Literary Devices

Simile Bringing two different things together with an explicit word, such as "like", "just as" or "seems". Unlike the metaphor, the simile makes plain that these are two different things. Antithesis Placing opposing ideas or words side by side, so that one illuminates the other through contrast. Sensory Imagery Description that appeals to the senses (what is seen, heard, smelled, tasted, or touched) and makes the reader perceive the scene, not just understand it. Metaphor Saying one thing through another, without a word of comparison: instead of saying that something is like another thing, one says it is. The image transfers to the subject the qualities of the thing with which it has been identified. Leitmotif A word, phrase, or image that returns several times throughout the work, tied to a character or an idea, and gains meaning with each return. Repetition Returning to the same word, phrase, or construction, at the start of successive verses or sentences (anaphora) or throughout the text, to give rhythm, emphasis, or insistence. Rhetorical Question A question asked without expecting an answer, either because the answer is already implied or because what matters is the doubt it exposes. Foreshadowing A sign, speech, or image that anticipates, sometimes only for those who reread, something that will happen later in the work. Metonymy Naming one thing by another that is connected to it: the part for the whole, the object for its owner, the place for the people, the cause for the effect. Parallelism Sentences or verses in a row with the same construction, so that the reader compares what changes from one to the next. Personification Giving a thing, an animal, or an abstract idea actions, feelings, or speech proper to a person. Apostrophe The speaker addresses someone absent or dead, a thing, a place, or an idea, as if they could hear. Dramatic Irony The reader or audience knows something the character does not, and so the character's words and deeds take on a meaning he himself does not perceive. Story Within a Story A story told, staged, or written within the work itself, which mirrors or comments on the main story.