Literary Devices

Metaphor Saying one thing through another, without a 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 with which it is identified. Foreshadowing A sign, saying, or image that anticipates, sometimes only for those who reread, something that will happen later in the work. Apostrophe The speaker addresses someone absent or dead, a thing, a place, or an idea, as if they could hear. 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. Dramatic Irony The reader or audience knows something the character does not, and so the character’s words and actions take on a meaning he himself does not perceive. 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. 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. Personification Giving a thing, an animal, or an abstract idea actions, feelings, or speech proper to a person. Soliloquy In the theater, a speech by a character alone on stage, who thinks aloud and shows the audience what he does not say to the others. Paradox A statement that seems to contradict itself or common sense, but which, when thought through, reveals a truth. Simile Bringing two different things close together with an explicit word, such as "like," "just as," or "seems." Unlike the metaphor, the comparison makes plain that they are two things. Hyperbole Deliberate exaggeration, which no one takes literally, to give emphasis to a feeling or a situation. Antithesis Placing opposing ideas or words side by side, so that one lights up the other through contrast. Aside In the theater, a short speech that the character addresses to the audience, or to himself, without the others on stage hearing it. Rhetorical Question A question asked without expecting an answer, because the answer is already implied, or because what matters is the doubt it exposes. Sensory Imagery A 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. Metonymy Naming one thing by another that is linked to it: the part for the whole, the object for its owner, the place for the people, the cause for the effect. Euphemism Saying in a soft, indirect, or veiled way something harsh, ugly, or forbidden to name.