Literary Devices

Literary Devices Ms. Miller

Allegory • A story with two or more levels of meaning—a literal level and one or more symbolic levels

Allusion • a reference to a person, place, event, literary work, or work of art Allusion provides more information without a lengthy description or illustration

Analogy • a comparison between two or more items that are similar in some ways but otherwise unalike

Antagonist • a character (or force) in conflict with the main character (protagonist)

Characterization • the act of creating and developing a character • Direct characterization-the author directly states characters’ traits • Indirect characterization-the author tells what a character looks like, does, and says and shows how others react to him

Climax • the high point of interest or suspense

Comic Relief • the interruption of a serious moment with a humorous character or situation

Conflict • a struggle between opposing forces 5 types: • Man v. man • Man v. fate/gods • Man v. nature • Man v. himself • Man v. society

Connotation • the set of ideas associated with a word in addition to its explicit meaning

Denotation • the dictionary definition of a word

Dialogue • conversation between characters used to reveal character and advance action

Epic • a long narrative poem about the deeds of gods or heroes

Falling Action • the action that follows the climax and leads to the denouement or resolution

Figurative Language • writing or speech not meant to be taken literally (metaphor, simile, personification, hyperbole, etc.)

Flashback • a device that allows the writer to present events that happened before the time of the current narration or the current events in the fiction. Flashback techniques include memories, dreams, stories of the past told by characters, or even authorial sovereignty (when Johnny was a boy. . ..)

Flat (Static) Character • a flat character shows only one trait • a static character does not change (usually these terms are interchangeable—the state of Kansas considers them basically the same)

Foreshadowing • the use of clues to suggest events that have yet to come

Genre • a type of literature

Hyperbole/Overstatement • deliberate or extreme exaggeration the term hyperbole is likely the more-used term when discussing literary devices; however, overstatement is often used in discussing rhetoric; the state of Kansas interchanges the terms

Idiom • a phrase or expression that means something different from what the words actually say Example: using the phrase “over his head” instead of “he doesn’t understand”

Imagery • descriptive or figurative language used in literature to create word pictures for the reader—these are usually created by utilizing the five senses (sight, sound, taste, touch, smell) or movement

Irony • literary techniques that portray differences between appearance and reality or expectation and result • Verbal irony-words used suggesting the opposite of what is meant • Dramatic irony-contradiction between what the character thinks and the audience knows • Irony of situation-an event which directly contradicts the expectations of characters and audience

Metaphor • a figure of speech in which one thing is spoken of as though it were something else

Mood • the feeling created in the reader by a literary work or passage

Onomatopoeia • the use of words that imitate sounds

Paradox • a statement the seems contradictory but that may actually be true

Parallel Episodes • repeated elements in the plot

Personification • figurative language in which a nonhuman subject is given human characteristics

Plot • the sequence of events in a literary work

Point of view • the perspective from which the story is told First-person: the narrator is a character or witness Third-person limited: the narrator tells the story through one character’s eyes/thoughts Third-person omniscient: the narrator is all knowing, expressing thoughts and feelings of any characters

Protagonist • the main character

Resolution • the conclusion of a plot’s conflicts and complications

Rising Action • the events leading up to the climax (usually characterized by complication and conflict)

Round (dynamic) Characters • a round character shows many different traits (faults and virtues) • a dynamic character develops and grows throughout a story (usually these terms are interchangeable—the state of Kansas considers them basically the same)

Satire • humorous writing aimed at exposing flaws (usually through ridicule or scorn)

Setting • the time and place of a literary work

Simile • A figure of speech in which “like” or “as” is used to make a comparison between basically unlike ideas/items

Style • The manner of expression of a particular writer, produced by choice of words, grammatical structures, use of literary devices, and all the possible parts of language use.

Subplots • subordinate or minor events (secondary action) in a novel or drama (often connected to the main plot)

Suspense • a feeling of uncertainty about the outcome of a literary work

Symbol • Anything that stands for or represents something else

Theme • the central message of a literary work

Tone • the writer’s attitude toward his subject or audience

Literary Devices