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Need to analyze The Scarlet Letter or To Kill a Mockingbird for English class, but fumbling for the right vocabulary and concepts for literary devices? You've come to the right place. To successfully interpret and analyze literary texts, you'll first need to have a solid foundation in literary terms and their definitions.

In this article, we'll help you get familiar with most commonly used literary devices in prose and poetry. We'll give you a clear definition of each of the terms we discuss along with examples of literary elements and the context in which they most often appear (comedic writing, drama, or other).

Before we get to the list of literary devices, however, we have a quick refresher on what literary devices are and how understanding them will help you analyze works of literature.

What Are Literary Devices and Why Should You Know Them?

Literary devices are techniques that writers use to create a special and pointed effect in their writing, to convey information, or to help readers understand their writing on a deeper level.

Often, literary devices are used in writing for emphasis or clarity. Authors will also use literary devices to get readers to connect more strongly with either a story as a whole or specific characters or themes.

So why is it important to know different literary devices and terms? Aside from helping you get good grades on your literary analysis homework, there are several benefits to knowing the techniques authors commonly use.

Being able to identify when different literary techniques are being used helps you understand the motivation behind the author's choices. For example, being able to identify symbols in a story can help you figure out why the author might have chosen to insert these focal points and what these might suggest in regard to her attitude toward certain characters, plot points, and events.

In addition, being able to identify literary devices can make a written work's overall meaning or purpose clearer to you. For instance, let's say you're planning to read (or re-read) The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. By knowing that this particular book is a religious allegory with references to Christ (represented by the character Aslan) and Judas (represented by Edmund), it will be clearer to you why Lewis uses certain language to describe certain characters and why certain events happen the way they do.

Finally, literary techniques are important to know because they make texts more interesting and more fun to read. If you were to read a novel without knowing any literary devices, chances are you wouldn't be able to detect many of the layers of meaning interwoven into the story via different techniques.

Now that we've gone over why you should spend some time learning literary devices, let's take a look at some of the most important literary elements to know.

List of Literary Devices: 31 Literary Terms You Should Know

Below is a list of literary devices, most of which you'll often come across in both prose and poetry. We explain what each literary term is and give you an example of how it's used. This literary elements list is arranged in alphabetical order.

An allegory is a story that is used to represent a more general message about real-life (historical) issues and/or events. It is typically an entire book, novel, play, etc.

Example: George Orwell's dystopian book Animal Farm is an allegory for the events preceding the Russian Revolution and the Stalinist era in early 20th century Russia. In the story, animals on a farm practice animalism, which is essentially communism. Many characters correspond to actual historical figures: Old Major represents both the founder of communism Karl Marx and the Russian communist leader Vladimir Lenin; the farmer, Mr. Jones, is the Russian Czar; the boar Napoleon stands for Joseph Stalin; and the pig Snowball represents Leon Trotsky.

Alliteration

Alliteration is a series of words or phrases that all (or almost all) start with the same sound. These sounds are typically consonants to give more stress to that syllable. You'll often come across alliteration in poetry, titles of books and poems ( Jane Austen is a fan of this device, for example—just look at Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility ), and tongue twisters.

Example: "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers." In this tongue twister, the "p" sound is repeated at the beginning of all major words.

Allusion is when an author makes an indirect reference to a figure, place, event, or idea originating from outside the text. Many allusions make reference to previous works of literature or art.

Example: "Stop acting so smart—it's not like you're Einstein or something." This is an allusion to the famous real-life theoretical physicist Albert Einstein.

Anachronism

An anachronism occurs when there is an (intentional) error in the chronology or timeline of a text. This could be a character who appears in a different time period than when he actually lived, or a technology that appears before it was invented. Anachronisms are often used for comedic effect.

Example: A Renaissance king who says, "That's dope, dude!" would be an anachronism, since this type of language is very modern and not actually from the Renaissance period.

Anaphora is when a word or phrase is repeated at the beginning of multiple sentences throughout a piece of writing. It's used to emphasize the repeated phrase and evoke strong feelings in the audience.

Example: A famous example of anaphora is Winston Churchill's "We Shall Fight on the Beaches" speech. Throughout this speech, he repeats the phrase "we shall fight" while listing numerous places where the British army will continue battling during WWII. He did this to rally both troops and the British people and to give them confidence that they would still win the war.

Anthropomorphism

An anthropomorphism occurs when something nonhuman, such as an animal, place, or inanimate object, behaves in a human-like way.

Example: Children's cartoons have many examples of anthropomorphism. For example, Mickey and Minnie Mouse can speak, wear clothes, sing, dance, drive cars, etc. Real mice can't do any of these things, but the two mouse characters behave much more like humans than mice.

Asyndeton is when the writer leaves out conjunctions (such as "and," "or," "but," and "for") in a group of words or phrases so that the meaning of the phrase or sentence is emphasized. It is often used for speeches since sentences containing asyndeton can have a powerful, memorable rhythm.

Example: Abraham Lincoln ends the Gettysburg Address with the phrase "...and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the Earth." By leaving out certain conjunctions, he ends the speech on a more powerful, melodic note.

Colloquialism

Colloquialism is the use of informal language and slang. It's often used by authors to lend a sense of realism to their characters and dialogue. Forms of colloquialism include words, phrases, and contractions that aren't real words (such as "gonna" and "ain't").

Example: "Hey, what's up, man?" This piece of dialogue is an example of a colloquialism, since it uses common everyday words and phrases, namely "what's up" and "man."

An epigraph is when an author inserts a famous quotation, poem, song, or other short passage or text at the beginning of a larger text (e.g., a book, chapter, etc.). An epigraph is typically written by a different writer (with credit given) and used as a way to introduce overarching themes or messages in the work. Some pieces of literature, such as Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick , incorporate multiple epigraphs throughout.

Example: At the beginning of Ernest Hemingway's book The Sun Also Rises is an epigraph that consists of a quotation from poet Gertrude Stein, which reads, "You are all a lost generation," and a passage from the Bible.

Epistrophe is similar to anaphora, but in this case, the repeated word or phrase appears at the end of successive statements. Like anaphora, it is used to evoke an emotional response from the audience.

Example: In Lyndon B. Johnson's speech, "The American Promise," he repeats the word "problem" in a use of epistrophe: "There is no Negro problem. There is no Southern problem. There is no Northern problem. There is only an American problem."

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A euphemism is when a more mild or indirect word or expression is used in place of another word or phrase that is considered harsh, blunt, vulgar, or unpleasant.

Example: "I'm so sorry, but he didn't make it." The phrase "didn't make it" is a more polite and less blunt way of saying that someone has died.

A flashback is an interruption in a narrative that depicts events that have already occurred, either before the present time or before the time at which the narration takes place. This device is often used to give the reader more background information and details about specific characters, events, plot points, and so on.

Example: Most of the novel Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë is a flashback from the point of view of the housekeeper, Nelly Dean, as she engages in a conversation with a visitor named Lockwood. In this story, Nelly narrates Catherine Earnshaw's and Heathcliff's childhoods, the pair's budding romance, and their tragic demise.

Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing is when an author indirectly hints at—through things such as dialogue, description, or characters' actions—what's to come later on in the story. This device is often used to introduce tension to a narrative.

Example: Say you're reading a fictionalized account of Amelia Earhart. Before she embarks on her (what we know to be unfortunate) plane ride, a friend says to her, "Be safe. Wouldn't want you getting lost—or worse." This line would be an example of foreshadowing because it implies that something bad ("or worse") will happen to Earhart.

Hyperbole is an exaggerated statement that's not meant to be taken literally by the reader. It is often used for comedic effect and/or emphasis.

Example: "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse." The speaker will not literally eat an entire horse (and most likely couldn't ), but this hyperbole emphasizes how starved the speaker feels.

Imagery is when an author describes a scene, thing, or idea so that it appeals to our senses (taste, smell, sight, touch, or hearing). This device is often used to help the reader clearly visualize parts of the story by creating a strong mental picture.

Example: Here's an example of imagery taken from William Wordsworth's famous poem "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud":

When all at once I saw a crowd, A host of golden Daffodils; Beside the Lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Irony is when a statement is used to express an opposite meaning than the one literally expressed by it. There are three types of irony in literature:

  • Verbal irony: When someone says something but means the opposite (similar to sarcasm).
  • Situational irony: When something happens that's the opposite of what was expected or intended to happen.
  • Dramatic irony: When the audience is aware of the true intentions or outcomes, while the characters are not . As a result, certain actions and/or events take on different meanings for the audience than they do for the characters involved.
  • Verbal irony: One example of this type of irony can be found in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado." In this short story, a man named Montresor plans to get revenge on another man named Fortunato. As they toast, Montresor says, "And I, Fortunato—I drink to your long life." This statement is ironic because we the readers already know by this point that Montresor plans to kill Fortunato.
  • Situational irony: A girl wakes up late for school and quickly rushes to get there. As soon as she arrives, though, she realizes that it's Saturday and there is no school.
  • Dramatic irony: In William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet , Romeo commits suicide in order to be with Juliet; however, the audience (unlike poor Romeo) knows that Juliet is not actually dead—just asleep.

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Juxtaposition

Juxtaposition is the comparing and contrasting of two or more different (usually opposite) ideas, characters, objects, etc. This literary device is often used to help create a clearer picture of the characteristics of one object or idea by comparing it with those of another.

Example: One of the most famous literary examples of juxtaposition is the opening passage from Charles Dickens' novel A Tale of Two Cities :

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair …"

Malapropism

Malapropism happens when an incorrect word is used in place of a word that has a similar sound. This misuse of the word typically results in a statement that is both nonsensical and humorous; as a result, this device is commonly used in comedic writing.

Example: "I just can't wait to dance the flamingo!" Here, a character has accidentally called the flamenco (a type of dance) the flamingo (an animal).

Metaphor/Simile

Metaphors are when ideas, actions, or objects are described in non-literal terms. In short, it's when an author compares one thing to another. The two things being described usually share something in common but are unalike in all other respects.

A simile is a type of metaphor in which an object, idea, character, action, etc., is compared to another thing using the words "as" or "like."

Both metaphors and similes are often used in writing for clarity or emphasis.

"What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun." In this line from Romeo and Juliet , Romeo compares Juliet to the sun. However, because Romeo doesn't use the words "as" or "like," it is not a simile—just a metaphor.

"She is as vicious as a lion." Since this statement uses the word "as" to make a comparison between "she" and "a lion," it is a simile.

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A metonym is when a related word or phrase is substituted for the actual thing to which it's referring. This device is usually used for poetic or rhetorical effect .

Example: "The pen is mightier than the sword." This statement, which was coined by Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1839, contains two examples of metonymy: "the pen" refers to "the written word," and "the sword" refers to "military force/violence."

Mood is the general feeling the writer wants the audience to have. The writer can achieve this through description, setting, dialogue, and word choice .

Example: Here's a passage from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit: "It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube-shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with panelled walls, and floors tiled and carpeted, provided with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats -- the hobbit was fond of visitors." In this passage, Tolkien uses detailed description to set create a cozy, comforting mood. From the writing, you can see that the hobbit's home is well-cared for and designed to provide comfort.

Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia is a word (or group of words) that represents a sound and actually resembles or imitates the sound it stands for. It is often used for dramatic, realistic, or poetic effect.

Examples: Buzz, boom, chirp, creak, sizzle, zoom, etc.

An oxymoron is a combination of two words that, together, express a contradictory meaning. This device is often used for emphasis, for humor, to create tension, or to illustrate a paradox (see next entry for more information on paradoxes).

Examples: Deafening silence, organized chaos, cruelly kind, insanely logical, etc.

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A paradox is a statement that appears illogical or self-contradictory but, upon investigation, might actually be true or plausible.

Note that a paradox is different from an oxymoron: a paradox is an entire phrase or sentence, whereas an oxymoron is a combination of just two words.

Example: Here's a famous paradoxical sentence: "This statement is false." If the statement is true, then it isn't actually false (as it suggests). But if it's false, then the statement is true! Thus, this statement is a paradox because it is both true and false at the same time.

Personification

Personification is when a nonhuman figure or other abstract concept or element is described as having human-like qualities or characteristics. (Unlike anthropomorphism where non-human figures become human-like characters, with personification, the object/figure is simply described as being human-like.) Personification is used to help the reader create a clearer mental picture of the scene or object being described.

Example: "The wind moaned, beckoning me to come outside." In this example, the wind—a nonhuman element—is being described as if it is human (it "moans" and "beckons").

Repetition is when a word or phrase is written multiple times, usually for the purpose of emphasis. It is often used in poetry (for purposes of rhythm as well).

Example: When Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote the score for the hit musical Hamilton, gave his speech at the 2016 Tony's, he recited a poem he'd written that included the following line:

And love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love cannot be killed or swept aside.

Satire is genre of writing that criticizes something , such as a person, behavior, belief, government, or society. Satire often employs irony, humor, and hyperbole to make its point.

Example: The Onion is a satirical newspaper and digital media company. It uses satire to parody common news features such as opinion columns, editorial cartoons, and click bait headlines.

A type of monologue that's often used in dramas, a soliloquy is when a character speaks aloud to himself (and to the audience), thereby revealing his inner thoughts and feelings.

Example: In Romeo and Juliet , Juliet's speech on the balcony that begins with, "O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?" is a soliloquy, as she is speaking aloud to herself (remember that she doesn't realize Romeo's there listening!).

Symbolism refers to the use of an object, figure, event, situation, or other idea in a written work to represent something else— typically a broader message or deeper meaning that differs from its literal meaning.

The things used for symbolism are called "symbols," and they'll often appear multiple times throughout a text, sometimes changing in meaning as the plot progresses.

Example: In F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel The Great Gatsby , the green light that sits across from Gatsby's mansion symbolizes Gatsby's hopes and dreams .

A synecdoche is a literary device in which part of something is used to represent the whole, or vice versa. It's similar to a metonym (see above); however, a metonym doesn't have to represent the whole—just something associated with the word used.

Example: "Help me out, I need some hands!" In this case, "hands" is being used to refer to people (the whole human, essentially).

While mood is what the audience is supposed to feel, tone is the writer or narrator's attitude towards a subject . A good writer will always want the audience to feel the mood they're trying to evoke, but the audience may not always agree with the narrator's tone, especially if the narrator is an unsympathetic character or has viewpoints that differ from those of the reader.

Example: In an essay disdaining Americans and some of the sites they visit as tourists, Rudyard Kipling begins with the line, "Today I am in the Yellowstone Park, and I wish I were dead." If you enjoy Yellowstone and/or national parks, you may not agree with the author's tone in this piece.

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How to Identify and Analyze Literary Devices: 4 Tips

In order to fully interpret pieces of literature, you have to understand a lot about literary devices in the texts you read. Here are our top tips for identifying and analyzing different literary techniques:

Tip 1: Read Closely and Carefully

First off, you'll need to make sure that you're reading very carefully. Resist the temptation to skim or skip any sections of the text. If you do this, you might miss some literary devices being used and, as a result, will be unable to accurately interpret the text.

If there are any passages in the work that make you feel especially emotional, curious, intrigued, or just plain interested, check that area again for any literary devices at play.

It's also a good idea to reread any parts you thought were confusing or that you didn't totally understand on a first read-through. Doing this ensures that you have a solid grasp of the passage (and text as a whole) and will be able to analyze it appropriately.

Tip 2: Memorize Common Literary Terms

You won't be able to identify literary elements in texts if you don't know what they are or how they're used, so spend some time memorizing the literary elements list above. Knowing these (and how they look in writing) will allow you to more easily pinpoint these techniques in various types of written works.

Tip 3: Know the Author's Intended Audience

Knowing what kind of audience an author intended her work to have can help you figure out what types of literary devices might be at play.

For example, if you were trying to analyze a children's book, you'd want to be on the lookout for child-appropriate devices, such as repetition and alliteration.

Tip 4: Take Notes and Bookmark Key Passages and Pages

This is one of the most important tips to know, especially if you're reading and analyzing works for English class. As you read, take notes on the work in a notebook or on a computer. Write down any passages, paragraphs, conversations, descriptions, etc., that jump out at you or that contain a literary device you were able to identify.

You can also take notes directly in the book, if possible (but don't do this if you're borrowing a book from the library!). I recommend circling keywords and important phrases, as well as starring interesting or particularly effective passages and paragraphs.

Lastly, use sticky notes or post-its to bookmark pages that are interesting to you or that have some kind of notable literary device. This will help you go back to them later should you need to revisit some of what you've found for a paper you plan to write.

What's Next?

Looking for more in-depth explorations and examples of literary devices? Join us as we delve into imagery , personification , rhetorical devices , tone words and mood , and different points of view in literature, as well as some more poetry-specific terms like assonance and iambic pentameter .

Reading The Great Gatsby for class or even just for fun? Then you'll definitely want to check out our expert guides on the biggest themes in this classic book, from love and relationships to money and materialism .

Got questions about Arthur Miller's The Crucible ? Read our in-depth articles to learn about the most important themes in this play and get a complete rundown of all the characters .

For more information on your favorite works of literature, take a look at our collection of high-quality book guides and our guide to the 9 literary elements that appear in every story !

Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points? We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

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Hannah received her MA in Japanese Studies from the University of Michigan and holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Southern California. From 2013 to 2015, she taught English in Japan via the JET Program. She is passionate about education, writing, and travel.

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60 Literary Devices and Techniques Every Writer Must Know

A literary device is a writing technique that writers use to express ideas, convey meaning, and highlight important themes in a piece of text. A metaphor, for instance, is a famous example of a literary device.

These devices serve a wide range of purposes in literature. Some might work on an intellectual level, while others have a more emotional effect. They may also work subtly to improve the flow and pacing of your writing. No matter what, if you're looking to inject something special into your prose, literary devices are a great place to start.

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Sentence-level devices

1. alliteration.

Alliteration describes a series of words in quick succession that all start with the same letter or sound. It lends a pleasing cadence to prose and Hamlet and the dollar as currency in Macbeth .

Example: “ One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally,

And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.” — “Death, Be Not Proud” by John Donne

Exercise: Pick a letter and write a sentence where every word starts with that letter or one that sounds similar. 

2. Anaphora

Anaphora is the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of a series of clauses or sentences. It’s often seen in poetry and speeches, intended to provoke an emotional response in its audience.

Example: Martin Luther King’s 1963 “I Have A Dream” speech.

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed.

"… and I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood.

"… I have a dream that little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”

Exercise: Pick a famous phrase and write a paragraph elaborating on an idea, beginning each sentence with that phrase. 

Similar term: repetition

3. Anastrophe

Anastrophe is a figure of speech wherein the traditional sentence structure is reversed. So a typical verb-subject-adjective sentence such as “Are you ready?” becomes a Yoda-esque adjective-verb-subject question: “Ready, are you?” Or a standard adjective-noun pairing like “tall mountain” becomes “mountain tall.”

Example: “Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing.” — “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe

Exercise: Write a standard verb-subject-adjective sentence or adjective-noun pairing then flip the order to create an anastrophe. How does it change the meaning or feeling of the sentence?

4. Chiasmus

Chiasmus is when two or more parallel clauses are inverted. “Why would I do that?” you may be wondering. Well, a chiasmus might sound confusing and unnecessary in theory, but it's much more convincing in practice — and in fact, you've likely already come across it before.

Example: “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” — John F. Kennedy

5. Congeries

Congeries is a fancy literary term for creating a list. The items in your list can be words, ideas, or phrases, and by displaying them this way helps prove or emphasize a point — or even create a sense of irony. Occasionally, it’s also called piling as the words are “piling up.”

Example: "Apart from better sanitation and medicine and education and irrigation and public health and roads and a freshwater system and baths and public order, what have the Romans done for us?" — Monty Python’s Life of Brian

6. Cumulative sentence

A cumulative sentence (or “loose sentence”) is one that starts with an independent clause, but then has additional or modifying clauses. They’re often used for contextual or clarifying details. This may sound complex, but even, “I ran to the store to buy milk, bread, and toilet paper” is a cumulative sentence, because the first clause, “I ran to the store,” is a complete sentence, while the rest tells us extra information about your run to the store.

Example: “It was a large bottle of gin Albert Cousins had brought to the party, yes, but it was in no way large enough to fill all the cups, and in certain cases to fill them many times over, for the more than one hundred guests, some of whom were dancing not four feet in front of him.” – Commonwealth by Ann Patchett

Example: Write three sentences that are related to each other. Can you combine the information into a cumulative sentence? 

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7. Epistrophe

Epistrophe is the opposite of anaphora, with this time a word or phrase being repeated at the end of a sentence. Though its placement in a sentence is different it serves the same purpose—creating emphasis—as an anaphora does. 

