Literary Devices

Repetition Returning to the same word, phrase, or construction, at the start of verses or of successive sentences (anaphora) or throughout the text, to give rhythm, emphasis, or insistence. Irony Saying one thing while wanting another to be understood, often the opposite. The true meaning is left to the reader or listener. 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. Hyperbole Deliberate exaggeration, which no one takes literally, used to emphasize a feeling or situation. Foreshadowing A sign, saying, or image that anticipates, sometimes only to those who reread, something that will happen later in the work. Parallelism Sentences or verses following one another with the same construction, so that the reader compares what changes from one to the next. Leitmotiv Word, phrase, or image that returns several times throughout the work, tied to a character or an idea, and gains meaning with each return. Personification Giving a thing, an animal, or an abstract idea actions, feelings, or speech proper to a person. Dramatic irony The reader or audience knows something the character does not, so the character's words and deeds take on a meaning the character 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 work's world. Story within a story A story told, staged, or written inside the work itself, which mirrors or comments on the main story. Comparison Bringing two different things together with an explicit word, such as "like," "just as," or "seems." Unlike metaphor, the comparison leaves visible that there are two things. Antithesis Placing opposite ideas or words side by side, so that one illuminates the other by contrast. Paradox Statement that seems to contradict itself or common sense, but which, on reflection, reveals a truth. Pun Play on words that sound alike or on the several meanings of one word, to make a joke or to say two things at once. 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. Free indirect discourse The narrator tells the story in the third person, but with the words, tone, and way of thinking of a character, without quotation marks or "he thought": the voice of the narrator and that of the character blend. Intrusive narrator The narrator interrupts the story to comment, judge, give an opinion, or speak directly to the reader. Apostrophe The speaker addresses someone absent or dead, a thing, a place, or an idea, as if they could hear. 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. Euphemism Saying softly, indirectly, or in disguise something harsh, ugly, or unmentionable.