Literary Devices Unit 1

1. Literary DevicesUnit 1 English IV Manning

2. ALLITERATION • The repetition of sounds, especially initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words. • “She sells sea shells by the sea shore.”

3. ALLUSION • A direct or indirect reference to something which is presumably commonly known, such as an event, book, myth, place, or work of art. • Allusions can be historical, literary, religious, topical, or mythical. • “This place is like a Garden of Eden.” – This is a biblical allusion to the “garden of God” in the Book of Genesis.

4. APOSTROPHE • A prayer-like figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or a personified abstraction, such as liberty or love. • In the poem, “Ode to a Grecian Urn”, Keats addresses and speaks to the urn itself.

5. EXTENDED METAPHOR • A metaphor developed at great length, occurring frequently in or throughout a work. • “I graduated from the University of Life. All right? I received a degree from the School of Hard Knocks. And our colors were black and blue, baby. I had office hours with the Dean of Bloody Noses. All right? I borrowed my class notes from Professor Knuckle Sandwich and his Teaching Assistant, Ms. Fat Lip Thon Nyun. That’s the kind of school I went to for real, okay?” – Will Ferrell, Commencement Address at Harvard University, 2003

6. HYPERBOLE • A figure of speech using deliberate exaggeration or overstatement. • The literal Greek meaning is “overshoot” • Your suitcase weighs a ton!

7. IMAGERY • The sensory details or figurative language is used to describe, arouse emotion, or represent abstractions. On a physical level, imagery uses terms related to the five senses: visual, auditory, tactile, gustatory, and olfactory. • Glittering white, the blanket of snow covered everything in sight.

8. IRONY • The contrast between what is stated explicitly and what is really meant, or the difference between what appears to be and what is actually true. • Verbal irony – when words literally state the opposite of the writer/speaker’s meaning • Situational irony – when events turn out the opposite of what was expected • Dramatic irony – when facts or events are unknown to a character, but known to the reader/audience/other characters

9. METAPHOR • A figure of speech using implied comparison of seemingly unlike things or the substitution of one for the other, suggesting some similarity. • But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.

10. MOOD • The prevailing atmosphere or emotional aura of a work. Mood is similar to tone and atmosphere. • Setting, tone, and events can affect the mood. • Disneyland: The happiest place on earth.

11. PARADOX • A statement that appears to be self-contradictory or opposed to common sense, but upon closer inspection contains some degree of truth or validity. • Dickens: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”

12. PERSONIFICATION • A figure of speech in which the author presents or describes concepts, animals, or inanimate objects by endowing them with human attributes or emotions. • The city never sleeps. • The wind howled. • The iron gates looked down at them cruelly.