Example: “I’ll be ever’where – wherever you look. Wherever they’s a fight so hungry people can eat, I’ll be there. Wherever they’s a cop beatin’ up a guy, I’ll be there . If Casy knowed, why, I’ll be in the way guys yell when they’re mad an’ – I’ll be in the way kids laugh when they’re hungry an’ they know supper’s ready. An’ when our folks eat the stuff they raise an’ live in the houses they build, why, I’ll be there .” — The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Similar terms: repetition, anaphora

Exercise: Write a paragraph where a phrase or a word is repeated at the end of every sentence, emphasizing the point you’re trying to make. 

8. Erotesis

Erotesis is a close cousin of the rhetorical question. Rather than a question asked without expectation of an answer, this is when the question (and the asker) confidently expects a response that is either negative or affirmative. 

Example: “ Do you then really think that you have committed your follies in order to spare your son them?” — Siddhartha by Herman Hesse

Similar term: rhetorical question

9. Hyperbaton

Hyperbaton is the inversion of words, phrases, or clauses in a sentence that differs from how they would normally be arranged. It comes from the Greek hyperbatos, which means “transposed” or “inverted.” While it is similar to anastrophe, it doesn’t have the same specific structure and allows you to rearrange your sentences in whatever order you want. 

Example: “Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire.” — “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe

Similar terms: anastrophe, epistrophe

10. Isocolon

If you’re a neat freak who likes things just so , isocolon is the literary device for you. This is when two or more phrases or clauses have similar structure, rhythm, and even length — such that, when stacked up on top of each other, they would line up perfectly. Isocolon often crops up in brand slogans and famous sayings; the quick, balanced rhythm makes the phrase catchier and more memorable.

Example: Veni, vidi, vici (“I came, I saw, I conquered”)

11. Litotes

Litotes (pronounced lie-toe-teez ) is the signature literary device of the double negative. Writers use litotes to express certain sentiments through their opposites, by saying that that opposite is not the case. Don’t worry, it makes more sense with the examples. 😉

Examples: “You won’t be sorry” (meaning you’ll be happy); “you’re not wrong” (meaning you’re right); “I didn’t not like it” (meaning I did)

12. Malapropism

If Shakespeare is the king of metaphors, Michael Scott is the king of malapropisms . A malapropism is when similar-sounding words replace their appropriate counterparts, typically to comic effect — one of the most commonly cited is “dance a flamingo,” rather than a “flamenco.” Malapropisms are often employed in dialogue when a character flubs up their speech.

Example: “I am not to be truffled with.”

Exercise: Choose a famous or common phrase and see if you can replace a word with a similar sounding one that changes the meaning. 

literary devices

13. Onomatopoeia

Amusingly, onomatopoeia (itself a difficult-to-pronounce word) refers to words that sound like the thing they’re referring to. Well-known instances of onomatopoeia include whiz, buzz, snap, grunt, etc.

Example: The excellent children's book Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type . “Farmer Brown has a problem. His cows like to type. All day long he hears: Click, clack, moo. Click, clack, moo. Clickety, clack, moo. ”

Exercise: Take some time to listen to the sounds around you and write down what you hear. Now try to use those sounds in a short paragraph or story. 

14. Oxymoron 

An oxymoron comes from two contradictory words that describe one thing. While juxtaposition contrasts two story elements, oxymorons are about the actual words you are using.

Example: "Parting is such sweet sorrow.” — Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. (Find 100 more examples of oxymorons here .)

Similar terms: juxtaposition, paradox

Exercise: Choose two words with opposite meanings and see if you can use them in a sentence to create a coherent oxymoron. 

literary devices purpose

15. Parallelism

Parallelism is all about your sentence structure. It’s when similar ideas, sounds, phrases, or words are arranged in a way that is harmonious or creates a parallel, hence the name. It can add rhythm and meter to any piece of writing and can often be found in poetry. 

Example: “ That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” — Neil Armstrong

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16. Polysyndeton

Instead of using a single conjunction in lengthy statements, polysyndeton uses several in succession for a dramatic effect. This one is definitely for authors looking to add a bit of artistic flair to their writing, or who are hoping to portray a particular (usually naïve) sort of voice.

Example: “Luster came away from the flower tree and we went along the fence and they stopped and we stopped and I looked through the fence while Luster was hunting in the grass.” — The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

Exercise: Write three or four independent sentences. Try combining them using conjunctions. What kind of effect does this have on the overall meaning and tone of the piece?

17. Portmanteau

A portmanteau is when two words are combined to form a new word which refers to a single concept that retains the meanings of both the original words. Modern language is full of portmanteaus. In fact, the portmanteau is itself a portmanteau. It’s a combination of the French porter (to carry) and manteau (cloak). 

Example: Brunch (breakfast and lunch); cosplay (costume and roleplay); listicle (list and article); romcom (romance and comedy)

Exercise: Pick two words that are often used together to describe a single concept. See if there’s a way to combine them and create a single word that encompasses the meaning of both.

18. Repetition

Repetition , repetition, repetition… where would we be without it? Though too much repetition is rarely a good thing, occasional repetition can be used quite effectively to drill home a point, or to create a certain atmosphere. For example, horror writers often use repetition to make the reader feel trapped and scared.

Example: In The Shining , Jack Torrance types over and over again on his pages,  “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” In this case, obsessive repetition demonstrates the character’s unraveling mind.

Similar term: anaphora

Exercise: Repetition can be used to call attention to an idea or phrase. Pick an idea you want to emphasize and write a few sentences about it. Are there any places where you can add repetition to make it more impactful? 

literary devices

19. Tautology

A tautology is when a sentence or short paragraph repeats a word or phrase, expressing the same idea twice. Often, this is a sign that you should trim your work to remove the redundancy (such as “frozen ice”) but can also be used for poetic emphasis.

Example: "But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping, And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door" – “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe

20. Tmesis 

Tmesis is when a word or phrase is broken up by an interjecting word, such as abso-freaking-lutely. It’s used to draw out and emphasize the idea, often with a humorous or sarcastic slant.

Example: "This is not Romeo, he's some-other-where." – Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

Narrative devices

21. allegory.

An allegory is a type of narrative that uses characters and plot to depict abstract ideas and themes . In an allegorical story, things represent more than they appear to on the surface. Many children's fables, such as The Tortoise and the Hare , are simple allegories about morality — but allegories can also be dark, complex, and controversial. 

Example: Animal Farm by George Orwell. This dystopian novella is one of modern literature’s best-known allegories. A commentary on the events leading up to Stalin's rise and the formation of the Soviet Union, the pigs at the heart of the novel represent figures such as Stalin, Trotsky, and Molotov.

Exercise: Pick a major trend or problem in the world and consider what defines it. Try and create a story where that trend plays out on a smaller scale. 

22. Anecdote

An anecdote is like a short story within a story. Sometimes, they are incredibly short—only a line or two—and their purpose is to add a character’s perspective, knowledge, or experience to a situation. They can be inspirational, humorous, or be used to inspire actions in others. Since anecdotes are so short, don’t expect them to be part of a main story. They’re usually told by a character and part of the dialogue. 

Example: Marcel Proust’s Swann’s Way , part of his series of novels, In Search of Lost Time, deals with the themes of remembrance and memory. In one section of this book, to illustrate these ideas, the main character recalls an important memory of eating a madeleine cookie. “Many years had elapsed during which nothing of Combray, save what was comprised in the theatre and the drama of my going to bed there, had any existence for me, when one day in winter, as I came home, my mother, seeing that I was cold, offered me some tea, a thing I did not ordinarily take. I declined at first, and then, for no particular reason, changed my mind. She sent out for one of those short, plump little cakes called ‘petites madeleines,’ which look as though they had been moulded in the fluted scallop of a pilgrim’s shell.”

23. Deus Ex Machina

Literally meaning “god in the machine” in Greek, deus ex machina is a plot device where an impossible situation is solved by the appearance of an unexpected or unheard of character, action, object, or event. This brings about a quick and usually happy resolution for a story and can be used to surprise an audience, provide comic relief, or provide a fix for a complicated plot. However, deus ex machinas aren’t always looked upon favorably and can sometimes be seen as lazy writing, so they should be used sparingly and with great thought. 

Example: William Golding’s famous novel of a group of British boys marooned on a desert island is resolved with a deus ex machina. At the climax of The Lord of the Flies, just as Ralph is about to be killed by Jack, a naval officer arrives to rescue the boys and bring them back to civilization. It’s an altogether unexpected and bloodless ending for a story about the boys’ descent into savagery. 

Exercise: Consider the ending of your favorite book or movie and then write an alternate ending that uses a deus ex machina to resolve the main conflict. How does this affect the overall story in terms of theme and tone?

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24. Dramatic irony

Dramatic irony is when the readers know more about the situation going on than at least one of the characters involved. This creates a difference between the ways the audience and the characters perceive unfolding events. For instance, if we know that one character is having an affair, when that character speaks to their spouse, we will pick up on the lies and double-meanings of their words, while the spouse may take them at face value.

Example: In Titanic , the audience knows from the beginning of the movie that the boat will sink. This creates wry humor when characters remark on the safety of the ship.

25. Exposition

Exposition is when the narrative provides background information in order to help the reader understand what’s going on. When used in conjunction with description and dialogue, this literary device provides a richer understanding of the characters, setting, and events. Be careful, though — too much exposition will quickly become boring, thus undercutting the emotional impact of your work.

Example: “The Dursley’s had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it.” – Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

Exercise: Pick your favorite story and write a short paragraph introducing it to someone who knows nothing about it. 

26. Flashback

Flashbacks to previous events split up present-day scenes in a story, usually to build suspense toward a big reveal. Flashbacks are also an interesting way to present exposition for your story, gradually revealing to the reader what happened in the past.

Example: Every other chapter in the first part of Gone Girl is a flashback, with Amy’s old diary entries describing her relationship with her husband before she disappeared.

Similar term: foreshadowing

27. Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing is when the author hints at events yet to come in a story. Similar to flashbacks (and often used in conjunction with them), this technique is also used to create tension or suspense — giving readers just enough breadcrumbs to keep them hungry for more.

Example: One popular method of foreshadowing is through partial reveals — the narrator leaves out key facts to prompt readers’ curiosity. Jeffrey Eugenides does this in The Virgin Suicides : “On the morning the last Lisbon daughter took her turn at suicide — it was Mary this time, and sleeping pills, like Therese, the two paramedics arrived at the house knowing exactly where the knife drawer was, and the gas oven, and the beam in the basement from which it was possible to tie a rope.”

Similar term: flashback

Exercise: Go back to your favorite book or movie. Can you identify any instances of foreshadowing in the early portions of the story for events that happen in the future? 

28. Frame story

A frame story is any part of the story that "frames" another part of it, such as one character telling another about their past, or someone uncovering a diary or a series of news articles that then tell the readers what happened. Since the frame story supports the rest of the plot, it is mainly used at the beginning and the end of the narrative, or in small interludes between chapters or short stories.

Example: In The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, Kvothe is telling Chronicler the story of his life over the span of three days. Most of the novel is the story he is telling, while the frame is any part that takes place in the inn.

29. In Medias Res

In medias res is a Latin term that means "in the midst of things" and is a way of starting a narrative without exposition or contextual information. It launches straight into a scene or action that is already unfolding. 

Example: “Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.” — The opening line of One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

Exercise: Pick a story you enjoy and rewrite the opening scene so that it starts in the middle of the story. 

30. Point of view

Point of view is, of course, the mode of narration in a story. There are many POVs an author can choose, and each one will have a different impact on the reading experience.

Example: Second person POV is uncommon because it directly addresses the reader — not an easy narrative style to pull off. One popular novel that manages to employ this perspective successfully is Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney: “You are not the kind of guy who would be at a place like this at this time of the morning. But here you are, and you cannot say that the terrain is entirely unfamiliar, although the details are fuzzy.”

Exercise: Write a short passage in either first, second, or third person. Then rewrite that passage in the other two points of view, only changing the pronouns. How does the change in POV affect the tone and feel of the story? 

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31. Soliloquy 

Soliloquy involves a character speaking their thoughts aloud, usually at length (and often in a Shakespeare play). The character in question may be alone or in the company of others, but they’re not speaking for the benefit of other people; the purpose of a soliloquy is for a character to reflect independently.

Example: Hamlet’s “to be or not to be” speech, in which he ruminates on the nature of life and death, is a classic dramatic soliloquy.

Exercise: Pick a character from your favorite book or movie and write a soliloquy from their point of view where they consider their thoughts and feelings on an important part of their story or character arc. 

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Tone refers to the overall mood and message of your book. It’s established through a variety of means, including voice, characterization, symbolism, and themes. Tone sets the feelings you want your readers to take away from the story.

Example: No matter how serious things get in The Good Place , there is always a chance for a character to redeem themselves by improving their behavior. The tone remains hopeful for the future of humanity in the face of overwhelming odds.

Exercise: Write a short paragraph in an upbeat tone. Now using the same situation you came up with, rewrite that passage in a darker or sadder tone. 

33. Tragicomedy

Tragicomedy is just what it sounds like: a blend of tragedy and comedy. Tragicomedy helps an audience process darker themes by allowing them to laugh at the situation even when circumstances are bleak.

Example: Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events uses wordplay, absurd situations, and over-the-top characters to provide humor in an otherwise tragic story.

Conceptual devices

34. allusion.

An allusion is a reference to a person, place, thing, concept, or other literary work that a reader is likely to recognize. A lot of meaning can be packed into an allusion and it’s often used to add depth to a story. Many works of classic Western literature will use allusions to the Bible to expand on or criticize the morals of their time. 

Example: “The two knitting women increase his anxiety by gazing at him and all the other sailors with knowing unconcern. Their eerie looks suggest that they know what will happen (the men dying), yet don’t care.” The two women knitting in this passage from Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness are a reference to the Fates from Greek mythology, who decide the fate of humanity by spinning and cutting the threads of life.

Exercise: In a relatively simple piece of writing, see how many times you can use allusions. Go completely crazy. Once you’re finished, try to cut it down to a more reasonable amount and watch for how it creates deeper meaning in your piece. 

35. Analogy

An analogy connects two seemingly unrelated concepts to show their similarities and expand on a thought or idea. They are similar to metaphors and similes, but usually take the comparison much further than either of these literary devices as they are used to support a claim rather than provide imagery. 

Example: “ It has been well said that an author who expects results from a first novel is in a position similar to that of a man who drops a rose petal down the Grand Canyon of Arizona and listens for the echo.” — P.G. Wodehouse

Exercise: Pick two seemingly unrelated nouns and try to connect them with a verb to create an analogy. 

36. Anthropomorphism

To anthropomorphize is to apply human traits or qualities to a non-human thing such as objects, animals, or the weather. But unlike personification, in which this is done through figurative description, anthropomorphism is literal: a sun with a smiling face, for example, or talking dogs in a cartoon.

Examples: In Disney’s Beauty and the Beast , Mrs. Potts the teapot, Cogsworth the clock, and Lumière the candlestick are all household objects that act and behave like humans (which, of course, they were when they weren’t under a spell).

Similar term: personification

Exercise: Pick a non-human object and describe it as if it was human, literally ascribing human thoughts, feelings, and senses to it. 

literary devices purpose

37. Aphorism

An aphorism is a universally accepted truth stated in a concise, to-the-point way. Aphorisms are typically witty and memorable, often becoming adages or proverbs as people repeat them over and over.

Example: “To err is human, to forgive divine.” — Alexander Pope

38. Archetype

An archetype is a “universal symbol” that brings familiarity and context to a story. It can be a character, a setting, a theme, or an action. Archetypes represent feelings and situations that are shared across cultures and time periods, and are therefore instantly recognizable to any audience — for instance, the innocent child character, or the theme of the inevitability of death.

Example: Superman is a heroic archetype: noble, self-sacrificing, and drawn to righting injustice whenever he sees it.

Exercise: Pick an archetype — either a character or a theme — and use it to write a short piece centered around that idea. 

A cliché is a saying or idea that is used so often it becomes seen as unoriginal. These phrases might become so universal that, despite their once intriguing nature, they're now looked down upon as uninteresting and overused. 

Examples: Some common cliches you might have encountered are phrases like “easy as pie” and “light as a feather.” Some lines from famous books and movies have become so popular that they are now in and of themselves cliches such as Darth Vader’s stunning revelation from The Empire Strikes Back, “Luke, I am your father.” Also, many classic lines of Shakespeare are now considered cliches like, “All that glitters is not gold” from The Merchant of Venice. 

Exercise: Write a short passage using as many cliches as possible. Now try to cut them out and replace them with more original phrasing. See how the two passages compare. 

40. Colloquialism

Colloquialism is the use of casual and informal language in writing, which can also include slang. Writers use colloquialisms to provide context to settings and characters, and to make their writing sound more authentic. Imagine reading a YA novel that takes place in modern America, and the characters speak to each other like this:

“Good morning, Sue. I hope that you slept well and are prepared for this morning’s science exam.”

It’s not realistic. Colloquialisms help create believable dialogue :

“Hey Sue, what’d you get up to last night? This science test is gonna suck.”

Example: Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh takes place in Scotland, a fact made undeniably obvious by the dialect: “Thing is, as ye git aulder, this character-deficiency gig becomes mair sapping. Thir wis a time ah used tae say tae aw the teachers, bosses, dole punters, poll-tax guys, magistrates, when they telt me ah was deficient: ’Hi, cool it, gadge, ah’m jist me, jist intae a different sort ay gig fae youse but, ken?’”

Exercise: Write a dialogue between two characters as formally as possible. Now take that conversation and make it more colloquial. Imagine that you’re having this conversation with a friend. Mimic your own speech patterns as you write. 

41. Euphemism

A euphemism is an indirect, “polite” way of describing something too inappropriate or awkward to address directly. However, most people will still understand the truth about what's happening.

Example: When an elderly person is forced to retire, some might say they’re being “put out to pasture.”

Exercise: Write a paragraph where you say things very directly. Now rewrite that paragraph using only euphemisms. 

42. Hyperbole

Hyperbole is an exaggerated statement that emphasizes the significance of the statement’s actual meaning. When a friend says, "Oh my god, I haven't seen you in a million years," that's hyperbole.

Example: “At that time Bogotá was a remote, lugubrious city where an insomniac rain had been falling since the beginning of the 16th century.” — Living to Tell the Tale by Gabriel García Márquez

Exercise: Tall tales often make use of hyperbole to tell an exaggerated story. Use hyperbole to relate a completely mundane event or experience to turn it into a tall tale. 

43. Hypophora

Hypophora is much like a rhetorical question, wherein someone asks a question that doesn't require an answer. However, in hypophora, the person raises a question and answers it immediately themselves (hence the prefix hypo, meaning 'under' or 'before'). It’s often used when characters are reasoning something aloud.

Example: “Do you always watch for the longest day of the year and then miss it? I always watch for the longest day in the year and then miss it.” — Daisy in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

literary devices

An idiom is a saying that uses figurative language whose meaning differs from what it literally says. These phrases originate from common cultural experiences, even if that experience has long ago been forgotten. Without cultural context, idioms don’t often make sense and can be the toughest part for non-native speakers to understand. 

Example: In everyday use, idioms are fairly common. We say things like, “It’s raining cats and dogs” to say that it’s downpouring. 

Exercise: Idioms are often used in dialogue. Write a conversation between two people where idioms are used to express their main points. 

45. Imagery

Imagery appeals to readers’ senses through highly descriptive language. It’s crucial for any writer hoping to follow the rule of "show, don’t tell," as strong imagery truly paints a picture of the scene at hand.

Example: “In the hard-packed dirt of the midway, after the glaring lights are out and the people have gone to bed, you will find a veritable treasure of popcorn fragments, frozen custard dribblings, candied apples abandoned by tired children, sugar fluff crystals, salted almonds, popsicles, partially gnawed ice cream cones and wooden sticks of lollipops.” — Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

Exercise: Choose an object, image, or idea and use the five senses to describe it. 

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Irony creates a contrast between how things seem and how they really are. There are three types of literary irony : dramatic (when readers know what will happen before characters do), situational (when readers expect a certain outcome, only to be surprised by a turn of events), and verbal (when the intended meaning of a statement is the opposite of what was said).

Example: This opening scene from Orson Welles’ A Touch of Evil is a great example of how dramatic irony can create tension.

47. Juxtaposition

Juxtaposition places two or more dissimilar characters, themes, concepts, etc. side by side, and the profound contrast highlights their differences. Why is juxtaposition such an effective literary device? Well, because sometimes the best way for us to understand something is by understanding what it’s not .

Example: In the opening lines of A Tale of Two Cities , Charles Dickens uses juxtaposition to emphasize the societal disparity that led to the French Revolution: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness…”

Similar terms: oxymoron, paradox

Exercise: Pick two ideas, objects, places, or people that seem like complete opposites. Introduce them side by side in the beginning of your piece and highlight their similarities and differences throughout. 

48. Metaphor

A metaphor compares two similar things by saying that one of them is the other. As you'd likely expect, when it comes to literary devices, this one is a heavy hitter. And if a standard metaphor doesn't do the trick, a writer can always try an extended metaphor : a metaphor that expands on the initial comparison through more elaborate parallels.

