Literary Devices

Irony Saying one thing while meaning another, often the opposite. The true meaning is left to the reader or listener. 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 has been identified with. Intrusive narrator The narrator interrupts the story to comment, judge, give an opinion, or speak directly to the reader. 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. Personification Giving a thing, an animal, or an abstract idea actions, feelings, or speech proper to a person. Antithesis Placing opposite ideas or words side by side, so that one illuminates the other through contrast. Comparison Bringing two different things together with an explicit word, such as "like", "just as", or "seems". Unlike metaphor, the simile makes clear that they are two things. Hyperbole Deliberate exaggeration, which no one takes literally, to give emphasis to a feeling or a situation. Apostrophe The speaker addresses someone absent or dead, a thing, a place, or an idea, as if they could hear. Paradox Statement that seems to contradict itself or common sense, but which, on reflection, reveals a truth. Satire Criticism of people, customs, or institutions through ridicule, exaggeration, or irony. Repetition Returning to the same word, the same sentence, or the same construction, at the start of verses or successive sentences (anaphora) or throughout the text, to give rhythm, emphasis, or insistence. Parallelism Successive sentences or verses with the same construction, so that the reader compares what changes from one to the next. Oxymoron Joining in a short expression two words of opposite meaning, such as "sweet bitterness". Foreshadowing A sign, a saying, or an image that anticipates, sometimes only for the rereader, something that will happen later in the work. Rhetorical question A question asked without expecting an answer, because the answer is already implicit, or because what matters is the doubt it exposes.