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 it has been identified with. Paradox A statement that seems to contradict itself or common sense, but which, once thought through, reveals a truth. Repetition Returning to the same word, the same phrase, or the same construction, at the start of verses or of consecutive sentences (anaphora) or throughout the text, to give rhythm, emphasis, or insistence. Antithesis Placing opposing ideas or words side by side, so that one lights up the other through contrast. Apostrophe The speaker addresses someone absent or dead, a thing, a place, or an idea, as if they could hear. Comparison 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. Parallelism Consecutive sentences or verses 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 the actions, feelings, or speech of a person. 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. 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. Hyperbole Deliberate exaggeration, which no one takes literally, used to emphasize a feeling or a situation. Irony Saying one thing while intending another to be understood, often the opposite. The true meaning is left to whoever reads or listens. Dramatic irony The reader or the audience knows something the character does not, so the character's words and actions take on a meaning that 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. Allusion Brief reference, without explanation, to a person, a text, a myth, or a fact known outside the work, which carries with it the meaning of that other story. Foreshadowing A sign, a remark, or an image that anticipates something that will happen later in the work, sometimes only to those who reread it. Intrusive narrator The narrator interrupts the story to comment, judge, offer an opinion, or speak directly to the reader.