Example: Metaphors are literature’s bread and butter (metaphor intended) — good luck finding a novel that is free of them. Here’s one from Frances Hardinge’s A Face Like Glass : “Wishes are thorns, he told himself sharply. They do us no good, just stick into our skin and hurt us.”

Similar term: simile

Exercise: Write two lists: one with tangible objects and the other concepts. Mixing and matching, try to create metaphors where you describe the concepts using physical objects.

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49. Metonymy

Metonymy is like symbolism, but even more so. A metonym doesn’t just symbolize something else, it comes to serve as a synonym for that thing or things — typically, a single object embodies an entire institution.

Examples: “The crown” representing the monarchy, “Washington” representing the U.S. government.

Similar term: synecdoche

Exercise: Create a list of ten common metonymies you might encounter in everyday life and speech.

Whatever form a motif takes, it recurs throughout the novel and helps develop the theme of the narrative. This might be a symbol, concept, or image.

Example: In Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, trains are an omnipresent motif that symbolize transition, derailment, and ultimately violent death and destruction.

Similar term: symbol

Exercise: Pick a famous book or movie and see if you can identify any common motifs within it. 

51. Non sequitur

Non sequiturs are statements that don't logically follow what precedes them. They’ll often be quite absurd and can lend humor to a story. But they’re just not good for making jokes. They can highlight missing information or a miscommunication between characters and even be used for dramatic effect. 

Example: “It was a spring day, the sort that gives people hope: all soft winds and delicate smells of warm earth. Suicide weather.” — Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen 

Exercise: Write a conversation that gets entirely derailed by seemingly unrelated non sequiturs. 

52. Paradox

Paradox derives from the Greek word paradoxon , which means “beyond belief.” It’s a statement that asks people to think outside the box by providing seemingly illogical — and yet actually true — premises.

Example: In George Orwell’s 1984 , the slogan of the totalitarian government is built on paradoxes: “War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength.” While we might read these statements as obviously contradictory, in the context of Orwell’s novel, these blatantly corrupt sentiments have become an accepted truth.

Similar terms: oxymoron, juxtaposition

Exercise: Try writing your own paradox. First, think of two opposing ideas that can be juxtaposed against each other. Then, create a situation where these contradictions coexist with each other. What can you gather from this unique perspective?

53. Personification

Personification uses human traits to describe non-human things. Again, while the aforementioned anthropomorphism actually applies these traits to non-human things, personification means the behavior of the thing does not actually change. It's personhood in figurative language only.

Example: “Just before it was dark, as they passed a great island of Sargasso weed that heaved and swung in the light sea as though the ocean were making love with something under a yellow blanket, his small line was taken by a dolphin.” — The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

Similar term: anthropomorphism

Exercise: Pick a non-human object and describe it using human traits, this time using similes and metaphors rather than directly ascribing human traits to it. 

54. Rhetorical question

A rhetorical question is asked to create an effect rather than to solicit an answer from the listener or reader. Often it has an obvious answer and the point of asking is to create emphasis. It’s a great way to get an audience to consider the topic at hand and make a statement. 

Example: “If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?” — The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare

Writers use satire to make fun of some aspect of human nature or society — usually through exaggeration, ridicule, or irony. There are countless ways to satirize something; most of the time, you know it when you read it.

Example: The famous adventure novel Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift is a classic example of satire, poking fun at “travelers' tales,” the government, and indeed human nature itself.

A simile draws resemblance between two things by saying “Thing A is like Thing B,” or “Thing A is as [adjective] as Thing B.” Unlike a metaphor, a similar does not posit that these things are the same, only that they are alike. As a result, it is probably the most common literary device in writing — you can almost always recognize a simile through the use of “like” or “as.”

Example: There are two similes in this description from Circe by Madeline Miller: “The ships were golden and huge as leviathans, their rails carved from ivory and horn. They were towed by grinning dolphins or else crewed by fifty black-haired nereids, faces silver as moonlight.”

Similar term: metaphor

57. Symbolism

Authors turn to tangible symbols to represent abstract concepts and ideas in their stories  Symbols typically derive from objects or non-humans — for instance, a dove might represent peace, or a raven might represent death.

Example: In The Great Gatsby , Fitzgerald uses the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg (actually a faded optometrist's billboard) to represent God and his judgment of the Jazz Age.

Similar term: motif

Exercise: Choose an object that you want to represent something — like an idea or concept. Now, write a poem or short story centered around that symbol. 

58. Synecdoche

Synecdoche is the usage of a part to represent the whole. That is, rather than an object or title that’s merely associated with the larger concept (as in metonymy), synecdoche must actually be attached in some way: either to the name, or to the larger whole itself.

Examples: “Stanford won the game” ( Stanford referring to the full title of the Stanford football team) or “Nice wheels you got there” ( wheels referring to the entire car)

Similar term: metonymy

Zeugma is when one word is used to ascribe two separate meanings to two other words. This literary device is great for adding humor and figurative flair as it tends to surprise the reader. And it’s just a fun type of wordplay. 

Example: “ Yet time and her aunt moved slowly — and her patience and her ideas were nearly worn out before the tete-a-tete was over.” — Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

60. Zoomorphism 

Zoomorphism is when you take animal traits and assign them to anything that’s not an animal. It’s the opposite of anthropomorphism and personification, and can be either a physical manifestation, such as a god appearing as an animal, or a comparison, like calling someone a busy bee .

Example: When vampires turn into bats, their bat form is an instance of zoomorphism.

Exercise: Describe a human or object by using traits that are usually associated with animals. 

Similar terms: anthropomorphism, personification

Readers and writers alike can get a lot out of understanding literary devices and how they're used. Readers can use them to gain insight into the author’s intended meaning behind their work, while writers can use literary devices to better connect with readers. But whatever your motivation for learning them, you certainly won't be sorry you did! (Not least because you'll recognize the device I just used in that sentence. 😏)

6 responses

Ron B. Saunders says:

16/01/2019 – 19:26

Paraprosdokians are also delightful literary devices for creating surprise or intrigue. They cause a reader to rethink a concept or traditional expectation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraprosdokian)

ManhattanMinx says:

17/01/2019 – 02:07

That's pore, not pour. Shame.....

↪️ Coline Harmon replied:

14/06/2019 – 19:06

It was a Malapropism

↪️ JC JC replied:

23/10/2019 – 00:02

Yeah ManhattanMinx. It's a Malepropism!

↪️ jesus replied:

07/11/2019 – 13:24

Susan McGrath says:

10/03/2020 – 10:56

"But whatever your motivation for learning them, you certainly won't be sorry you did! (Not least because you'll recognize the device I just used in that sentence. 😏)" Litote

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  • Literary Terms
  • Literary Device
  • Definition & Examples
  • When & How to Use Literary Devices

I. What is a Literary Device?

In literature, any technique used to help the author achieve his or her purpose is called a literary device . Typically, these devices are used for an aesthetic purpose – that is, they’re intended to make the piece more beautiful. However, it’s a very broad term and isn’t strictly limited to this meaning.

The term rhetorical device has almost exactly the same meaning, but it’s a little broader: whereas literary devices occur in literature, rhetorical devices can occur in any kind of speech or writing. So all literary devices are rhetorical devices , but not all rhetorical devices are literary devices. The specific devices used are almost all the same, though.

II. Examples of Literary Devices

The foil is a structural-level literary device in which a supporting character forms a striking contrast to the main character. If the main character is intelligent but physically frail, the foil can be a brawny dimwit. This makes the characters seem more vivid and helps their attributes stand out.

Able-bodied antelopes ambled along the alleyway.

Alliteration is a sentence-level literary device in which several (or all!) the words start with the same letter. It’s especially common in poetry, and can range from extremely obvious (as in the sentence above) to much more subtle.

Alexander marched to Persia with a thousand spears at his back.

This is a metonym – a word-level literary devices in which a part stands in for the whole. In this case, the spear is part of the armed soldier. So the sentence really means that there are a thousand soldiers carrying spears, but expressing it this way is more poetic and evocative.

III. Types of Literary Device

The varieties of literary devices are basically infinite – since the invention of storytelling, people have been honing the craft of literature and have come up with all sorts of tricks. For simplicity’s sake, we can separate the types of literary device based on scale:

  • Word Level: many literary devices affect individual words or short phrases. For example, a metaphor is when one word stands in for another. So, for example, “The sun was a golden jewel ” would be a metaphor, and a word-level literary device.
  • Sentence Level: There are also many literary devices that apply to sentences or long phrases. Parallelism is a good example: “I enjoyed the play , but I preferred the intermission .” The two underlined phrases have identical grammatical structure, so the sentence as a whole demonstrates parallelism.
  • Structural Level: These devices apply to the entire piece, whether it’s a poem, novel, or creative nonfiction. Character development is a good example of a structural literary device: the character begins as one sort of person, but learns and grows throughout the story so that by the end she’s someone quite different. This device applies to the story as a whole rather than to a single word or sentence.

IV. The Importance of Literary Devices

Literary devices are the author’s whole toolkit: whatever you want to do in your story, you do it with literary devices. That could mean setting an emotional tone, making a poem more relatable, or just stretching your own creative muscles. Literary devices can do it all. Without such devices, we could barely even talk to each other, let alone create great works of literature and philosophy! Because literary devices serve such a broad range of functions, there’s no single overarching “purpose” to literary devices as a whole, other than just to improve the quality of writing.

V. Examples  of Literary Devices  in Literature

But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the East, and Juliet is the sun ! (William Shakespeare, “Romeo and Juliet”)

This famous line contains a metaphor – a literary device where a word is used in a non-literal sense to stand in for something else. In this case, Romeo is catching his first glimpse of Juliet as he stands below her balcony, and he’s so overcome by her beauty that he calls her “the sun.” Obviously he doesn’t mean this literally, or he’d be burned to a crisp.

He was a f our f old f ather, this f ighting prince: (“Beowulf”)

The Anglo-Saxons used alliteration the way classic English poets used rhyme. It was one of the most basic literary techniques defining their craft. In this line, we find repeated F sounds, which give the line a soft, flowing quality – it would sound very different if it were full of hard, percussive consonants like K’s and B’s.

When Harry Potter gets his first letter from Hogwarts, it’s an exciting moment, but also full of mystery. This is an example of a literary device called the call to adventure . If you pay close attention, you can find this device in countless stories: the hero is going about his ordinary life, needing a change, when all of a sudden an unexpected message comes from a mysterious source. From that moment on, the hero’s life is never the same.

VI. Examples of Literary Devices in Pop Culture

The Joker is a perfect foil for Batman. Batman is dark and brooding; Joker smiles all the time. Batman fights for a purpose and lives by a strict code of honor; Joker is pure chaos and respects no rules or codes. Batman dresses all in black and grey; Joker has a colorful wardrobe of purple and green. The two characters make a great pair because of the sharp contrasts between them.

As a specimen, yes, I’m in timidating! (Gaston, “Beauty and the Beast “ )

Gaston’s Song from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast contains an internal rhyme . Notice how “specimen” rhymes with “yes I’m in-” It’s a subtle rhyme buried in the middle of the line rather than at the end of the line, where rhymes are normally found. The can be considered a sentence-level literary device.

The original Star Wars movies demonstrate great character development. Luke Skywalker starts off as a bratty, self-centered child, but over the course of the trilogy he grows into a noble Jedi Knight. Similarly, Han Solo starts off as a mercenary who doesn’t care about anyone other than himself (and maybe Chewbacca), but by the end of the story he’s a respected general, deeply committed to the cause of the Rebel Alliance.

VII. Related Terms

Literature is anything written for artistic value. It typically refers to novels, but can also include short stories, poems, and creative nonfiction. But it doesn’t include formal essays , scientific research papers, etc., since these forms of writing are usually not written for artistic effect – they’re written to get a point across, to make an argument, or to inform the reader.

Rhetoric means the art of persuasion. It’s an ancient art form consisting of various techniques (“rhetorical devices”) for swaying the audience to the speaker’s point of view. Rhetoric was originally created for speeches, but with the invention of writing it came to cover written arguments as well. Sometimes this term is used more broadly to refer to the manner of presenting an idea (instead the idea itself), but it’s strict meaning has to do with persuading others.

List of Terms

  • Alliteration
  • Amplification
  • Anachronism
  • Anthropomorphism
  • Antonomasia
  • APA Citation
  • Aposiopesis
  • Autobiography
  • Bildungsroman
  • Characterization
  • Circumlocution
  • Cliffhanger
  • Comic Relief
  • Connotation
  • Deus ex machina
  • Deuteragonist
  • Doppelganger
  • Double Entendre
  • Dramatic irony
  • Equivocation
  • Extended Metaphor
  • Figures of Speech
  • Flash-forward
  • Foreshadowing
  • Intertextuality
  • Juxtaposition
  • Malapropism
  • Onomatopoeia
  • Parallelism
  • Pathetic Fallacy
  • Personification
  • Point of View
  • Polysyndeton
  • Protagonist
  • Red Herring
  • Rhetorical Device
  • Rhetorical Question
  • Science Fiction
  • Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
  • Synesthesia
  • Turning Point
  • Understatement
  • Urban Legend
  • Verisimilitude
  • Essay Guide
  • Cite This Website

Writers.com

Common literary devices, such as metaphors and similes, are the building blocks of literature, and what make literature so enchanting. Language evolves through the literary devices in poetry and prose; the different types of figurative language make literature spark in different ways.

Consider this your crash course in common literary devices. Whether you’re studying for the AP Lit exam or looking to improve your creative writing, this article is crammed with literary devices, examples, and analysis.

What are Literary Devices?

  • Personification
  • Juxtaposition
  • Onomatopoeia
  • Common Literary Devices in Poetry
  • Common Literary Devices in Prose
  • Repetition Literary Devices
  • Dialogue Literary Devices
  • Word Play Literary Devices
  • Parallelism Literary Devices
  • Rhetorical Devices

Let’s start with the basics. What are literary devices?

Literary devices take writing beyond its literal meaning. They help guide the reader in how to read the piece.

Literary devices are ways of taking writing beyond its straightforward, literal meaning. In that sense, they are techniques for helping guide the reader in how to read the piece.

Central to all literary devices is a quality of connection : by establishing or examining relationships between things, literary devices encourage the reader to perceive and interpret the world in new ways.

One common form of connection in literary devices is comparison. Metaphors and similes are the most obvious examples of comparison. A metaphor is a direct comparison of two things—“the tree is a giant,” for example. A simile is an in direct comparison—“the tree is like a giant.” In both instances, the tree is compared to—and thus connected with—something (a giant) beyond what it literally is (a tree).

Other literary devices forge connections in different ways. For example, imagery, vivid description, connects writing richly to the worlds of the senses. Alliteration uses the sound of words itself to forge new literary connections (“alligators and apples”).

By enabling new connections that go beyond straightforward details and meanings, literary devices give literature its power.

What all these literary devices have in common is that they create new connections: rich layers of sound, sense, emotion, narrative, and ultimately meaning that surpass the literal details being recounted. They are what sets literature apart, and what makes it uniquely powerful.

Read on for an in-depth look and analysis at 112 common literary devices.

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Literary Devices List: 14 Common Literary Devices

In this article, we focus on literary devices that can be found in both poetry and prose.

There are a lot of literary devices to cover, each of which require their own examples and analysis. As such, we will start by focusing on common literary devices for this article: literary devices that can be found in both poetry and prose. With each device, we’ve included examples in literature and exercises you can use in your own creative writing.

Afterwards, we’ve listed other common literary devices you might see in poetry, prose, dialogue, and rhetoric.

Let’s get started!

1. Metaphor

Metaphors, also known as direct comparisons, are one of the most common literary devices. A metaphor is a statement in which two objects, often unrelated, are compared to each other.

Example of metaphor: This tree is the god of the forest.

Obviously, the tree is not a god—it is, in fact, a tree. However, by stating that the tree is the god, the reader is given the image of something strong, large, and immovable. Additionally, using “god” to describe the tree, rather than a word like “giant” or “gargantuan,” makes the tree feel like a spiritual center of the forest.

Metaphors allow the writer to pack multiple descriptions and images into one short sentence. The metaphor has much more weight and value than a direct description. If the writer chose to describe the tree as “the large, spiritual center of the forest,” the reader won’t understand the full importance of the tree’s size and scope.

Similes, also known as indirect comparisons, are similar in construction to metaphors, but they imply a different meaning. Like metaphors, two unrelated objects are being compared to each other. Unlike a metaphor, the comparison relies on the words “like” or “as.”

Example of simile: This tree is like the god of the forest. OR: This tree acts as the god of the forest.

What is the difference between a simile and a metaphor?

The obvious difference between these two common literary devices is that a simile uses “like” or “as,” whereas a metaphor never uses these comparison words.

Additionally, in reference to the above examples, the insertion of “like” or “as” creates a degree of separation between both elements of the device. In a simile, the reader understands that, although the tree is certainly large, it isn’t large enough to be a god; the tree’s “godhood” is simply a description, not a relevant piece of information to the poem or story.

Simply put, metaphors are better to use as a central device within the poem/story, encompassing the core of what you are trying to say. Similes are better as a supporting device.

Does that mean metaphors are better than similes? Absolutely not. Consider Louise Gluck’s poem “ The Past. ” Gluck uses both a simile and a metaphor to describe the sound of the wind: it is like shadows moving, but is her mother’s voice. Both devices are equally haunting, and ending the poem on the mother’s voice tells us the central emotion of the poem.

Learn more about the difference between similes and metaphors here:

Simile vs. Metaphor vs. Analogy: Definitions and Examples

Simile and Metaphor Writing Exercise: Tenors and Vehicles

Most metaphors and similes have two parts: the tenor and the vehicle. The tenor refers to the subject being described, and the vehicle refers to the image that describes the tenor.

So, in the metaphor “the tree is a god of the forest,” the tenor is the tree and the vehicle is “god of the forest.”

To practice writing metaphors and similes, let’s create some literary device lists. grab a sheet of paper and write down two lists. In the first list, write down “concept words”—words that cannot be physically touched. Love, hate, peace, war, happiness, and anger are all concepts because they can all be described but are not physical objects in themselves.

In the second list, write down only concrete objects—trees, clouds, the moon, Jupiter, New York brownstones, uncut sapphires, etc.

Your concepts are your tenors, and your concrete objects are your vehicles. Now, randomly draw a one between each tenor and each vehicle, then write an explanation for your metaphor/simile. You might write, say:

Have fun, write interesting literary devices, and try to incorporate them into a future poem or story!

An analogy is an argumentative comparison: it compares two unalike things to advance an argument. Specifically, it argues that two things have equal weight, whether that weight be emotional, philosophical, or even literal. Because analogical literary devices operate on comparison, it can be considered a form of metaphor.

For example:

Making pasta is as easy as one, two, three.

This analogy argues that making pasta and counting upwards are equally easy things. This format, “A is as B” or “A is to B”, is a common analogy structure.

Another common structure for analogy literary devices is “A is to B as C is to D.” For example:

Gordon Ramsay is to cooking as Meryl Streep is to acting.

The above constructions work best in argumentative works. Lawyers and essayists will often use analogies. In other forms of creative writing, analogies aren’t as formulaic, but can still prove to be powerful literary devices. In fact, you probably know this one:

“That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet” — Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare

To put this into the modern language of an analogy, Shakespeare is saying “a rose with no name smells as a rose with a name does.” The name “rose” does not affect whether or not the flower smells good.

Analogy Writing Exercise

Analogies are some of the most common literary devices, alongside similes and metaphors. Here’s an exercise for writing one yourself.

On a blank sheet of paper: write down the first four nouns that come to mind. Try to use concrete, visual nouns. Then, write down a verb. If you struggle to come up with any of these, any old word generator on the internet will help.

The only requirement is that two of your four nouns should be able to perform the verb. A dog can swim, for example, but it can’t fly an airplane.

Your list might look like this:

Verb: Fall Nouns: Rain, dirt, pavement, shadow

An analogy you create from this list might be: “his shadow falls on the pavement how rain falls on the dirt in May.

Your analogy might end up being silly or poetic, strange or evocative. But, by forcing yourself to make connections between seemingly disparate items, you’re using these literary devices to hone the skills of effective, interesting writing.

Is imagery a literary device? Absolutely! Imagery can be both literal and figurative, and it relies on the interplay of language and sensation to create a sharper image in your brain.

Imagery is what it sounds like—the use of figurative language to describe something.

Imagery is what it sounds like—the use of figurative language to describe something. In fact, we’ve already seen imagery in action through the previous literary devices: by describing the tree as a “god”, the tree looks large and sturdy in the reader’s mind.

However, imagery doesn’t just involve visual descriptions; the best writers use imagery to appeal to all five senses. By appealing to the reader’s sense of sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell, your writing will create a vibrant world for readers to live and breathe in.

The best writers use imagery to appeal to all five senses.

Let’s use imagery to describe that same tree. (I promise I can write about more than just trees, but it’s a very convenient image for these common literary devices, don’t you think?)

