Literary Devices

Metaphor Saying one thing by means of 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 has been identified. Comparison Bringing two different things together with an explicit word, such as "like", "just as" or "seems". Unlike metaphor, comparison makes it visible that these are two things. Antithesis Placing opposing ideas or words side by side, so that one illuminates the other through contrast. Apostrophe The speaker addresses someone absent or dead, a thing, a place or an idea, as if they could hear. Personification Giving a thing, an animal or an abstract idea actions, feelings or speech proper to a person. Allusion A 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. Repetition Returning to the same word, the same phrase or the same construction, at the beginning of successive verses or sentences (anaphora) or throughout the text, to give rhythm, emphasis or insistence. Hyperbole A deliberate exaggeration, which no one takes literally, to give emphasis to a feeling or a situation. 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 only understand it. Metonymy Naming a thing by another that is linked to it: the part for the whole, the object for its owner, the place for its people, the cause for the effect. Irony Saying one thing while meaning another, often the opposite. The true sense is left to whoever reads or hears. Paradox A statement that seems to contradict itself or common sense, but which, once thought through, reveals a truth. Satire Criticism of people, customs or institutions through ridicule, exaggeration or irony. Rhetorical question A question asked without expecting an answer, because the answer is already implied, or because what matters is the doubt it exposes. Euphemism Saying in a soft, indirect or veiled way something harsh, ugly or forbidden to name. Parallelism Successive sentences or verses with the same construction, so that the reader compares what changes from one to the next. Leitmotiv 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.