Literary Devices

Leitmotif A word, phrase, or image that comes back several times throughout the work, tied to a character or an idea, and gains meaning with each return. Intrusive Narrator The narrator interrupts the story to comment, judge, give an opinion, or speak directly to the reader. Metaphor Saying one thing through another, with no word of comparison: instead of saying that something is like another thing, one says that it is. The image transfers to the subject the qualities of the thing it has been identified with. Simile Bringing two different things together with an explicit word, such as "like," "just as," or "seems." Unlike the metaphor, the comparison makes it plain that there are two things. Antithesis Placing opposite ideas or words side by side, so that one lights up the other through contrast. Foreshadowing A sign, a saying, or an image that anticipates, sometimes only for the rereader, something that will happen later in the work. Repetition Returning to the same word, phrase, or construction, at the start of verses or successive sentences (anaphora) or throughout the text, to give rhythm, emphasis, or insistence. Situational Irony What happens is the opposite of what was expected, or of what someone planned, in a way that reveals something about the characters or the world of the work. Rhetorical Question A question asked without expecting an answer, because the answer is already implied, or because what matters is the doubt it exposes. Personification Giving a thing, an animal, or an abstract idea actions, feelings, or speech proper to a person. Hyperbole Deliberate exaggeration, which no one takes literally, to emphasize a feeling or a situation. Paradox A statement that seems to contradict itself or common sense, but that, once thought through, reveals a truth. Allusion A brief reference, without explanation, to a person, a text, a myth, or a fact known outside the work, which brings with it the meaning of that other story. Apostrophe The speaker addresses someone absent or dead, a thing, a place, or an idea, as if they could hear. Euphemism Saying softly, indirectly, or in disguise something harsh, ugly, or forbidden to name. Parallelism Sentences or verses in sequence with the same construction, so that the reader compares what changes from one to the next.