Notice how these literary device examples also used metaphors and similes? Literary devices often pile on top of each other, which is why so many great works of literature can be analyzed endlessly. Because imagery depends on the object’s likeness to other objects, imagery upholds the idea that a literary device is synonymous with comparison.

Imagery Writing Exercise

Want to try your hand at imagery? You can practice this concept by describing an object in the same way that this article describes a tree! Choose something to write about—any object, image, or idea—and describe it using the five senses. (“This biscuit has the tidy roundness of a lady’s antique hat.” “The biscuit tastes of brand-new cardboard.” and so on!)

Then, once you’ve written five (or more) lines of imagery, try combining these images until your object is sharp and clear in the reader’s head.

Imagery is one of the most essential common literary devices. To learn more about imagery, or to find more imagery writing exercises, take a look at our article Imagery Definition: 5+ Types of Imagery in Literature .

5. Symbolism

Symbolism combines a lot of the ideas presented in metaphor and imagery. Essentially, a symbol is the use of an object to represent a concept—it’s kind of like a metaphor, except more concise!

Symbols are everywhere in the English language, and we often use these common literary devices in speech and design without realizing it. The following are very common examples of symbolism:

A few very commonly used symbols include:

  • “Peace” represented by a white dove
  • “Love” represented by a red rose
  • “Conformity” represented by sheep
  • “Idea” represented by a light bulb switching on

The symbols above are so widely used that they would likely show up as clichés in your own writing. (Would you read a poem, written today, that started with “Let’s release the white dove of peace”?) In that sense, they do their job “too well”—they’re such a good symbol for what they symbolize that they’ve become ubiquitous, and you’ll have to add something new in your own writing.

Symbols are often contextually specific as well. For example, a common practice in Welsh marriage is to give your significant other a lovespoon , which the man has designed and carved to signify the relationship’s unique, everlasting bond. In many Western cultures, this same bond is represented by a diamond ring—which can also be unique and everlasting!

Symbolism makes the core ideas of your writing concrete.

Finally, notice how each of these examples are a concept represented by a concrete object. Symbolism makes the core ideas of your writing concrete, and also allows you to manipulate your ideas. If a rose represents love, what does a wilted rose or a rose on fire represent?

Symbolism Writing Exercise

Often, symbols are commonly understood images—but not always. You can invent your own symbols to capture the reader’s imagination, too!

Try your hand at symbolism by writing a poem or story centered around a symbol. Choose a random object, and make that object represent something. For example, you could try to make a blanket represent the idea of loneliness.

When you’ve paired an object and a concept, write your piece with that symbol at the center:

The down blanket lay crumpled, unused, on the empty side of our bed.

The goal is to make it clear that you’re associating the object with the concept. Make the reader feel the same way about your symbol as you do!

6. Personification

Personification, giving human attributes to nonhuman objects, is a powerful way to foster empathy in your readers.

Personification is exactly what it sounds like: giving human attributes to nonhuman objects. Also known as anthropomorphism, personification is a powerful way to foster empathy in your readers.

Think about personification as if it’s a specific type of imagery. You can describe a nonhuman object through the five senses, and do so by giving it human descriptions. You can even impute thoughts and emotions—mental events—to a nonhuman or even nonliving thing. This time, we’ll give human attributes to a car—see our personification examples below!

Personification (using sight): The car ran a marathon down the highway.

Personification (using sound): The car coughed, hacked, and spluttered.

Personification (using touch): The car was smooth as a baby’s bottom.

Personification (using taste): The car tasted the bitter asphalt.

Personification (using smell): The car needed a cold shower.

Personification (using mental events): The car remembered its first owner fondly.

Notice how we don’t directly say the car is like a human—we merely describe it using human behaviors. Personification exists at a unique intersection of imagery and metaphor, making it a powerful literary device that fosters empathy and generates unique descriptions.

Personification Writing Exercise

Try writing personification yourself! In the above example, we chose a random object and personified it through the five senses. It’s your turn to do the same thing: find a concrete noun and describe it like it’s a human.

Here are two examples:

The ancient, threadbare rug was clearly tired of being stepped on.

My phone issued notifications with the grimly efficient extroversion of a sorority chapter president.

Now start writing your own! Your descriptions can be active or passive, but the goal is to foster empathy in the reader’s mind by giving the object human traits.

7. Hyperbole

You know that one friend who describes things very dramatically? They’re probably speaking in hyperboles. Hyperbole is just a dramatic word for being over-dramatic—which sounds a little hyperbolic, don’t you think?

Basically, hyperbole refers to any sort of exaggerated description or statement. We use hyperbole all the time in the English language, and you’ve probably heard someone say things like:

  • I’ve been waiting a billion years for this
  • I’m so hungry I could eat a horse
  • I feel like a million bucks
  • You are the king of the kitchen

None of these examples should be interpreted literally: there are no kings in the kitchen, and I doubt anyone can eat an entire horse in one sitting. This common literary device allows us to compare our emotions to something extreme, giving the reader a sense of how intensely we feel something in the moment.

This is what makes hyperbole so fun! Coming up with crazy, exaggerated statements that convey the intensity of the speaker’s emotions can add a personable element to your writing. After all, we all feel our emotions to a certain intensity, and hyperbole allows us to experience that intensity to its fullest.

Hyperbole Writing Exercise

To master the art of the hyperbole, try expressing your own emotions as extremely as possible. For example, if you’re feeling thirsty, don’t just write that you’re thirsty, write that you could drink the entire ocean. Or, if you’re feeling homesick, don’t write that you’re yearning for home, write that your homeland feels as far as Jupiter.

As a specific exercise, you can try writing a poem or short piece about something mundane, using more and more hyperbolic language with each line or sentence. Here’s an example:

A well-written hyperbole helps focus the reader’s attention on your emotions and allows you to play with new images, making it a fun, chaos-inducing literary device.

Is irony a literary device? Yes—but it’s often used incorrectly. People often describe something as being ironic, when really it’s just a moment of dark humor. So, the colloquial use of the word irony is a bit off from its official definition as a literary device.

Irony is when the writer describes something by using opposite language. As a real-life example, if someone is having a bad day, they might say they’re doing “ greaaaaaat ”, clearly implying that they’re actually doing quite un-greatly. Or a story’s narrator might write:

Like most bureaucrats, she felt a boundless love for her job, and was eager to share that good feeling with others.

In other words, irony highlights the difference between “what seems to be” and “what is.” In literature, irony can describe dialogue, but it also describes ironic situations : situations that proceed in ways that are elaborately contrary to what one would expect. A clear example of this is in The Wizard of Oz . All of the characters already have what they are looking for, so when they go to the wizard and discover that they all have brains, hearts, etc., their petition—making a long, dangerous journey to beg for what they already have—is deeply ironic.

Irony Writing Exercise

For verbal irony, try writing a sentence that gives something the exact opposite qualities that it actually has:

The triple bacon cheeseburger glistened with health and good choices.

For situational irony, try writing an imagined plot for a sitcom, starting with “Ben lost his car keys and can’t find them anywhere.” What would be the most ironic way for that situation to be resolved? (Are they sitting in plain view on Ben’s desk… at the detective agency he runs?) Have fun with it!

9. Juxtaposition

Juxtaposition refers to the placement of contrasting ideas next to each other, often to produce an ironic or thought-provoking effect. Writers use juxtaposition in both poetry and prose, though this common literary device looks slightly different within each realm of literature.

In poetry, juxtaposition is used to build tension or highlight an important contrast. Consider the poem “ A Juxtaposition ” by Kenneth Burke, which juxtaposes nation & individual, treble & bass, and loudness & silence. The result is a poem that, although short, condemns the paradox of a citizen trapped in their own nation.

Just a note: these juxtapositions are also examples of antithesis , which is when the writer juxtaposes two completely opposite ideas. Juxtaposition doesn’t have to be completely contrarian, but in this poem, it is.

Juxtaposition accomplishes something similar in prose. A famous example comes from the opening A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of time.” Dickens opens his novel by situating his characters into a world of contrasts, which is apt for the extreme wealth disparities pre-French Revolution.

Juxtaposition Writing Exercise

One great thing about juxtaposition is that it can dismantle something that appears to be a binary. For example, black and white are often assumed to be polar opposites, but when you put them next to each other, you’ll probably get some gray in the middle.

To really master the art of juxtaposition, try finding two things that you think are polar opposites. They can be concepts, such as good & evil, or they can be people, places, objects, etc. Juxtapose your two selected items by starting your writing with both of them—for example:

Across the town from her wedding, the bank robbers were tying up the hostages.

I put the box of chocolates on the coffee table, next to the gas mask.

Then write a poem or short story that explores a “gray area,” relationship, commonality, or resonance between these two objects or events—without stating as much directly. If you can accomplish what Dickens or Burke accomplishes with their juxtapositions, then you, too, are a master!

10. Paradox

A paradox is a juxtaposition of contrasting ideas that, while seemingly impossible, actually reveals a deeper truth. One of the trickier literary devices, paradoxes are powerful tools for deconstructing binaries and challenging the reader’s beliefs.

A simple paradox example comes to us from Ancient Rome.

Catullus 85 ( translated from Latin)

I hate and I love. Why I do this, perhaps you ask. I know not, but I feel it happening and I am tortured.

Often, “hate” and “love” are assumed to be opposing forces. How is it possible for the speaker to both hate and love the object of his affection? The poem doesn’t answer this, merely telling us that the speaker is “tortured,” but the fact that these binary forces coexist in the speaker is a powerful paradox. Catullus 85 asks the reader to consider the absoluteness of feelings like hate and love, since both seem to torment the speaker equally.

Another paradox example comes from Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest.

“To be natural is such a very difficult pose to keep up.”

Here, “natural” and “pose” are conflicting ideas. Someone who poses assumes an unnatural state of being, whereas a natural poise seems effortless and innate. Despite these contrasting ideas, Wilde is exposing a deeper truth: to seem natural is often to keep up appearances, and seeming natural often requires the same work as assuming any other pose.

Note: paradox should not be confused with oxymoron. An oxymoron is also a statement with contrasting ideas, but a paradox is assumed to be true, whereas an oxymoron is merely a play on words (like the phrase “same difference”).

Paradox Writing Exercise

Paradox operates very similarly to literary devices like juxtaposition and irony. To write a paradox, juxtapose two binary ideas. Try to think outside of the box here: “hate and love” are an easy binary to conjure, so think about something more situational. Wilde’s paradox “natural and pose” is a great one; another idea could be the binaries “awkward and graceful” or “red-handed and innocent.”

Now, situate those binaries into a certain situation, and make it so that they can coexist. Imagine a scenario in which both elements of your binary are true at the same time. How can this be, and what can we learn from this surprising juxtaposition?

11. Allusion

If you haven’t noticed, literary devices are often just fancy words for simple concepts. A metaphor is literally a comparison and hyperbole is just an over-exaggeration. In this same style, allusion is just a fancy word for a literary reference; when a writer alludes to something, they are either directly or indirectly referring to another, commonly-known piece of art or literature.

The most frequently-alluded to work is probably the Bible. Many colloquial phrases and ideas stem from it, since many themes and images from the Bible present themselves in popular works, as well as throughout Western culture. Any of the following ideas, for example, are Biblical allusions:

  • Referring to a kind stranger as a Good Samaritan
  • Describing an ideal place as Edenic, or the Garden of Eden
  • Saying someone “turned the other cheek” when they were passive in the face of adversity
  • When something is described as lasting “40 days and 40 nights,” in reference to the flood of Noah’s Ark

Of course, allusion literary devices aren’t just Biblical. You might describe a woman as being as beautiful as the Mona Lisa, or you might call a man as stoic as Hemingway.

Why write allusions? Allusions appeal to common experiences: they are metaphors in their own right, as we understand what it means to describe an ideal place as Edenic.

Like the other common literary devices, allusions are often metaphors, images, and/or hyperboles. And, like other literary devices, allusions also have their own sub-categories.

Allusion Writing Exercise

See how densely you can allude to other works and experiences in writing about something simple. Go completely outside of good taste and name-drop like crazy:

Allusions (way too much version): I wanted Nikes, not Adidas, because I want to be like Mike. But still, “a rose by any other name”—they’re just shoes, and “if the shoe fits, wear it.”

From this frenetic style of writing, trim back to something more tasteful:

Allusions (more tasteful version): I had wanted Nikes, not Adidas—but “if the shoe fits, wear it.”

12. Allegory

An allegory is a story whose sole purpose is to represent an abstract concept or idea. As such, allegories are sometimes extended allusions, but the two common literary devices have their differences.

For example, George Orwell’s Animal Farm is an allegory for the deterioration of Communism during the early establishment of the U.S.S.R. The farm was founded on a shared goal of overthrowing the farming elite and establishing an equitable society, but this society soon declines. Animal Farm mirrors the Bolshevik Revolution, the overthrow of the Russian aristocracy, Lenin’s death, Stalin’s execution of Trotsky, and the nation’s dissolution into an amoral, authoritarian police state. Thus, Animal Farm is an allegory/allusion to the U.S.S.R.:

Allusion (excerpt from Animal Farm ):

“There were times when it seemed to the animals that they worked longer hours and fed no better than they had done in [Farmer] Jones’s day.”

However, allegories are not always allusions. Consider Plato’s “ Allegory of the Cave ,” which represents the idea of enlightenment. By representing a complex idea, this allegory could actually be closer to an extended symbol rather than an extended allusion.

Allegory Writing Exercise

Pick a major trend going on in the world. In this example, let’s pick the growing reach of social media as our “major trend.”

Next, what are the primary properties of that major trend? Try to list them out:

  • More connectedness
  • A loss of privacy
  • People carefully massaging their image and sharing that image widely

Next, is there something happening at—or that could happen at—a much smaller scale that has some or all of those primary properties? This is where your creativity comes into play.

Well… what if elementary school children not only started sharing their private diaries, but were now expected to share their diaries? Let’s try writing from inside that reality:

I know Jennifer McMahon made up her diary entry about how much she misses her grandma. The tear smudges were way too neat and perfect. Anyway, everyone loved it. They photocopied it all over the bulletin boards and they even read it over the PA, and Jennifer got two extra brownies at lunch.

Try your own! You may find that you’ve just written your own Black Mirror episode.

13. Ekphrasis

Ekphrasis refers to a poem or story that is directly inspired by another piece of art. Ekphrastic literature often describes another piece of art, such as the classic “ Ode on a Grecian Urn ”:

O Attic shape! Fair attitude! with brede Of marble men and maidens overwrought, With forest branches and the trodden weed; Thou, silent form, dost tease us out of thought As doth eternity: Cold Pastoral! When old age shall this generation waste, Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say’st, “Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.”

Ekphrasis can be considered a direct allusion because it borrows language and images from other artwork. For a great example of ekphrasis—as well as a submission opportunity for writers!—check out the monthly ekphrastic challenge that Rattle Poetry runs.

Ekphrasis writing exercise

Try your hand at ekphrasis by picking a piece of art you really enjoy and writing a poem or story based off of it. For example, you could write a story about Mona Lisa having a really bad day, or you could write a black-out poem created from the lyrics of your favorite song.

Or, try Rattle ‘s monthly ekphrastic challenge ! All art inspires other art, and by letting ekphrasis guide your next poem or story, you’re directly participating in a greater artistic and literary conversation.

14. Onomatopoeia

Flash! Bang! Wham! An onomatopoeia is a word that sounds like the noise it describes. Conveying both a playfulness of language and a serious representation of everyday sounds, onomatopoeias draw the reader into the sensations of the story itself.

Onomatopoeia words are most often used in poetry and in comic books, though they certainly show up in works of prose as well. Some onomatopoeias can be found in the dictionary, such as “murmur,” “gargle,” and “rumble,” “click,” and “vroom.” However, writers make up onomatopoeia words all the time, so while the word “ptoo” definitely sounds like a person spitting, you won’t find it in Merriam Webster’s.

Here’s an onomatopoeia example, from the poem “Honky Tonk in Cleveland, Ohio” by Carl Sandburg .

The onomatopoeias have been highlighted in bold. These common literary devices help make your writing fresh, interesting, and vivid, creating a sonic setting that the reader can fall into.

Learn more about onomatopoeias here!

Onomatopoeia Writing Exercise

Onomatopoeias are fun literary devices to use in your work, so have fun experimenting with them. In this exercise, take a moment to listen to the noises around you. Pay close attention to the whir of electronics, the fzzzzzzz of the heater, the rumbling of cars on the street, or the tintintintintin of rain on the roof.

Whatever you hear, convert those sounds into onomatopoeias. Make a list of those sounds. Try to use a mix of real words and made up ones: the way you represent noise in language can have a huge impact on your writing style .

Do this for 5 to 10 minutes, and when you have a comprehensive list of the sounds you hear, write a poem or short story that uses every single word you’ve written down.

If you built your political campaign off of wordplay, would you be punning for president?

A pun is a literary device that plays with the sounds and meanings of words to produce new, often humorous ideas. For example, let’s say you used too much butter in your recipe, and it ruined the dish. You might joke that you were “outside the margarine of error,” which is a play on the words “margin of error.”

Puns have a rich literary history, and famous writers like Shakespeare and Charles Dickens, as well as famous texts like The Bible, have used puns to add depth and gravity to their words.

Pun Writing Exercise

Jot down a word or phrase that you commonly use. If you’re not sure of what to write down, take a look at this list of English idioms . For example, I might borrow the phrase “blow off steam,” which means to let out your anger.

Take any saying, and play around with the sounds and meanings of the words in that saying. Then, incorporate the new phrase you’ve created into a sentence that allows for the double meaning of the phrase. Here’s two examples:

If I play with the sound of the words, I might come up with “blowing off stream.” Then, I would put that into a sentence that plays with the original meaning of the phrase. Like: “Did you hear about the river boat that got angry and went off course? It was blowing off stream.”

Or, I might play with the meanings of words. For example, I might take the word “blowing” literally, and write the following: “someone who cools down their tea when they’re angry is blowing off steam.”

Searching for ways to add double meanings and challenge the sounds of language will help you build fresh, exciting puns. Learn more about these common literary devices in our article on puns in literature .

16–27. Common Literary Devices in Poetry

The following 12 devices apply to both poetry and prose writers, but they appear most often in verse. Learn more about:

  • Metonymy/Synecdoche
  • Alliteration
  • Consonance/Assonance
  • Euphony/Cacophony
12 Literary Devices in Poetry: Identifying Poetic Devices

28–37. Common Literary Devices in Prose

The following 10 devices show up in verse, but are far more prevalent in prose. Learn more about:

  • Parallel Plot
  • Foreshadowing
  • In Media Res
  • Dramatic Irony
10 Important Literary Devices in Prose: Examples & Analysis

38–48. Repetition Literary Devices

Though they have uncommon names, these common literary devices are all forms of repetition.

  • Anadiplosis
  • Anaphora (prose)
  • Antanaclasis
  • Antimetabole
  • Antistrophe
  • Epanalepsis
Repetition Definition: Types of Repetition in Poetry and Prose

49–57. Dialogue Literary Devices

While these literary elements pertain primarily to dialogue, writers use euphemisms, idioms, and neologisms all the time in their work.

  • Colloquialism
How to Write Dialogue in a Story

58–67. Word Play Literary Devices

The following literary devices push language to the limits. Have fun with these!

  • Double Entendre
  • Malapropism
  • Paraprosdokian
  • Portmanteau
Word Play: Examples of a Play on Words

68–72. Parallelism Literary Devices

Parallelism is a stylistic device where a sentence is composed of equally weighted items. In essence, parallel structure allows form to echo content. Learn all about this essential stylistic literary device below.

  • Grammatical parallelism
  • Rhetorical parallelism
  • Synthetic parallelism
  • Antithetical parallelism
  • Synonymous parallelism
Parallelism Definition: Writing With Parallel Structure

73–112. Rhetorical Devices

Rhetorical devices are literary devices intended to persuade the reader of something. You might have heard of ethos, pathos, and logos, but do you know your aposiopesis from your hyperbaton?

Many literary devices can also be considered rhetorical devices. After all, a metaphor can convince you of something just as well as a syllogism. Nonetheless, the following 40 rhetorical/literary devices will sharpen your style, argumentation, and writing abilities.

  • Anacoluthon
  • Polysyndeton
  • Procatalepsis
  • Reductio ad Absurdum
  • Amplification
  • Antiphrasis
  • Overstatement
  • Adnomination
  • Aposiopesis
  • Circumlocution
Common Rhetorical Devices List: The Art of Argument

Master These Common Literary Devices With Writers.com!

The instructors at Writers.com are masters of literary devices. Through masterful instruction and personal expertise, our instructors can help you add, refine, and improve your literary devices, helping you craft great works of literature. Check out our upcoming courses , and join our writing community on Facebook !

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Sean Glatch

83 comments.

