick and mean.

INDIRECT CHARACTERIZATIONDEFINITION:

the reader must decide for themselves what the character is like through the character’s thoughts, actions, speech, looks, and interaction with other characters

EXAMPLE(S):When Mary entered the room, she gave us each $10 from her lottery winnings.

SLANGDEFINITION:

informal language

EXAMPLE(S):dude, cool, swag

JARGONDEFINITION:

terminology that relates to a specific group or profession

EXAMPLE(S):AWOL, promissory estoppel, cash flow

FOILDEFINITION:

a character who contrasts with another character (usually the protagonist) in order to highlight the personality of the other character; a foil either differs drastically or is extremely similar but with a key difference setting them apart

EXAMPLE(S):Joker is unethical and enjoys chaos and disorder; Batman is ethical and upholds justice and order

TONEDEFINITION:

the apparent emotional state, or “attitude,” of the speaker/narrator/narrative voice, as conveyed through the language of the piece

EXAMPLE(S):critical, bitter, appreciative, hopeful

MAIN IDEADEFINITION:

the most important or central thought of a paragraph or larger section of text, which tells the reader what the text is about

EXAMPLE(S):Our ozone layer protects us from ultraviolet rays.

IDIOMDEFINITION:

words, phrases, or expressions that cannot be taken literally; when used in everyday language, they have a meaning other than the basic one that you would find in the dictionary

EXAMPLE(S):He flew off the handle!

DENOTATIONDEFINITION:

a direct specific meaning as distinct from an implied or associated idea

EXAMPLE(S):The denotation of snake is “a scaly, legless, sometimes venomous reptile."

CONNOTATIONDEFINITION:

The emotional suggestions and associations that a particular word evokes

EXAMPLE(S):skinny versus slender

RHETORICAL QUESTIONDEFINITION:

a question asked to emphasize an idea and often not requiring an answer

EXAMPLE(S):How dumb do you think I am?

DRAMATIC IRONYDEFINITION:

irony that is understood by the audience but not all of the characters in the story

EXAMPLE(S):“Let us suppose that there is a bomb underneath this table between us. Nothing happens, and then all of a sudden, ‘Boom!’ There is an explosion. The public is surprised, but prior to this surprise, it has seen an absolutely ordinary scene, of no special consequence. Now, let us take a suspense situation. The bomb is underneath the table and the audience knows it, probably because they have seen the anarchist place it there. The public is aware that the bomb is going to explode at one o’clock and there is a clock in the decor. The public can see that it is a quarter to one. In these conditions this same innocuous conversation becomes fascinating because the public is participating in the scene. The audience is longing to warn the characters on the screen: ‘You shouldn’t be talking about such trivial matters. There’s a bomb beneath you and it’s about to explode!’” -- Alfred Hitchcock

SITUATIONAL IRONYDEFINITION:

irony in which a situation surprises the audience and characters; the outcome is contrary to what was expected

EXAMPLE(S):When John Hinckley attempted to assassinate Ronald Reagan, all of his shots initially missed the President; however, a bullet ricocheted off the bullet-proof Presidential limousine and struck Reagan in the chest. Thus, a vehicle made to protect the President from gunfire instead directed gunfire to the president.

VERBAL IRONYDEFINITION:

irony in which a person says or writes one thing and means another, or uses words to convey a meaning that is opposite of the literal meaning.

EXAMPLE(S) ON THE NEXT SLIDE

EXTENDED METAPHORDEFINITION:

a metaphor introduced and then further developed throughout all or part of a literary work

EXAMPLE(S):The cafeteria is a jungle.Wild animals scrambling for food.Grunting like wild boarsStampeding to the lineDevouring their preyCleaning their pawsand then returning to their dens.

ANECDOTEDEFINITION:

short story used to help prove a larger point

EXAMPLE(S):Before giving a presentation on the dangers of drug abuse, the speaker tells the audience how he himself used to abuse drugs and explains the negative effects it had in his life.

PARALLEL STRUCTUREDEFINITION:

using the same pattern of words to show that two or more ideas have the same level of importance; sentence elements that are alike in function should also be alike in construction.

EXAMPLE(S):The teacher said that he was a poor student because he waited until the last minute to study for the exam, completed his lab problems in a careless manner, and lacked motivation.

SYMBOLISMDEFINITION:

The use of one object or action to represent or suggest something else.

EXAMPLE(S):The serpent is one of the most widespread mythological symbols. In some instances, serpents serve as positive symbols with whom it is possible to sympathize; in other instances, serpents serve as negative symbols, representing opposites or antagonists.

ANALOGYDEFINITION:

a comparison between two things, typically on the basis of their structure and for the purpose of explanation or clarification

EXAMPLE(S):the analogy between a heart and a pump

ASSONANCEDEFINITION:

the repetition of vowel sounds in non-rhyming words

EXAMPLE(S):• “Hear the mellow wedding bells”• “Try to light the fire”• “I must confess that in my quest I felt depressed and restless”

REPETITIONDEFINITION:

repeating a word, phrase, or idea to emphasize a point

EXAMPLE(S):“She’s safe, just like I promised. She's all set to marry Norrington, just like she promised. And you get to die for her, just like you promised.” -- Jack Sparrow, The Pirates of the Caribbean

ALLUSIONDEFINITION:

a brief reference to a well-known work of art, historical event, person or literary character, landmark, etc.

EXAMPLE(S):“I was not born in a manger. I was actually born on Krypton and sent here by my father, Jor-el, to save the planet Earth.” -- Senator Barack Obama, speech at a fund-raiser for Catholic charities, October 16, 2008)

SETTINGDEFINITION:

the time and place of a story

EXAMPLE(S):•Germany, 1940•Philadelphia, 1787•Mars, 2047

SYNONYMDEFINITION:

a word or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word or phrase

EXAMPLE(S):big and large

ANTONYMDEFINITION:

a word having a meaning opposite to that of another word

EXAMPLE(S):hot and cold

ONOMATOPOEIADEFINITION:

words that imitate the sounds of the things they refer to

EXAMPLE(S):buzz, fizzle, whisper, thud, murmur