Literary Devices

Repetition Returning to the same word, phrase or construction, at the start of verses or of consecutive sentences (anaphora) or throughout the text, to give rhythm, emphasis or insistence. Antithesis Setting opposing ideas or words side by side, so that one illuminates the other through contrast. 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 it is identified with. Paradox A statement that seems to contradict itself or common sense, but which, on reflection, reveals a truth. Parallelism Consecutive sentences or verses with the same construction, so that the reader compares what changes from one to the next. 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 just understand it. Story within a story A story told, staged or written within the work itself, which mirrors or comments on the main story. 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 metaphor, comparison makes it plain that they are two things. Irony Saying one thing while meaning another, often the opposite. The true sense is left to the reader or listener. 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. 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. Rhetorical question A question asked without expecting an answer, because the answer is already implicit, or because what matters is the doubt it exposes.