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Very nice the litrery divices

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Brilliant litery devices

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I love this literary term it help a lot

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thank you this was life-changing

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Broaden the vucablry it does

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Very effectively and simply elaborated

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enjoyed this (and learned some new things, too). HB

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Wow, very educating and nice! Quite helpful

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It is very nice visiting this site.

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This was put together profoundly; thank you! As a writer, you can never learn enough. I will begin incorporating these into my stories. Words can’t express how helpful this was, and it was very efficiently put together as well, so kudos to that!

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I’m so happy this article helped you, Jalen! Happy writing!

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Thank you for this article! It really helped a lot! hands up to the good samaritan of understanding literature :D.

But I would have one last question: Would any sort of intertextuality be considered an Allusion? (Also when you refer to the author for example?)

Great questions! That’s a great way to think about allusion–any sort of intertextuality is indeed allusive. In fact, your use of “Good Samaritan” is an allusion to the Bible, even if you didn’t mean it to be!

And yes, because an allusion is anything referential, then a reference to another author also counts as an allusion. Of course, it can’t be directly stated: “She’s reading Shakespeare” doesn’t count, but “She worships the Immortal Bard” would be an allusion. (It’s also an allusion to the story of the same name by Isaac Asimov).

I’m glad to hear our article was helpful. Happy reading!

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This will help! Thanks!

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There is also Onomatopoeia, you can make the list 45

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This article really helped me, the techniques are amazing, and the detail is incredible. Thank you for taking your time to write this!

I’m so glad this was helpful, Gwen! Happy writing!

this was useful 🙂 thanks

I love personification; you can do so much with it.

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Hi, I’m really sorry but I am still confused with juxtaposition.

Hi Nate! Juxtaposition simply describes when contrasting ideas are placed next to each other. The effect of juxtaposition depends on the ideas that are being juxtaposed, but the point is to surprise or provoke the reader.

Take, for example, the opening line of Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy: “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”

Here, happy and unhappy families are being juxtaposed, and the contrast between the two is meant to provoke the reader and highlight the differences between those families. This juxtaposition sets up the novel as a whole, which often discusses themes of family and happiness (among many other themes).

I hope this helps!

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very nice indeed

[…] 33 Common Literary Devices: Definitions, Examples, and Exercises […]

[…] 44 Common Literary Devices: Definitions, Examples, and Exercises […]

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Thanks a lot for this it was really nice, good and fun to read it and it was really helpful for me as a student👔so please keep up with the good work 😉🌹💖😚😍💝💞💐

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Really helping. It’s a wonderful article

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O mother Ghana, teach your children to change their negative attitudes towards you and what you have Please which literary device is this?

The device employed here is called apostrophe, which is when the writer addresses something not actually present for literary effect. Read more about it at this link .

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This was very effective towards my writing and my family really enoyed seeing how much I had learnt. Thanks a lot.

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so irony is literally sarcasm then

Sometimes! Sarcasm is a form of verbal irony.

Verbal irony occurs when a person intentionally says the opposite of what they mean. For example, you might say “I’m having the best day ever” after getting hit by a car.

Sarcasm is the use of verbal irony with the intent of mocking someone or something. You might say “Good going, genius” to someone who made a silly mistake, implying they’re not a genius at all.

Hope that makes sense!

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Love this article! I used to struggle in my literature class, but after reading though this article, I certainly improved! Thanks! However, I have one question I really need your help with- Can I assume that a phrase which is the slightest bit plausible, a hyperbole? For example, a young elementary student who is exceptionally talented in basketball, to such an extent that he was quite famous nation-wide, said that he would be the next Lebron James although he was still very young. Would this be considered as a hyperbole? It would be great if you can help me with this.

That’s a great question! Although that claim is certainly exaggerated, it probably wouldn’t be hyperbole, because the child believes it to be true. A hyperbole occurs when the writer makes an exaggerated statement that they know to be false–e.g. “I’ve been waiting a billion years for this.”

Of course, if the child is self-aware and knows they’re just being cheeky, then it would be hyperbole, but I get the sense that the child genuinely believes they’re the next Lebron. 🙂

I’m glad this article has helped you in your literature class!

That makes a lot of sense, thanks for your reply!

Sorry, I have another question related to hyperbole. This is an extract from Animal Farm:

“Squealer was sent to make the necessary explanation to the others. ‘Comrades!’ he cried. ‘You do not imagine, I hope, that we pigs are doing this in a spirit of selfishness and privilege? Many of us actually dislike milk and apples. I dislike them myself. Our sole object in taking these things is to preserve our health. Milk and apples (this has been proved by Science, comrades) contain substances absolutely necessary to the well being of a pig. We pigs are brain-workers. The whole management and organisation of this farm depend on us. Day and night we are watching over your welfare. It is for your sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples. Do you know what would happen if we pigs failed in our duty? Jones would come back! Yes, Jones would come back! Surely, comrades,’ cried Squealer almost pleadingly, skipping from side to side and whisking his tail, ‘surely there is no one among you who wants to see Jones come back?’ Now if there was one thing that the animals were completely certain of, it was that they did not want Jones back. When it was put to them in this light, they had no more to say. The importance of keeping the pigs in good health was all too obvious.”

May I know if the speech made by Squealer in this extract is a hyperbole, gaslight (I’m not sure if this is a literary device), or some other device(s)? I know this is very wordy so you can take your time, no rush.

(I am doing a chapter analysis of chapter 3 in Animal Farm)

By the way, if you have written any other articles, please let me know! I would like to read them, thanks!

Take a look at writers.com/writing-tips for our archive on the craft of writing!

It wouldn’t be hyperbole, as a hyperbole is usually a word or phrase, not an entire passage of text. It’s better to analyze this passage in terms of its rhetorical strategies: Squealer is appealing to nebulous ideas like Science and the return of Jones–appeals to logos and pathos, despite there being a lack of evidence.

These strategies are logical fallacies: arguments that are easily disproven through reasoning, but which often resonate when people don’t employ critical thinking. Some of the fallacies here are “appeal to fear” and the “false dilemma” that Jones will return if the pigs don’t eat apples and milk (this is also a “red herring”).

I can’t provide much more help than this, as I don’t want to write your assignment for you, but I’m happy to point you in this direction, because understanding how logical fallacies are abused is essential to being an informed reader and citizen. 🙂

Ok, thanks for your reply!

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Thank you! I am studying for an English final and this was a life saver!

My pleasure, Isla, good luck on your final!

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Hi what is the name of the literary device where you name a character after their personality eg. Mr Knighley, Miss honey or Miss Trunchball? Thank you

That’s called an “aptronym”!

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Mind blowing indeed. I had no idea there were so many names for patterns I hear people use with words. This lis is great as is. I am using it to probe further into what they are. I would only suggest that if the time ever allowed for someone to provide a brief detail or definition to each it would save a lot of time for many like me. None the less, I am grateful for the work provided. Thank you.

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It is personification as well as apostrophe, as Sean suggested. Ghana (the nation, I am assuming) is personified as a mother who is able to teach her citizens (children) to change their negative attitudes towards her.

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Thanks so much, I never knew the list to this was as tall as everest, way back in school I didn’t take lit lessons serious and forgot everything til it came to mind to revise these devices And here google landed me, and thanks again so much.

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Best of luck on your exam, Olive!

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Literary Devices List: 33 Main Literary Devices with Examples

literary devices purpose

by Fija Callaghan

If “literary devices” sounds like a throwback to something you slept through in your English Lit 101 class, you’re not alone. Maybe breaking down the finer points of metaphor, perspective, and juxtaposition sounds like a fast track to sucking all the fun out of actually enjoying creative writing.

On the other hand, it might surprise you to learn that these literary devices are present in all stories, from epic poetry to Saturday morning cartoons to those guilty-pleasure paperbacks you pick up at the airport and then “accidentally” leave behind on the plane.

If you’re reading, watching, or listening to a story and find yourself engaged for even a moment… that’s literary devices at work. They’re tools that the writer uses to engage with the reader on a visceral level, to make them look at the story—and the world around them through the story—in a completely different way.

Here we’ll show you multiple literary devices and rhetorical devices, with examples, that you can use to create powerful stories.

What are literary devices?

Literary devices are tools and techniques that a writer can use to elevate their story beyond the literal meaning of the words on the page. These techniques work on an unconscious level to enhance characterization, heighten tension, and help your story’s theme create a more powerful impact on the reader.

There are many types of literary devices that writers can use to create different effects in their work. The skilled writer uses them to create a powerful, lasting work of art; without them, a story would be much more basic, less enjoyable, and less memorable.

In other words, literary devices are the techniques that turn a literal, step-by-step retelling of events into a rich, engaging, and memorable piece of literature.

Some common literary devices are metaphors, similes, irony, and symbolism.

What’s the difference between literary devices and literary elements?

You’ll sometimes hear these terms being used interchangeably, but they’re not quite the same thing. We’ve looked at how literary elements are the structural skeleton of our story ; you can think of them as the blank canvas, the first washes of colour, the rough outlines that help us understand the shapes we’re seeing and what they have the potential to become.

Literary devices are everything that gives these outlines life and form. In a painting, these devices would be the play of light, shadow, and perspective; the use of contrasting and complimentary colour theory; the cool stuff you do with your sparkly gel pens at the very end that makes the finished piece really jump out. They’re tools that the writer uses—sometimes bold, masterful turns and sometimes nothing more than small nudges—to guide and engage the reader.

Or, consider a house. Literary elements are the house’s structure: They’re the foundation, the beams, the drywall, the roof. Without these elements there’s no physical house. Literary devices are what you do to a a building to turn it from a house into a home: the wallpaper you select, the style of furniture, the books on the shelf, the comfy couch, the good smells in the kitchen.

You probably won’t use all of the literary devices we’re going to show you here in your own work. Most writers will come back to the same ones again and again, mastering them as they keep using them. This is what becomes their distinctive storytelling style, or voice.

Having a basic understanding of the ideas on this literary devices list, however, will help you see why other storytellers make the choices they do so that you can begin developing a storytelling voice of your own.

33 literary devices (with examples!) you can use to strengthen your writing

Once you’ve formed the bones of your story, you can use these literary devices to add shape and style to your work. It’s worth exploring all of these literary devices in your practice, though you’ll likely find a handful of them that become your writer’s toolkit—devices that you come back to again and again.

As you grow in your skill, these literary devices will become a part of your storytelling voice.

1. Allegory

Allegory is kind of like a cross between metaphor (which we’ll talk about a little further on) and theme. It’s the practice of telling a real, true, relevant story through the filter of fiction.

Often these stories stand in place for something the author can’t say, due to political or cultural barriers; other times it’s simply a way to get the reader or viewer to consider an issue in a different light.

This doesn’t mean that the story is being told as a direct comparison to a central idea; it means the story on the surface is composed of a complex web of metaphors that tell a second story with a deeper meaning underneath.

An classic example of allegory is Dante’s Divine Comedy , where Dante uses his fictional journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven as an allegory for the journey of a person’s soul to God.

2. Allusion

Allusion is a common literary device that indirectly references a real life person, place, or event.

It invites the reader to meet you, the author, in the middle, piecing together a cultural clue that you’ve left for them. Sometimes this is done because the idea is too sensitive to lay out overtly. Other times allusions can be used for light, comedic effect.

For example, in Eoin Colfer’s The Wish List, several repeated references are made to “the rockstar with the hair.” For a while the author lets the reader hypothesize as to whom he might be referring to, before dropping in a detail where a character begins humming “Blue Suede Shoes.” We talk about the value of repetition a little farther on.

3. Anachronism

Anachronism is a conflict of time within a single work —for example, describing a character as “zipping up her dress” if the story is set at a time before the invention of zippers, or causing national outrage by leaving a plastic water bottle on a 1920s film set .

Generally, anachronism is a negative thing that will cause your readers and viewers to delight in calling you out for it. This is why it’s so important, when writing historical pieces, to thoroughly research all the minute details of your story. However, anachronism as a literary device can sometimes be used quite effectively for comedic effect or to create a sense of displacement.

Character and story archetypes communicate universal human attributes and a broader message about how we see the world.

4. Archetypes

In literature, a character archetype is a standardized pattern that we instantly recognize from generations upon generations of storytelling.

Contrary to stereotypes , which are oversimplifications of an archetype’s most extreme personality traits, archetypes work because they speak to a universal truth. All character archetypes exist and, on some level, exist in us .

Examples of archetypes are the warrior, the mentor, the damsel, the lost child, and, of course, the villain. These archetypes can take on many different faces and sometimes a character can embody more than one archetype at the same time.

In Robert Munsch’s groundbreaking feminist page turner The Paper Bag Princess , the typical damsel-and-dragon story is turned on its head as none of the three central characters fit into the roles they’re expected to. This is an example of using archetypes in an unexpected way, inverting them to delight the reader.

5. Cliffhanger

A cliffhanger is a literary device in which the author ends a segment of the story on a dramatic question. This segment might be smaller, like a chapter, or larger, like the first novel in a continuing series. It holds the reader’s attention and makes them wonder what happens next.

You may recognize cliffhangers from your favourite TV series—they’re one of the most common literary devices in TV storytelling because they’re what gets the show pilot picked up by the network and then, once the show is running, they’re what keeps the viewers engaged and coming back again and again.

An example of a cliffhanger in literature is where the literary device got it’s name: In Thomas Hardy’s A Pair of Blue Eyes , a chapter ends with the main character hanging from a cliff by his fingers. The reader has to start the next chapter to discover the protagonist’s fate.

Cliffhangers are one of the many literary devices that are beloved by filmmakers and creative writers alike.

Dialect is a fantastic literary device to use when crafting strong, distinctive, believable characters. It’s essentially the sound of someone’s voice—not an easy feat to achieve when all you have to work with is paper and ink. It’s their regional accent, but also their upbringing, their level of education, their mood, the sort of people they’ve been exposed to.

When done well, and done sparingly, individual dialects can give your characters more life and lend a wonderful richness to their world.

D. H. Lawrence was famous for his use of dialect in his novels, which preserve the unique vocabulary and pronunciation of Victorian-era coal miners in the north of England.

Diction is related to dialect in that it’s a reflection of the sound of the story’s voice—which, again, you as the writer need to accomplish with nothing more than twenty-six letters. The difference between dialect and diction is that while dialect is a part of characterization, diction is the voice of the narrator.

The author makes choices about how to convey their voice in a story based on the mood and the world they’re trying to create. Very formal language creates distance between the author and the story; more colloquial word choices and regional slang make the story more intimate and immediate.

8. Euphemism

Euphemism is a word or phrase that uses figurative language to reference something that would otherwise be indelicate. “Passed away” is a common euphemism for dying; being “let go” or “made redundant” is a nicer way of saying you’ve been fired. “Cognitively challenged” refers to a stupid person, and “in the family way” is a sensitive way of saying that a woman is pregnant.

These all use informal language to convey something with a different meaning.

Although euphemisms were more commonly used in the eras of banned books, church censorship, and general societal timidity than they are today, they’re still a great way to show characterisation (as an important aspect of dialect, as we discussed above) and the time and place in which your story is happening.

A euphemism is a figure of speech that uses a word or phrase to mean something else entirely.

9. Exposition

Exposition is the act of working relevant information into the events of your story —whether that’s through dialogue, observation, narrative detail, or flashbacks .

Exposition can be a tricky literary device to master, but it’s important in helping your readers understand your world, your characters, and what drives your characters to make the choices they do. Too much of this can bog down the reader and take them away from the present action, but just enough will give them a fuller understanding of the world you’re trying to create.

10. Flashback

Flashbacks are interruptions in the narrative that bring the reader to a past point in time in order to create tension and arm them with important information.

You may recognize flashbacks in TV series like crime shows or sitcoms, accompanied by subtitles like “earlier that day,” “three days ago,” etc. This is a way to communicate with the viewer that they’re being taken out of the present moment and redirected to another time.

Sometimes flashbacks are used as dramatic devices, like when the opening shows something horrible or unexpected, and then the flashback shows us what brought our characters to that moment.

11. Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing is a wonderful literary device that gives the reader hints of what is to come later in the story , either through subtle clues based on narrative events or by simply using thematic elements like symbolism and tone. It can help build suspense and keep the reader engaged by making them guess what’s going to happen.

You might foreshadow a turn of events in your story by placing symbolic images and colours through your story. For example, in her fairytale retelling The Bloody Chamber , Angela Carter uses a ruby choker to suggest a cut throat and give hints of what might come later on.

Don’t confuse foreshadowing with the rule of Chekhov’s Gun ; the two are very different concepts! But you can use both literary techniques to give depth to your story.

12. Hyperbole

Hyperbole is an exaggerated statement used for emphatic effect. It’s different than simply overstating something, where the context teeters on the edge of being a lie. Hyperbole isn’t meant to be taken literally.

For example, a child waiting for a parent too long after school might say, “I was waiting for fifty years!” Obviously, no one in this context actually believes they were waiting for fifty years—the child hasn’t even been alive that long. It’s using figurative language to emphatically say, “I’ve been kept waiting for too long and I am less than pleased about it.”

13. Imagery

Imagery is the art of making a moment come alive for the reader. We see this literary device in both fiction and poetry. To create an image that’s vivid and engaging, use a range of senses to create your world such as sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste (this is called visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile, and gustatory imagery, respectively).

In addition to making the world more real for the reader, the details that you focus on can influence the mood of the story. Well-placed images can also support foreshadowing in the story , as we saw previously.

Powerful imagery can create an emotional response in your readers.

14. In Medias Res

In media res is a Latin term you might hear in literary analysis that means “in the midst of things.” This means placing the reader in the middle of an exciting event, without any previous backstory or buildup. In other words, this can mean showing the middle of your story first, and then later revealing the events leading up to that moment.

For example, Sara Gruen’s novel Water for Elephants opens with an action-packed scene that takes place towards the end of the novel; then she doubles back to the beginning and shows the reader the events that took place to arrive there.

Other times it simply means dropping your reader in the middle of things that are happening, rather than starting with a lot of flowery description and exposition. Any information the reader needs can be slowly released throughout the scene, and the following scenes.

This immerses your reader in your story’s world right from the beginning. It makes them ask questions about who the people are in the scene and what’s causing the events to unfold—things they’ll learn as they read on through the entire book to the end.

There are different types of irony in literature , but all of them come down to an inversion of belief. The three types of irony you see most often in stories are dramatic irony, where the audience knows some essential piece of information that the characters don’t; situational irony, where the events of the story contradict what we would normally expect; and verbal irony, the contrast of speech and intention.

Verbal irony might be something like sarcasm, where someone says the opposite of what they mean.

Dramatic irony happens when the story reveals information but keeps it hidden from the characters—for example, the dramatic irony of watching someone open a door in a horror film when you know the monster’s waiting behind it.

Situational irony happens when two elements contradict to create a surprising result: for example, a policeman vowing to uphold the law and then giving in to corruption.

16. Juxtaposition

Juxtaposition is a useful literary device that deals in contrast —in other words, putting two characters, images, or ideas side by side to draw attention to their differences.

You see this often in central and supporting characters, such as Batman and Robin—Batman’s dark, silent moodiness contrasts Robin’s bright, youthful energy. You can see this in their personalities as well as their costumes, with Batman all in black and Robin in positive primary colours. It’s this juxtaposition between the two that makes them such an engaging team.

Juxtaposition can also be used in sensory imagery, such as placing a happy event underneath a dark and stormy sky or using a tactile sensation that seems out of place in its environment.

17. Language

If you’re reading this article, you’re probably intending to write your stories in English. But using language as a literary device by adding in glimmers of other languages can add depth to your characters and your world.

A great example is J. R. R. Tolkien, who creates richness in the world of his English-language work by inventing entirely new languages and referencing them just enough to make them seem real.

Cara Black, in her Parisian mystery series, writes in English but uses the occasional French word or phrase here and there to more fully immerse the reader in her Francophone world.

Language can also be useful literary device for characterisation; for example, an elderly family member who struggles with English might have dialogue almost entirely in another language, or a bilingual character might revert to their native language in times of overwhelming stress.

18. Metaphor

As a writing technique, metaphor is quite close to simile . Both are common literary devices used to draw comparisons between two seemingly unrelated ideas. But unlike a simile, which draws a comparison between two things, a metaphor goes a step further and uses one image to literally serve in place of another.

One of the most famous metaphors of all time is Shakespeare’s “All the world’s a stage,” which uses a literal theatrical performance as a comparison to illustrate the tragedies and comedies of everyday life.

Metaphors draw direct comparisons between unrelated ideas in a new, interesting way.

19. Misdirection

Also called the “red herring,” misdirection is one of the most satisfying literary devices in storytelling of all kinds. It involves laying out clues as the story progresses, and nudging the reader towards the wrong deductions instead of the right ones.

The very important key to making this literary device work is to ensure the reader doesn’t feel cheated at the end—they should be able to look back at the path you’ve laid out and see that the true answer does make sense after all. This might mean working backwards after your first draft and sneaking in hints of what’s to come amidst other worldbuilding details.

Understanding the principle of Chekhov’s Gun can help avoid unwanted red herrings in your story . The risk of creating an unsatisfying red herring makes misdirection one of the trickiest literary devices to use.

A motif is a literary device in which recurring symbols, story elements, or ideas support the overall theme.

This could be something small and concrete, like apples popping up here and there throughout the story to symbolize a theme of battling temptation, or it could be something broader, like showing characters eating grander or sparser meals depending on the stage of their character arc.

You can use motifs to connect with readers on a subconscious, cultural level and help them immerse themselves even deeper in the story world.

A myth is a story that explains why things are how they are in the world—for instance, the creation myth of the Bible, or the story of how Raven stole the moon and stars in Indigenous mythology. Myths and legends are a fantastic archive of character archetypes and big, thematic ideas.

Unlike myths, legends are stories of something that may or may not have happened at some point in history, like the legends of Robin Hood or King Arthur’s knights. More importantly, both myths and legends are stories that stay with us for the long game because they represent values, needs, and desires that transcend generational divides.

Many stories—if not all stories—have their roots somewhere in this collective library of imagination. When composing your own work, try using old myths and legends to ground your story as you retell them from a new perspective. You could retell of a familiar story, or you could simply use myths and legends as inspiration for the sort of values, strengths, and weaknesses you want to explore in your own characters.

22. Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia is a way of communicating sounds in a way that relates to what they actually sound like. “Buzz” for the sound of a bee, “ruff” for the bark of a dog, and “plop” for the sound of a drop of water are all words that sound like the action they’re describing. “Slam,” “pop,” and “pow” are other common words you see in superhero comics.

Onomatopoeia is a literary device used most often in children’s literature and in the comic book medium, though we find it in just about everything including our everyday dialect. It’s best approached sparingly in literature, but the right word choices can add a lot of depth to your sensory environment: describing a stream as “burbling” or a wind as “shrieking” (notice the harsh “ee” vowel followed by the hard “k”) makes the scene clearer and more vibrant to the reader.

23. Oxymoron

An oxymoron is a literary device closely related to a paradox , in that they both present two seemingly contradictory ideas. Unlike a paradox, an oxymoron is a figure of speech that having to do with two words one after the other: a “deafening silence” is an oxymoron, because it combines two words that contradict each other. A “friendly argument,” “act natural,” and “openly deceptive” are some oxymorons.

Although they would appear to be impossible contradictions, many of us have experienced these ideas in our own lives and know that there is a deeper meaning lying behind them.

As a figure of speech, oxymorons can be used in humour and to convey an aspect of a character’s personality—sometimes at the same time.

Oxymorons and paradoxes use comparison words to convey meaning you might not expect.

24. Paradox

A paradox is quite similar to an oxymoron , but it presents two contrasting ideas instead of two contrasting words.

Oscar Wilde’s famous on-brand quote, “I can resist anything except temptation,” is an example of a paradox. By its very nature it can’t be true, and yet one feels that there is some resonant truth hidden somewhere within it.

Others examples are the sayings “the only constant is change” and “the louder you shout, the less they hear.” Both of these examples are composed of ideas that appear to be in conflict with each other, and yet both can be true statements.

The first tells us the only thing that never truly changes is the fact that things are always changing, and the second shows us that causing a scene isn’t always the way to get your voice across.

Paradoxes are useful literary devices that help readers see ideas from a new perspective.

25. Personification

Personification is a literary device that uses figurative language to give recognizable human-like qualities to inanimate or non-human entities.

The most extreme example of this is anthropomorphism, which is giving human traits to an animal or other non-human character. This is a very popular literary device in children’s literature, as it tends to make the ideas and lessons in these stories feel more accessible (this is the same device used to give life to a French candelabra in Beauty and the Beast ).

However, personification can be done on a smaller scale in order to make sensory images more vivid and easier for the reader to understand. A “weeping willow” is an example of attaching a human action to a non-human thing, and to say the weeping willow’s boughs were “lazily sweeping the dust from the road” is another.

26. Perspective

Perspective is the view from which the story is being told .

For instance, if you were to set your story in an old country manor house, you could tell a story following the same events in several different ways.

The matriarch of the house would be one perspective; a small, privileged child another. What would the housemaid see that no one else would? What about the cook or the gardener? What secrets, prejudices, or knowledge would they give to the story?

Not only would all of these people contribute different worldviews, cultural upbringings, and dialects, but they might genuinely believe in different series of events.

27. Repetition

In fiction writing and story structure, repetition is a literary device used to emphasize central themes and to create a subtle kind of rhythm.

The most famous example of repetition is in the “three wishes” often found in faerie tales, as well as three quests, three trials, three paths to choose from. This is because three is the number in which our brains start to recognize patterns. In your own writing, you can use this kind of repetition to support your story’s theme and character arcs.

You can also use targeted repetition of a word or phrase to emphasise an idea or create rhythm (which we’ll look at next!)

In prose writing, rhythm is all about the pacing of your story . Slow, languid writing can feel like being wrapped up in a snuggly blanket. Too much of this, however, becomes suffocating.

Short sentences are more like quick footsteps against a sidewalk. Readers like them because they make us feel like we’re going somewhere, but too many of them for too long and it starts to get hard to keep up.

It’s your job as a writer to use sentences of varying lengths to keep the reader engaged. Longer sentences will slow down the pace, so they’re best used for quiet, reflective moments. Short sentences will kick up the pace, so lean into them for action scenes.

While all good writers use both longer and shorter sentences to some degree, you’ll find that some tend to rely more on one than the other. This is part of what forms their signature voice . Experimenting with sentences of all rhythms will help you find yours.

Rhythm and tone are part of a writer’s natural voice.

Satire has been around since its inception in ancient Greece and shows no sign of slowing down. It’s a literary device that uses irony and humour as a way to draw attention to prevalent cultural and societal flaws .

Sometimes this can be done in a lighthearted way: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was considered a gentle satire of the upper classes of that time period. But sometimes satires are darker and more biting, such as in dystopian fiction like George Orwell’s 1984 .

Much like a metaphor , a simile is a literary device that compares two unrelated concepts to create vivid, sense-driven imagery. While a metaphor is used to stand in place for something else, a simile is used only in description: “he was as brave as a lion,” for instance, is a simile, while “he had a lion’s heart” is a metaphor.

Similes are great in descriptive passages because you have a whole world in which to draw inspiration from. Is the new girl at school like a “cascading waterfall”? A “fire hydrant”? A “broken chair”? She could be reminiscent of any one of those things, and you as the writer are going to tell us why.

A well-placed simile can give the reader a better sense of a character or place than pages and pages of telling us what it looks like.

31. Suspense

One of the most marvelous literary devices for engaging your readers is suspense —creating a darkly indulgent sort of tension between the reader and the story that keeps them turning page after page. The writer accomplishes this by posing one dramatic question after another.

Cliffhangers are one great way to make this happen. Putting time constraints on your characters is another, as well as shifting perspectives to reveal more information to the reader.

32. Symbolism

Symbolism is the act of using a person, place, or object to convey a larger, more abstract idea . When used repeatedly in a story to emphasise this idea, it’s called a motif .

In Shakespeare’s Hamlet , the skull of Yorik is a symbol of death and fate—it serves as a tangible, physical representation of these things in the context of the story.

Symbolism can also be used in setting—for instance, a rising sun to symbolize a new beginning—or in character, like a young child symbolising a parent’s lost innocence.

A writer can also use colours, animals, or icons that have made their way into our cultural consciousness in order to support the mood and theme of the story. Symbols that we see in our everyday lives include things like red roses for love, butterflies for transformation, or the the caduceus for medicine.

Tone is the way your story world feels to the reader. In film this would be a combination of lighting, cinematography, and soundtrack.

“It was a dark and stormy night” is an infamous opening line that immediately sets the tone for the story. In addition to giving us some context as to the setting of the scene, words like “dark,” “stormy,” and “night” naturally resonate with us in a particular way.

When trying to create an atmospheric tone for your story, you can try brainstorming words that you associate with the feeling you want to evoke, and then working them into your story.

In longer works, it’s a good idea to use different tones for different scenes or chapters. This helps each one stand out from the rest, and keeps them fresh and vibrant for the reader.

How to use literary devices to craft your own story

Now that you have an understanding of the literary devices available to you as a writer, you’re ready for the next part: putting it into practice in your novel, poem, or short story. The literary device examples we’ve looked at are a great starting point for thinking about how to apply them in your own writing.

Plus, we have dedicated lessons on all of these techniques waiting for you in our writing academy !

Practicing using literary devices and techniques will make your writing stronger.

Every writer is unique, and the literary devices you see other authors using to fantastic effect might not be the ones that bring out the best in your own writing. The sort of imagery, dialect, and characterization we bring into our own work as storytellers is directly related to the way we view the world around us.

Finding your own unique style and voice is an exciting journey that can only be travelled by trying things out, finding what feels right deep in your bones, and practicing them again and again.

To get an idea of what literary devices will work best for you, take a look at the stories that you’ve written so far. Most likely, many of the things on this literary devices list will already be present in some form or another—you’ll be naturally drawn to them because of the powerful stories you’ve absorbed over your life.

Once you see where these literary devices are beginning to take shape, you can work on refining, enriching, and mastering them to create powerful stories of your own.

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Why Are Literary Devices Important?

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by  Antony W

September 4, 2021

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Used on plots and characters, literary devices can elevate the value of a story and easily prompt reflection on life and society and give readers a clear understanding of a given subject or character.

Given the role they play in writing, the use of literary devices might just be the secret recipe to that A+ paper.

Literary devices used in writing include allegory, allusion, cliffhanger, dramatic irony, satire, personification, simile, motif, imagery, flashbacks, and symbolism.

In this guide, we’ll look at what literary devices are, learn why they’re important, and give you detailed examples that you can incorporate into your writing to make your assignment more comprehensive and interesting to read.

What Are Literary Devices?

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A literary device is a writing technique used by professional writers and students to improve writing.

Since literary devices highlight the most significant details in a piece of writing, it makes it easy for readers to not only connect with the characters in the story but also understand the underlying themes. 

Quite too often, these devices work on intellectual level, although it’s not uncommon to notice some emotional effects from the same.  

There are many literary devices used in writing, from those used at the sentence to the ones that serve an entire piece of writing. Each device serves a unique purpose, and you can use multiple literary devices to communicate with your audience.

Literary devices are easy to integrate into your writing, so you should use them intentionally to add an extra something to your writing.

Given that they deal mostly with sound, meaning, repetition, and description of words and phrases, these devices can create a deeper connection between your audience and your story and elicit emotional reactions in the process.

Why are Literary Devices Important?

importance of literary devices

For a writer, literary devices allow you to communicate your message from a unique angle. With these devices, you’re able to mention the most important concept in a sentence, a paragraph, or an entire essay . 

If used correctly, literary devices can make it easy for you connect theme and characters and strengthen your narrative.

Literary devices can easily grab readers’ attention and keep them reading your narrative.

Moreover, it makes it easy for them to establish a stronger connection between characters and themes in a narrative on a deeper level because they understand the message you’re trying to communicate.

Different Types of Literary Devices to Use in Your Writing

types of literary devices

In the following, we’ll look at examples of literary devices that you can use to make your narratives more engaging.

Use this literary device to simplify large, complex concepts and thematic ideas and themes .

Sometimes, allegories are dark and controversial. But you can distant yourself from an issue, especially if it comes to criticizing sensitive social, economic, and political status.

In other words, you use characters, events, objects, and other relevant elements to describe something in a way your readers can understand.

In the case where you distant yourself from the issue(s) you’re discussing, you can even go as far as to use symbols to uncover a hidden meaning in a story.

Allusion is a powerful literary device for creating relationship to known works. It can reference just about anything provided it helps to develop characters and storylines. In other words, you take a known character from a known story and add some of your own work to it.

Although not a common case, allusions can be somewhat confusing and risky altogether, especially if your readers have no idea what character you’re referring to. That notwithstanding, it can be a powerful literary device if used right.

The key to implementing allusion in your writing is to keep things as simple as possible.  Instead of referring to characters, objects, events, or places in details, just mention them. A mere mention is enough to grab your readers attention and even communicate your message in a better way than you would if you used plain words and phrases.

Anachronism

Anachronism is where an author refers to a character or object in a different time than when it existed. We refer to this as error in chronology.

Educators refer to anachronism as an error in writing. However, sometimes authors use intentionally to add humor, reference a period in history, or comment on a theme such as society and time.

Cliffhanger

Bring the kind of suspense you see in a 2-hour movie flick to writing with a cliffhanger. Besides marking the end in a section of a story, cliffhangers are great for keeping your audience engaged in a story.

Dramatic Irony

Effective in works for literature, film, and television, dramatic irony is where an audience already knows the fate of characters in a story, but the character don’t know the fate of each other.

Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing is a powerful literary device that somewhat indicates the future in an anecdote.

Like flashback, this literary device creates tension, suspense, and sometimes both at the same time.

Since foreshadowing makes your readers crave for more of what’s yet to come, it’s such a powerful literary device to use if you want to keep them glued to your story.

Hyperbole 

Hyperbole is an exaggeration of a statement, which gives more significance on the meaning of that very statement. For example, telling a friend that you haven’t gone to the movies in a coon’s age is a hyperbole.

In its very form, an oxymoron is a figurative approach to language where authors use a combination of words in a non-literal sense to come up with new words or phrases with completely new meanings.

Personification

Rarely do we read a book and not see personification. It’s a powerful writing strategy that give human attributes to non-human objects, with the primary objective being to communicate an idea in a more imaginary and meaningful way.

Satire is a literary device used to make fun of things, places, society, or human nature. Writers use satirical approach through ridicule, exaggerations, or irony.

To be clear, authors don’t use satire to invoke hatred or demean.

Mostly, it’s to elicit humor and drive a social change. It’s so common today that it fits in just about any work of entertainment and art.

About the author 

Antony W is a professional writer and coach at Help for Assessment. He spends countless hours every day researching and writing great content filled with expert advice on how to write engaging essays, research papers, and assignments.

Literary Devices: 30 Elements & Techniques for Writers (With Examples)

literary devices purpose

Every Author wants to write a good book . That’s a given.

But you don’t need to know the names and definitions of 30 or 40 literary devices to accomplish that goal.

Knowing the difference between alliteration, onomatopoeia, and hyperbole won’t make or break your book.

Literary devices are especially common in novels, where writers need to use flashbacks, foreshadowing, or figurative language to keep the reader enthralled.

But most nonfiction doesn’t need literary devices to be effective.

As an Author, your goal is to explain how your knowledge can solve a reader’s problems in a clear, concise manner. If you can toss in some good storytelling, so much the better.

Remember, being a good writer isn’t about checking off every writing trick on the list. It’s about expressing your information in an authentic, clear way.

This literary device crash course is a helpful tool, but if you want to publish a great book, devices shouldn’t be your primary focus.

What Are Literary Devices?

Literary devices, also known as literary elements, are techniques that writers use to convey their message more powerfully or to enhance their writing.

Many Authors use literary devices without even realizing it. For example, if you exaggerate and say, “This method has the potential to revolutionize the world,” that’s hyperbole. Your method may be impactful, but it probably isn’t really going to upend the way every single country does things.

More complicated literary devices are a common feature in fiction, but most nonfiction books don’t need them. A nonfiction Author’s job is to deliver information in an engaging way. “Engaging” doesn’t necessarily mean “literary.”

Still, literary devices can add a lot to a text when they’re used correctly.

For example, in The Great Gatsby , Fitzgerald uses the following metaphor to describe human struggle: “So we beat on, boats against the current…”

The image of boats fighting against the current is a powerful way to express the simple idea that “life is hard.”

Literary devices are especially effective when they’re used sparingly. Don’t overdo it.

If your entire book is written in metaphors, it’s not only going to be an overkill of flowery language, but it’s probably going to be confusing too.

If you can incorporate literary devices in a way that makes sense and adds something to the readers’ experience, great. But don’t force it.

30 Common Literary Devices

1. alliteration.

Alliteration is the repetition of initial consonant sounds within a group of words. For example, “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.”

Nonfiction Authors can use alliteration to create catchy chapter or subsection titles. For example, “4 Best Bets for Better Business.”

Alliteration is also particularly effective for highlighting concepts you want your readers to remember. For example, if the takeaway of your chapter is a pithy, one-line sentence, alliteration can really make it stand out. Think, “Clear communication is key.”

Be careful not to overuse alliteration, or your book will start to sound like a nursery rhyme.

2. Onomatopoeia

An onomatopoeia is a word that imitates, suggests, or resembles the sound it’s describing. Common onomatopoeias include “gurgle,” “hiss,” “boom,” “whir,” and “whizz.”

In storytelling, onomatopoeia is an effective way to draw your reader into the environment. For example, if you’re telling an anecdote about a meeting you had with a client, it’s more vivid to say, “He plopped a sugar cube into his coffee and slurped,” than to say, “He drank his coffee with sugar.”

3. Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing is an advance warning about something that’s going to happen in the future.

In fiction, foreshadowing can be subtle. For example, something that happens in the first chapter of a murder mystery can come into play at the end of the book.

But in nonfiction, foreshadowing tends to be more obvious. Authors often use it to tell readers what they can expect to learn. For example, an Author might say, “We’re going to talk more about this example later,” or “I’ll discuss this at length in Chapter Three.”

4. Hyperbole

Hyperbole is an exaggeration that’s not meant to be taken literally. For example, if my friend surprised me by eating a lot of pizza, I might say, “Hey man, remember that time you ate, like, fifteen pizzas in one night?”

Good nonfiction Authors often use hyperbole to emphasize the power of their statements. For example, “We all know how miserable it can be to work 24/7.” Do we really all know that? And it’s impossible to literally work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Nonfiction Authors have to be careful with hyperbole, though. If you’re using data, you want it to seem credible. In nonfiction, readers often want precision, not exaggeration.

5. Oxymoron

An oxymoron is a figure of speech where seemingly contradictory terms appear together. For example, “the dumbest genius I know.”

Oxymorons are useful if you want to create an unexpected contrast. For example, “Your unhappiest customers are often your business’ happiest accident.”

6. Flashback

A flashback is a scene set in an earlier time than the main story. They’re often used to provide important context or backstory for an event you’re discussing.

Because most nonfiction books aren’t chronological (unless it’s a memoir), you probably won’t have many opportunities to use flashbacks. But in anecdotes, a touch of flashback can be effective.

For example, “My boss congratulated me for landing the largest account our company had ever seen. It was hard to believe that only seven months earlier, I was struggling to keep the few clients I already had.”

7. Point of View

Point of view is the perspective you use to tell your story.

A lot of nonfiction is written with a first-person point of view, which means writing from an “I” perspective. For example, “I’ve developed the following ten-point system to improve your finances.”

It’s much rarer, although possible, to write nonfiction from the third-person perspective. For example, “They saw how powerful their methods could be.” Sometimes co-authors choose this method to avoid first-person confusion.

Nonfiction writers occasionally use second person (“you”) to directly address their readers. For example, “You know how hard it can be to fire someone.”

8. Euphemism

A euphemism is a polite way of describing something indirectly.

Many Authors use euphemisms to vary their language or soften the blow of a difficult concept. For example, “passed away” is a euphemism for “died.”

Some Authors use euphemisms to keep their texts more palatable for a general audience.

For example, if an Author is writing about sexual harassment in the workplace, they may not want to repeat lewd phrases and could use euphemisms instead. Or, an Author who wants to avoid the political controversy around the term “abortion” might opt for “pregnancy termination.”

9. Colloquialism

A colloquialism is a word or phrase that’s not formal or literary. It tends to be used in ordinary or familiar conversation instead. For example, it’s more colloquial to say, “How’s it going?” instead of “How are you doing?”

Slang is also a form of colloquialism. If you say something was “awesome,” unless you literally mean it inspired awe, you’re being colloquial.

No matter how professional your audience is, some colloquialism can make your book feel more relatable. Readers like to feel as if they’re talking with the Author. Colloquialism can help you create that personal, one-on-one feeling.

10. Anthropomorphism

Anthropomorphism is when you give human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human creatures or things.

If you think of your dog as having a “funny personality,” you’re anthropomorphizing him. The same goes for your “stubborn” toaster or “cranky” computer.

In nonfiction, you generally won’t encounter a lot of opportunities for anthropomorphism, but some Authors may want to humanize their products or services. For example, your software may be “friendly” or “kind” to new users.

11. Anaphora

Anaphora is a rhetorical device where you repeat a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses. This is a great way to draw emphasis to a certain portion of text.

For example, Charles Dickens uses anaphora in the opening of A Tale of Two Cities : “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief…”

12. Anachronism

An anachronism is a chronological inconsistency where you juxtapose people, things, or sayings from different time periods. If you were reading a book about colonial America where characters talk about cars, that would be anachronistic.

In nonfiction, you might want to use anachronism to make it easier for a current audience to relate to people in your stories.

For example, if you’re writing about the history of the banking industry, you might refer to certain individuals as “influencers” or talk about ideas that were “trending.”

13. Malapropism

A malapropism is the mistaken use of a word in place of a similar-sounding one. This usually creates some kind of humorous effect. Imagine a person saying, “I know how to dance the flamingo,” instead of, “I know how to dance flamenco.”

There aren’t a lot of good reasons to use malapropism in nonfiction, but you could do this if you’re trying to amuse or delight your reader in an unexpected way. It’s a lot like using a pun.

For example, if you’re writing a book about sports, you might say, “The client and I saw things so eye-to-eye, it was almost like we had ESPN” (instead of “ESP”).

14. Figurative Language

Figurative language is language that dresses up your writing in an attempt to engage your readers. Figurative language is often more colorful, evocative, or dramatic.

For example, “She was chained to her desk for sixty hours a week.” Let’s hope not.

Still, it conjures a vivid image that’s more exciting for readers than, “She worked a lot.”

figure in tuxedo

Figurative language is like taking your everyday language and putting it in a tuxedo.

15. Dramatic Irony

Irony is a literary technique where what appears to be the case differs radically from what is actually the case.

Dramatic irony is a type of irony that occurs when an audience understands the context more than the character in a story.

Let’s say you’re telling a story about an interaction with a client that didn’t go the way you expected. You might write, “Things seemed to be going well, but little did I know, she had already hired someone else.”

At the moment you were meeting with the client, you didn’t have that information. But now, the reader does. So, they get to follow along with the rest of the story, knowing more than you did at the time.

16. Verbal Irony

Verbal irony occurs when a person says one thing but means another. Sarcasm is a good example of verbal irony. For example, you might say, “It was a wonderful dinner,” when, in fact, the food was terrible, and your partner showed up an hour late.

Depending on the tone of your book, verbal irony can help create humor or make you more relatable.

17. Figure of Speech

Think of “figure of speech” as a kind of catch-all term for any word or phrase that’s used in a non-literal sense to create a dramatic effect.

For example, it’s a figure of speech to say that it was “raining cats and dogs” or that something stands “an ice cube’s chance in Hell” of happening.

A lot of the devices we’ve already discussed (e.g., alliteration, oxymoron, and metaphors) also fall into the category of figures of speech.

18. Metaphor

A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things in an interesting way. It often highlights the similarities between two different ideas.

Take, for example, “The classroom was a zoo.” It wasn’t literally a zoo, but this metaphor expresses the wild energy of a room full of children.

Or, “the curtain of night fell.” Night doesn’t have a curtain, but we can all imagine darkness falling like one.

Metaphors form direct comparisons by saying something is something else. (Similes, explained below, form comparisons by saying something is like something else.)

Metaphors are a useful tool for “showing” your reader something instead of just “telling.” They help your reader see and feel the scene, and they paint a vivid picture.

If you use a metaphor, though, make sure it’s intelligible. There are a lot of bad ones out there. The point of a metaphor is to make a scene clearer, not to confuse your reader.

A simile is also a figure of speech that compares two different things in an interesting way. But unlike a metaphor, a simile uses comparison words like “like” or “as.”

“She was as bright as a lightbulb.”

“He was stubborn like a mule.”

Using similes can make your writing more interesting. The comparisons can spark your readers’ imagination while still getting your information across clearly.

20. Metonymy

Metonymy is a figure of speech in which a thing or concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated with that thing or concept.

For example, a businessman is sometimes known as “a suit.”

Or, in William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar , “lend me your ears,” is a metonymy for “give me your full attention.”

People use metonymy all the time without being conscious of it. For example, if you get in a car wreck, you’re likely to say, “That car hit me,” instead of, “That car hit my car.”

If you’re writing in relatable, colloquial language, your book will probably have metonymy in it.

21. Synecdoche

Synecdoche is a figure of speech in which a part of something stands in for the whole or vice versa. It’s a subset of metonymy.

For example, if you have “hungry mouths to feed,” you actually need to feed people. Their mouths are just a stand-in for the whole person.

Or, you might say, “All of society was at the gala,” when you really mean, “All of high society was there.”

Typically, synecdoche will come out in your writing naturally. When you force synecdoche, it can sound strange.

For example, what do you think I mean when I say, “I sat on the legs?” I’m guessing a chair didn’t come to mind, even though “legs” is a part of the whole “chair.”

22. Aphorism

An aphorism is a concise statement of a general truth or principle. For example, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Most aphorisms are handed down over time, so chances are, you won’t coin your own. Think of these as the tried-and-true statements people already know.

For example, if you’re describing toxic leadership, you could quickly say, “After all, power corrupts,” and your audience would immediately know what you mean.

Aphorisms are great for emphasis because they’re quick, clear, and to the point. They aren’t flowery, and their simplicity makes them memorable.

23. Rhetorical Question

A rhetorical question is a question asked for effect, not because you want an answer.

“Do you want to make money? Do you want to sleep better at night? Do you want to run a successful company?”

Who wouldn’t say yes? (See what I did there?)

Be careful not to overuse rhetorical questions because too many can get tedious. But used sparingly, they’re a great way to invite your reader into the conversation and highlight the benefits of your knowledge.

24. Polysyndeton

Polysyndeton comes from the Ancient Greek for “many” and “bound together.” As its name implies, it’s a literary technique in which conjunctions (e.g., and, but, or) are used repeatedly in quick succession.

Here it is in action: “I wanted an employee who was self-motivated and enterprising and skilled. I needed someone who could write and talk and network like a pro.”

In most cases, you’ll use a regular list instead of polysyndeton (e.g., “I like cats, dogs, and ferrets.”). But when it’s used correctly, polysyndeton is useful for drawing emphasis to different aspects of a sentence.

One common way to use polysyndeton is, “You’ll find everything in this book, from billing and buying to marketing and sales.”

25. Consonance

Consonance occurs when you repeat consonant sounds throughout a particular word or phrase. Unlike alliteration, the repeated consonant doesn’t have to come at the beginning of the word.

“Do you like blue?” and “I wish I had a cushion to squash” are examples of consonance.

Consonance can help you build sentences and passages that have a nice rhythm. When a text flows smoothly, it can subconsciously propel readers forward and keep them reading.

26. Assonance

Assonance is similar to consonance, except it involves repeating vowel sounds. This is usually a subtler kind of echo. For example, the words “penitence” and “reticence” are assonant.

Like consonance, assonance can help you build compelling, rhythmic language.

27. Chiasmus

Chiasmus is a rhetorical device where grammatical constructions or concepts are repeated in reverse order.

For example, “Never let a kiss fool you or a fool kiss you.” Or, “The happiest and best moments go to the best and happiest employees.”

In nonfiction, chiasmus can be an effective way to make a significant point. It often works because it’s unexpected and punchy.

28. Litotes

Litotes is a figure of speech closely related to verbal irony. With litotes, you use understatement to emphasize your point. They often incorporate double negatives for effect.

For example, “You won’t be sorry” is the litotes way of saying, “You will be glad.”

If I say, “He wasn’t a bad singer,” you can probably assume that he was actually a good singer. But the negative construction conveys a different tone.

If hyperbole lends more force to your claims, litotes diminishes your statement. In nonfiction, there are situations where you might want to downplay your judgment.

Take this statement, for example: “He wasn’t the worst lawyer I had ever seen, but he could have been more organized.” You aren’t completely bashing the lawyer, but you’re still showing there’s room for improvement.

Still, I recommend using litotes sparingly if you don’t want people to think you’re constantly damning with faint praise.

29. Epigraph

An epigraph is a short quotation or saying at the beginning of a book or chapter, intended to suggest its theme.

For example, Mario Puzo’s The Godfather begins with a quotation from the French writer Balzac: “Behind every great fortune, there is a crime.”

An epigraph is a great way to honor a writer or thinker you admire. It also immediately puts your work in conversation with theirs. In nonfiction, an epigraph can be a great way to signal to readers, “Hey, Tim Ferriss’ book has informed mine!”

But don’t rely too heavily on epigraphs. The point of writing a book is to show that you are an expert. You don’t want to constantly defer to other Authors to contextualize your ideas.

Also, epigraphs are only effective when they are truly relevant to your book. Don’t just pick a person that you think readers will recognize. Pick a quotation that really adds something to your book.

30. Epistrophe

Epistrophe is the repetition of the same word or words at the end of successive phrases, clauses, or sentences. It’s sometimes called epiphora or antistrophe.

Epistrophe is the cousin of anaphora, where the repetition happens at the beginning of successive phrases.

Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address is a great example of a text that uses epistrophe: “… that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

His repetition of “the people” really drives home the importance of “the people” to American government. They are central, no matter how you slice it.

Epistrophe can be very dramatic, and it’s a great way to draw attention to crucial concepts or words in your book. But because it’s so impactful, it should be used in moderation.

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Literary Devices

What are Literary Devices?

Literary devices are techniques and structures used by writers to convey a message, create an effect, and evoke emotions in the reader. These devices can be used to add emphasis to a literary work, make it more interesting, or convey a deeper meaning. The use of literary devices can turn a simple piece of writing into a masterpiece, and can make the reader engage with the text on a deeper level.

There are many different types of literary devices, each with their own unique function and purpose. Some of the most common literary devices include:

  • Metaphor: A metaphor is a comparison between two unlike things that highlights a similarity between them. For example, “Life is a journey.”
  • Simile: A simile is a comparison between two things using “like” or “as”. For example, “Her smile was as bright as the sun.”
  • Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words in a sentence or phrase. For example, “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.”
  • Personification: Personification is the attribution of human qualities to non-human things. For example, “The wind whispered through the trees.”
  • Symbolism: Symbolism is the use of symbols to represent ideas or concepts. For example, the color red can represent passion or anger.

Literary devices are essential tools used by writers to create a message, add emphasis, and evoke emotions in readers. They are used to make writing more interesting, engaging, and memorable. The use of literary devices is not limited to any specific genre or style of writing and can be found in all forms of writing. The ability to use literary devices effectively can make a writer’s work stand out and leave a lasting impact on readers.

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Humanities LibreTexts

10: Literary Devices Glossary

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  • Page ID 101155

  • Heather Ringo & Athena Kashyap
  • City College of San Francisco via ASCCC Open Educational Resources Initiative

Literary devices are the tools writers use to bring literature to life. Literature is like art with words: in the same way an artist might use paintbrushes, textures, colors, and different mediums, so might a writer use literary devices to render their real or imagined worlds and characters.

Literary Devices

The following vocabulary list represents just a few of the most common literary devices.

usually didactic (meant to impart a lesson), an allegory is a kind of story in which abstract concepts (such as love, war, or death) became objects, characters, or places in the story. For example, consider Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave,” where light symbolizes knowledge and darkness symbolizes ignorance.

Alliteration

multiple words in a row which start with the same sound (vowel or consonant). Example: silly snakes slither silently.

an indirect reference, usually to another work, outside of the text, without explicitly naming the reference point. For example, in Hamlet , the scene of Old Hamlet being poisoned in the castle garden by his brother -- who is referred to as a “serpent” -- would likely be a familiar allusion to the Biblical Garden of Eden for highly religious Elizabethan readers (1.5.36).

Anagnorisis

the scene of recognition in a Tragedy, as described in Aristotle’s Poetics . In this scene, the tragic hero realizes their true identity or tragic flaw (hamartia). Example: when in Antigone by Sophocles Creon finally admits he made the wrong decision about sentencing Antigone to death for burying her brother in accordance with the will of the Gods.

a repeated grammatical structure for rhetorical effect. For example, Frederick Douglass often uses anaphora for emphasis: "O that I were free! O, that I were on one of your gallant decks, and under your protecting wing! Alas! betwixt me and you, the turbid waters roll. Go on, go on. O that I could also go! Could I but swim! If I could fly! O, why was I born a man, of whom to make a brute! The glad ship is gone; she hides in the dim distance. I am left in the hottest hell of unending slavery. O God, save me!" In this instance, the repeated use of "O" adds rhythmic and dramatic emphasis to his feelings of disappointment of seeing ships move freely while he is enslaved.

an opposing force to the protagonist. The antagonist may be a villain, but not necessarily: it could be an animal, an abstract concept, or the environment. Example: the antagonist in Hamlet might be Claudius; in Antigone, Creon.

Anthropomorphism

imbuing a nonhuman entity with human behaviors or attributes. Example: the daffodils in Wordsworth’s “I wandered lonely as a cloud” are described as “dancing,” which is a distinctly human behavior (6). Similar to personification , but slightly different.

a type of protagonist who may not have the moral uprightness required of a hero. This character usually elicits the sympathy of their audience, but may be morally unscrupulous in their methods (such as an assassin who murders child abusers). A popular culture example of this would be Deadpool, because he is the main character and generally audiences cheer him on, but he speaks using inappropriate language, is sexually promiscuous and tends to be chaotic and over-the-top in his violence.

the opposite of a thesis. Example: if one’s main argument, or thesis, is that Hamlet is crazy and the ghost is a hallucination, the antithesis would be that Hamlet is sane and the ghost is real.

multiple vowel sounds in close proximity within a text. For example, “my mouth wound itself around the soulful sounds of the poem’s words.”

Autobiography

a work of creative nonfiction written about the author’s life, as written by the author (as opposed to being written by someone other than the author). An example of this would be the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass. Compare to biography

Bildungsroman

a coming of age story, usually involving a young person becoming an adult (and changing fundamentally by surviving a challenging moment). A pop culture example would be the Harry Potter series, which chronicles Harry Potter’s difficult teenage years.

a nonfiction story about a person’s life, written by someone other than the person who lived the life. Compare to autobiography

a pause or break within the line of a poem. Often defined in comparison to a line break or an enjambment.

the purgation of emotion, usually pity and fear, at the end of a play. According to Aristotle in Poetics , this is one of the defining characteristics of a Tragedy.

leverage of reverse grammatical structure for rhetorical effect: think of it like a boomerang of words. For example, consider this excerpt from Paradise Lost by John Milton: “The mind is its own place, and in it self/Can make a Heav’n of Hell, a Hell of Heav’n” (1. 254-55). In this case, heaven of hell hell of heaven reverses the words and ideas, bringing them back unto themselves with new meaning.

Chremamorphism

imbuing a human being with the qualities of a nonhuman inanimate object or machine. For example, in “I wandered lonely as a cloud” by William Wordsworth, the speaker describes themselves as a cloud.

a phrase or trope which has been used so many times that it has, some would argue, outrun its extended warranty so that it becomes boring and uncreative. For example, Robert Burns' image of love as a "red rose" has been so used that it has become cliche.

Colloquialism

an informal word used in common, everyday speech. A word you likely would be ill advised to use in a formal job interview. For example, Californians often say “hella” (though this phrase was already dated by the time this textbook goes into publication)

a type of play which usually deals with less serious themes, centers on entertainment, may feature more bawdy or common characters, and often ends with a literal or metaphorical wedding. Often juxtaposed with Tragedy. An example of this would be A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare

is the tension in a literary work created by opposition between one or more of the following characters: (1) protagonist vs. antagonist (2) protagonist vs. self (3) protagonist vs. environment (4) protagonist vs. society, or some other oppositional relationship. Without conflict there can be no plot. For example, the conflict in Hamlet is between Hamlet (protagonist) and Claudius(antagonist), but also could be interpreted as between Hamlet and his own self-doubt.

two or more words in close proximity which share a consonant sound. For example, “the s lithering s na k e s ha k es i ts li ttl e ra tt le.”

two adjoining lines of poetry which share an end rhyme. Most of Shakespeare’s sonnets end with a couplet. For example, the final two lines of Sonnet 18:

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see , (13)

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee . (14)

Creative Nonfiction

as Lee Gutkind, editor of Creative Nonfiction magazine defines it, “true stories, well told. ” That is, Creative Nonfiction boasts all of the literary adornments that ficiton does (literary devices, skilled writing) but rather than stemming from the imagination, the stories relayed in Creative Nonfiction are true.

Descriptive Imagery

is the use of sensory details to immerse a reader in the story. Descriptive imagery can include visual (sight), auditory (sound), olfactory (smell), tactile (touch), or gustatory (taste) imagery. For example, "My breath escaped in ragged bursts , my quadriceps burning as I crested the summit. The lake stretched before me, aquamarine, glistening in the hot August afternoon sun . Ponderosa pines lined its shores, dropping their spicy-scented needles into the clear water. Despite the heat, the Montana mountain air tasted crisp ." In this excerpt, the reader is able to picture the scene almost as if they are there.

Deus Ex Machina

literally translating to “God in the machine,” in Greek drama the deus ex machina was a literal machine that dropped down an actor playing a God on the stage for dramatic effect, usually to save a hero at the last minute from a sticky situation. In literature nowadays, this literary device refers to a somewhat non-believable plot device which saves the hero from an otherwise intractable situation.

words spoken by characters in a literary work, often in the form of a conversation.

word choice. Paying attention to diction helps determine the tone of a literary work.

Double Entendre

a word or phrase which has multiple meanings, often to snarky, bawdy, or humorous effect. For example, when Claudius asks Hamlet why the clouds hang on him, Hamlet responses that he is “too much in the sun.” The word sun means the sun, as in the big star which heats our planet, but also son, as in he is not only Old Hamlet’s son, but now also the stepson of Claudius. Hamlet is expressing petulance towards his uncle for this reason.

a work of literature which is meant to be performed by actors rather than simply read.

Dynamic character

a character who changes significantly over the course of a story.

the description of a work of art within a work of literature. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde famously describes the painting of Dorian Gray.

a poem expressing grief over the dead. For example, “Extempore Effusion upon the Death of James Hogg” was written by William Wordsworth in memory of poet James Hogg.

is the dropping of a syllable in a word, usually to make the word fit in a poetic meter. For example, in William Wordsworth’s poem “I wandered lonely as a cloud,” one of the lines reads “that floats on high o’er vale and hill.” In this line, the word “over” is shortened to “o’er” in order to reduce its syllabus from two to one, so that it fits in with the iambic tetrameter of the rest of the poem.

is when a sentence continues from one line of poetry to the next without punctuation or pause.

a type of story written in letter or journal entry form. “Bajadas” by Francisco Cantu is a journal of Cantu’s experiences while working as a border patrol agent, as indicated by the dates written at the top of each vignette. This is a classic epistolary story.

is a term coined by Russian formalists to describe the chronological order of events in a story. This is often juxtaposed with syuzhet, or the way in which events in the story are ordered or represented, which may or may not be chronological. See linear and nonlinear narratives.

a story invented from the imagination of a writer. Distinct from Nonfiction and Creative Nonfiction, which is based in reality.

a plot device where the narrative goes back in time. For example, in “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce, the present moment of the story takes place while Farquhar is on the bridge waiting to be hanged by the Union soldiers, but the plot jumps back in time to tell the story of how Farquhar arrived at this current predicament.

Flashforward

a plot device where the narrative jumps forward in time.

a character which, through juxtaposition, reveals something about another character; a kind of shadow character. For example, while Hamlet dilly dallies over whether or not to avenge his father’s death, hot-spirited Laertes wastes no time in demanding vengeance for his father’s death.

Foreshadowing

is when the author gives hints about the plot developments to come before they happen. For example, in Antigone , Tiriesias warns Creon something awful will happen to his family unless he apologizes to the Gods and frees Antigone.

the style of writing. The most common genres of literature are creative nonfiction, fiction, drama and poetry. Within these genres, there are subgenres, like short stories, flash fiction, lyric poetry, and so forth. Genre is a means of categorization for works of literature.

according to Aristotle, hamartia is the “fatal flaw” which brings about the downfall of the tragedy’s hero. For example, in Antigone , Creon's fatal flaw is that he is too prideful (see: hubris ).

a protagonist of a story who represents the moral values of the society depicted in the story and is generally meant to be looked upon favorably by readers. For example, Superman would be an archetypical hero. The protagonist is often the hero of the story, but not always.

one of the most common examples of hamartia, at least in Ancient Greek tragedies, hubris is the tragic flaw of excessive pride

an exaggeration for rhetorical effect; for example when Wordsworth describes the field of daffodils in “I wandered lonely as a cloud” as “ten thousand saw I at a glance,” he likely did not literally count ten thousand daffodils, but the number is meant to demonstrate the immense quantity

Iambic Pentameter

a style of poetic meter in which five sets of iambs (or ten syllables) appear per line of poem. Each iamb contains an unstressed and stressed syllable. For example, "Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day?" in Shakespeare's Sonnet 118 is a solid example of Iambic Pentameter.

descriptive, immersive details meant to paint a picture in the reader’s mind: the five kinds of description follow the five senses: auditory (sound), tactile (touch), gustatory (taste), olfactory (smell), and the most common, visual (sight). See: descriptive imagery

a meaning or outcome contrary to what is expected. The three types of irony include

  • Dramatic irony:  when the reader or audience knows something characters don’t
  • Situational irony:  when a character holds a position or has an expectation that is reversed or fulfilled in an unexpected way
  • Verbal irony:  when a speaker or narrator says one thing and means the reverse (e.g., sarcasm)

an organizational tool in a poem, a line is usually a sentence or part of a sentence running horizontally across the page. Think of it as a horizontal poetic thought.

an organizational tool in a poem, a line break is when one line ends and another begins

Linear Narrative

a story where the plot unfolds chronologically, without flashbacks or flashforwards (see fabula , nonlinear narrative )

a poem that expresses the speaker’s thoughts and feelings.

Magical Realism

a style of writing in which fantastical elements are described in realistic detail, as popularized by Latin American writers such as Gabriel García Márquez, Jorge Luis Borges & Isabel Allende. “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings” is a popular example of magical realism, in that the angel in the story is described in gritty detail.

a creative nonfiction work about a person’s life, where the author is the protagonist.

the use of figurative language to describe one object using another for rhetorical effect, without using the words "like" or "as." For example, when Hamlet describes Claudius as a "snake" or Polonius as a "rat" and "fishmonger."

related to the rhythm of the story, meter is determined by stressed and unstressed syllables. Different poems use different types of meter for effect. See iambic pentameter

is a use of figurative language in which one thing is represented by another thing associated with it. For example, one might say “he relinquished the crown” to insinuate someone giving up their role as king, where crown stands in for the king and is simultaneously symbolic of power.

a fictional story of epic proportions, usually told to explain the world, promote a religion, or imbue a society with values. An example of a myth would be the myth of narcissus written in Ovid’s Metamorphoses , which explained the origins of daffodils and echoes & also showed that Greeks saw excessive pride as an undesirable trait.

Narrative Poem

a poem that tells a story and includes elements of fiction.

the speaker of the story, who may be a character within the story or an objective, unnamed narrator; the perspective from which the story is told.

an umbrella term which encompasses creative nonfiction, nonfiction is simply the antithesis of fiction: written work depicting reality. The difference between creative nonfiction and nonfiction is that creative nonfiction strives to be literary while nonfiction is often more informational in nature (see: a science textbook, or a historical account, for example).

Nonlinear Narrative

is a story which is not relayed chronologically. It may have flashbacks or flashforwards.

a work of prose, usually fiction, usually 50,000 words or longer. For example, Beloved by Toni Morrison is a novel.

Objective Correlative

a phrase coined by poet T.S. Eliot, the objective correlative is the idea that a particular object, setting or symbol can evoke emotion; for example, a desert can prompt feelings of emptiness or loneliness

a poem written in praise of its subject; for example, "Ode on a Grecian Urn" and "To Autumn" by John Keats are both written in praise of the Grecian Urn and the season of fall, respectively.

Onomatopoeia

words that sound like the object they are intending to describe. For example, the word “shush” phonetically sounds like the action it is intended to represent. Other examples include bang, thud, hiss.

a combination of contradictory or opposite ideas, qualities, or entities. For example, Mrs. Mallard experiences "monstrous joy" after hearing news of her husband's death in "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin.

the reversal of fortune which occurs to a tragic hero, as defined by Aristotle in Poetics. An example of peripeteia is when Creon, who has all the power and control in Antigone, suddenly finds out his son and wife have died, and his entire world is flipped upside down.

Personification

giving human qualities to animals or objects for the sake of imagery. For example, “the trees’ branches reached towards the sun like arms.” Similar to anthropomorphism

Perspective

the lens through which the story is told. For example, the story might be told in first person (I, me), second person (you) or third person (it, they, she, he, nouns). See Point of View

is the events or action of the story, and the order in which the events are told.

is difficult to define, as it is amorphous: often, one can recognize poetry by its use of line, meter, and stanzas (i.e. it is not written in prose), but poetry can also (though less commonly) be written in prose. A poem may rhyme (or not), but usually the emphasis of poetry is to evoke a feeling in the reader in surprising ways.

Point of View

the perspective through which the story is told. For example, the story might be told in first person (I, me), second person (you) or third person (it, they, she, he, nouns). Point of View can even shift throughout the story, moving from one character’s perspective to another, or from characters to a narrator. The four main points of view include

  • First-person narration: the narrator is telling the story from their perspective, using pronouns like I, me, and we
  • Second-person narration: the narrator is telling the story from their perspective, directly addressing the reader using words like you, your
  • Third-person limited narration: the narrator comes across as more impartial, using objective nouns like they, her, she. They may only be able to see from this perspective, and not into the heads of different characters
  • Third-person omniscient narration : the narrator has a God's eye view and can get into different characters' heads and perspectives, seeing the story in a way that would not be possible in real life

articles or objects on a stage during a play that are sometimes symbolic.

written work without line breaks AKA anything that is not a poem, such as fiction and creative nonfiction.

Protagonist

the main character of a story, who is often but not always the hero of the story. For example, the protagonist of Paradise Lost by John Milton is Satan, even though most would not consider him a hero.

a play on words, usually for comedic or rhetorical effect. Often it relies upon a word having two meanings or sounding like another word. For example, if someone says a joke/pun and I respond with “very punny!”, I am responding to a pun with a pun, since “punny” sounds like “funny” but also indicates awareness of the original statement’s status as a pun. Similar to the double entendre .

a cluster or stanza of four lines in a poem

a style of literature in which, whether fiction or nonfiction, events are described as realistically as possible; that is, true to life. For example, Ambrose Bierce,who fought for the Union during the Civil War, described war in brutal, gritty detail in his stories, whereas many previous authors described war as heroic and glorious. See verisimilitude .

when a literary work refers to an outside work and explicitly names that outside work. For example, when Hamlet describes his father as "Hyperion" and Claudius as a "satyr," audiences can easily find the works or ideas to which he references; Greek mythological figures (1.2.140).

two words paired together with similar sounds, for example "boon" and "moon"

the "heartbeat" of language in which words fall into patterns for euphonic or discordant effect. Often this is achieved through syllabic emphasis such as meter.

a work of literature whose principal subject is love between two characters

Romanticism

a literary and artistic movement in the 18th and 19th centuries largely viewed as a reaction against Enlightenment and Industrialization which emphasized the value of nature over industry, feelings over logic, and a sense of nostalgia for the past

the design, decoration, and scenery on a stage during a play.

the place(s) where the action of the story or poem takes place. For example, “Bajadas” by Francisco Cantú takes place on the U.S. Mexico border, and Hamlet takes place in Denmark.

a figurative use of language in which one thing is compared to another using the words, similar to a metaphor except it uses the words “like” or “as.” For example, Robert Burns’ famous poem “A Red, Red Rose” begins with the line “O my Luve is like a red, red rose” (1).

the narrator of a poem; the voice or perspective through which a poem is told. For example, the speaker in “Richard Cory” by Edwin Arlington Robinson is presumably a townsperson who watches Richard Cory from a distance.

Stage Directions

written instructions in a script that inform how to stage, perform, or imagine a play.

is a poem paragraph: that is, a poem may be divided into clumps of lines for rhetorical effect. If there are no spaces, the poem is described as being only one stanza. Some poems, like Wordsworth’s “I wandered lonely as a cloud,” have multiple stanzas.

Static Character

a character who does not change significantly over the course of a story.

Stream of Consciousness

is when the point of view dips in and out of third person into characters’ points of view seamlessly, as if the reader is dipping their toes in a stream of the thoughts and ideas of characters.

is the use of a physical object to represent an abstract idea. For example, while physically a piece of colored cloth, to some the United States’ flag represents freedom, to others sacrifice, and to others oppression.

figurative language in which a part stands in for the whole. For example,  The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass describes a scene on the "Chesapeake Bay, whose broad bosom was ever white with sails from every quarter of the habitable globe" where the sails represent ships. See: metonym

Synesthesia

the mixing of senses or descriptive imagery; using one sense to describe another. For example, the phrase “summer tastes yellow” mixes gustatory imagery (taste) with visual imagery (yellow).

the order of words in a sentence. For example, in Hamlet, when Polonius says “To thine own self be true,” he disorders the syntax used in contemporary spoken language (be true to yourself); writers often manipulate syntax for rhetorical effect

is a Russian formalist term used to describe the manner in which a story is told rather than the content of the story. See: nonlinear narrative . It is often paired with the term fabula , meaning the actual chronological story events. While fabula might describe the story events, syuzhet describes the order in which they are related in the narrative. For example, in "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce, the fabula is that a Confederate Soldier gets caught attempting to burn down a Union Bridge and is hanged by Union soldiers for his crime. The syuzhet of the story is much more fragmented and jumps around in time.

the main idea(s) of a work of literature. For example, some of the themes of Hamlet might be grief, vengeance, or political corruption.

the main argument of an essay. A strong thesis in literary criticism is a debatable interpretation of a literary work, based on observations about that work.

can be described as the attitude or mood of the work, and the style of narration. For example, the tone of Hamlet is dark and scathing, while A Midsummer Night’s Dream is dreamlike and, overall, happy

as defined by Aristotle in his work Poetics, is “an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play; in the form of action, not of narrative; through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these emotions.” Classic examples of Tragedy might include the Oedipus Trilogy by Sophocles or Hamlet by William Shakespeare

Tragic Hero

as defined by Aristotle’s Poetics , the tragic hero is the focal character of a tragedy, who is mostly good but due to some flaw (hamartia) is doomed to fall. The character must go through plot elements such as peripeteia (reversal of fortune), anagnorisis (recognition), and ultimately result in catharsis (purgation of pity and fear). Creon in Sophocles’ Antigone is often cited as a tragic hero archetype; Hamlet might also be described as a tragic hero.

any type of figurative language, or figurative phrase, repeatedly used to describe a literal situation. For example, when poet Robert Burns refers to his love as a "red, red rose," this is a trope of the rose as a symbol of love. A trope has also come to have negative connotations as a use of figurative language which has become overused, such as the aforementioned rose as love metaphor.

Unreliable Narrator

is a first-person narrator of a work of literature who is not to be trusted. They may be morally questionable or dishonest, or have a flaw which makes them difficult to understand for the reader. One example of an unreliable narrator might be the narrator in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Purloined Letter," because he is clearly biased towards Dupin and seems to get all of his information third-hand rather than witnessing it himself.

Verisimilitude

is how realistic a work of literature seems. It does not necessarily mean the work is true: for example, a work of fiction can have strong verisimilitude in that the reality of the text is so artfully rendered that it seems real to the reader. To put it colloquially, verisimilitude is what Stephen Colbert might call the “truthiness” of a work. For example, though fictional, "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien conveys a realistic portrayal of the Vietnam War due to the rich description, colloquial soldier language, and likely because of Tim O'Brien's real-life experiences during the Vietnam War.

is a method of organizing a work of literature wherein rather than telling the story chronologically, the story is told through snapshots of brief scenes or moments. For example, “Bajadas” by Francisco Cantu told through a series of vignettes about the narrator’s time on the border.

Zoomorphism

is the opposite of anthropomorphism; that is, it is describing human characters with animal-like qualities, or reducing humans to animals. For example, in Hamlet , Hamlet describes Claudius as goatlike (satyr), as a serpent, and Polonius as a rat.

is a grammatical construct where a single word or phrase yokes together two different ideas for rhetorical effect. For example, “the flowers withered and so did she.” Here “withered” yokes together “flowers” and “she,” using the verb in a traditional way as it is applied to flowers, but in a figurative way to imply sadness or defeat when applied to “she.”

C-ID Alignment

This knowledge resource aligns with California Community Colleges C-ID ENGL 110

Course Content

  • Literary terminology, devices, and critical approaches

Student Learning Outcomes

  • 7: Use style, diction, and tone appropriate to the academic community and the purpose of the specific writing task
  • 9: Define common literary terms and apply these to analysis of specific texts

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Literary Terms

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This handout gives a rundown of some important terms and concepts used when talking and writing about literature.

Included below is a list of literary terms that can help you interpret, critique, and respond to a variety of different written works. This list is by no means comprehensive, but instead offers a primer to the language frequently used by scholars and students researching literary works. This list and the terms included in it can help you begin to identify central concerns or elements in a work that might help facilitate your interpretation, argumentation, and analysis. We encourage you to read this list alongside the other guides to literary interpretation included on the OWL Website. Please use the links on the left-hand side of this page to access other helpful resources.

  • Characterization : The ways individual characters are represented by the narrator or author of a text. This includes descriptions of the characters’ physical appearances, personalities, actions, interactions, and dialogue.
  • Dialogue : Spoken exchanges between characters in a dramatic or literary work, usually between two or more speakers.
  • Genre : A kind of literature. For instance, comedy, mystery, tragedy, satire, elegy, romance, and epic are all genres. Texts frequently draw elements from multiple genres to create dynamic narratives. Alastair Fowler uses the following elements to define genres: organizational features (chapters, acts, scenes, stanzas); length; mood (the Gothic novel tends to be moody and dark); style (a text can be high, low, or in-between depending on its audience); the reader’s role (readers of a mystery are expected to interpret evidence); and the author’s reason for writing (an epithalamion is a poem composed for marriage) (Mickics 132-3).
  • Imagery : A term used to describe an author’s use of vivid descriptions “that evoke sense-impressions by literal or figurative reference to perceptible or ‘concrete’ objects, scenes, actions, or states” (Baldick 121). Imagery can refer to the literal landscape or characters described in a narrative or the theoretical concepts an author employs.
  • Plot : The sequence of events that occur through a work to produce a coherent narrative or story.
  • Point of View: The perspective (visual, interpretive, bias, etc.) a text takes when presenting its plot and narrative. For instance, an author might write a narrative from a specific character’s point of view, which means that that character is our narrative and readers experience events through his or her eyes.
  • Style : Comprising an author’s diction, syntax, tone, characters, and other narrative techniques, “style” is used to describe the way an author uses language to convey his or her ideas and purpose in writing. An author’s style can also be associated to the genre or mode of writing the author adopts, such as in the case of a satire or elegy with would adopt a satirical or elegiac style of writing.
  • Symbol(ism): An object or element incorporated into a narrative to represent another concept or concern. Broadly, representing one thing with another. Symbols typically recur throughout a narrative and offer critical, though often overlooked, information about events, characters, and the author’s primary concerns in telling the story.
  • Theme : According to Baldick, a theme may be defined as “a salient abstract idea that emerges from a literary work’s treatment of its subject-matter; or a topic recurring in a number or literary works” (Baldick 258). Themes in literature tend to differ depending on author, time period, genre, style, purpose, etc.
  • Tone : A way of communicating information (in writing, images, or sound) that conveys an attitude. Authors convey tone through a combination of word-choice, imagery, perspective, style, and subject matter. By adopting a specific tone, authors can help readers accurately interpret meaning in a text.
  • First person : A story told from the perspective of one or several characters, each of whom typically uses the word “I.” This means that readers “see” or experience events in the story through the narrator’s eyes.
  • Second person : A narrative perspective that typically addresses that audience using “you.” This mode can help authors address readers and invest them in the story.
  • Third person : Describes a narrative told from the perspective of an outside figure who does not participate directly in the events of a story. This mode uses “he,” “she,” and “it” to describe events and characters.

Types of Prose Texts

  • Bildungsroman : This is typically a type of novel that depicts an individual’s coming-of-age through self-discovery and personal knowledge. Such stories often explore the protagonists’ psychological and moral development. Examples include Dickens’ Great Expectations and Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man .
  • Epistolary : A novel composed primarily of letters sent and received by its principal characters. This type of novel was particularly popular during the eighteenth century.
  • Essay : According to Baldick, “a short written composition in prose that discusses a subject or proposes an argument without claiming to be a complete or thorough exposition” (Baldick 87). A notable example of the essay form is Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal,” which uses satire to discuss eighteenth-century economic and social concerns in Ireland.
  • Novella : An intermediate-length (between a novel and a short story) fictional narrative.

Terms for Interpreting Authorial Voice

  • Apology : Often at the beginning or conclusion of a text, the term “apology” refers to an instance in which the author or narrator justifies his or her goals in producing the text.
  • Irony : Typically refers to saying one thing and meaning the opposite, often to shock audiences and emphasize the importance of the truth.
  • Satire : A style of writing that mocks, ridicules, or pokes fun at a person, belief, or group of people in order to challenge them. Often, texts employing satire use sarcasm, irony, or exaggeration to assert their perspective.
  • Stream of consciousness : A mode of writing in which the author traces his or her thoughts verbatim into the text. Typically, this style offers a representation of the author’s exact thoughts throughout the writing process and can be used to convey a variety of different emotions or as a form of pre-writing.

Terms for Interpreting Characters

  • Antagonist : A character in a text who the protagonist opposes. The antagonist is often (though not always) the villain of a story.
  • Anti-hero : A protagonist of a story who embodies none of the qualities typically assigned to traditional heroes and heroines. Not to be confused with the antagonist of a story, the anti-hero is a protagonist whose failings are typically used to humanize him or her and convey a message about the reality of human existence.
  • Archetype : “a resonant figure of mythic importance, whether a personality, place, or situation, found in diverse cultures and different historical periods” (Mickics 24). Archetypes differ from allegories because they tend to reference broader or commonplace (often termed “stock”) character types, plot points, and literary conventions. Paying attention to archetypes can help readers identify what an author may posit as “universal truths” about life, society, human interaction, etc. based on what other authors or participants in a culture may have said about them.
  • Epithet : According to Taafe, “An adjective, noun, or phase expressing some characteristic quality of a thing or person or a descriptive name applied to a person, as Richard the Lion-Hearted” (Taafe 58). An epithet usually indicates some notable quality about the individual with whom it addresses, but it can also be used ironically to emphasize qualities that individual might actually lack.
  • Personification : The artistic representation of a concept, quality, or idea in the form of a person. Personification can also refer to “a person who is considered a representative type of a particular quality or concept” (Taafe 120). Many classical deities are good examples of personifications. For instance, the Greek god Ares is a personification of war.
  • Protagonist : The primary character in a text, often positioned as “good” or the character with whom readers are expected to identify. Protagonists usually oppose an antagonist.

Terms for Interpreting Word Choice, Dialogue, and Speech

  • Alliteration : According to Baldick, “The repetition of the same sounds—usually initial consonants of words or of stressed syllabus—in any sequence of neighboring words” (Baldick 6). Alliteration is typically used to convey a specific tone or message.
  • Apostrophe : This figure of speech refers to an address to “a dead or absent person, or an abstraction or inanimate object” and is “usually employed for emotional emphasis, can become ridiculous [or humorous] when misapplied” (Baldick 17).
  • Diction : Word choice, or the specific language an author, narrator, or speaker uses to describe events and interact with other characters.

Terms for Interpreting Plot

  • Climax : The height of conflict and intrigue in a narrative. This is when events in the narrative and characters’ destinies are most unclear; the climax often appears as a decision the protagonist must make or a challenge he or she must overcome in order for the narrative to obtain resolution.
  • Denouement : The “falling action” of a narrative, when the climax and central conflicts are resolved and a resolution is found. In a play, this is typically the last act and in a novel it might include the final chapters.
  • Deus Ex Machina : According to Taafe, “Literally, in Latin, the ‘god from the machine’; a deity in Greek and Roman drama who was brought in by stage machinery to intervene in the action; hence, any character, event, or device suddenly introduced to resolve the conflict” (43).
  • Exposition : Usually located at the beginning of a text, this is a detailed discussion introducing characters, setting, background information, etc. readers might need to know in order to understand the text that follows. This section is particularly rich for analysis because it contains a lot of important information in a relatively small space.
  • Frame Narrative : a story that an author encloses around the central narrative in order to provide background information and context. This is typically referred to as a “story within a story” or a “tale within a tale.” Frame stories are usually located in a distinct place and time from the narratives they surround. Examples of stories with frame narratives include Canterbury Tales, Frankenstein , and Wuthering Heights .
  • In media res : Beginning in “the middle of things,” or when an author begins a text in the midst of action. This often functions as a way to both incorporate the reader directly into the narrative and secure his or her interest in the narrative that follows.

Terms for Interpreting Layers of Meaning

  • Allegory : A literary mode that attempts to convert abstract concepts, values, beliefs, or historical events into characters or other tangible elements in a narrative. Examples include, Gulliver’s Travels, The Faerie Queene, Pilgrim’s Progress, and Paradise Lost .
  • Allusion : When a text references, incorporates, or responds to an earlier piece (including literature, art, music, film, event, etc). T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land (1922) offers an extensive example of allusion in literature. According to Baldick, “The technique of allusion is an economical means of calling upon the history or the literary tradition that author and reader are assumed to share” (7).
  • Hyperbole : exaggerated language, description, or speech that is not meant to be taken literally, but is used for emphasis. For instance, “I’ve been waiting here for ages” or “This bag weighs a ton.”
  • Metaphor : a figure of speech that refers to one thing by another in order to identify similarities between the two (and therefore define each in relation to one another).
  • Note that metonymy differs subtly from synecdoche, which substitutes a part of something for the whole. For example, the phrase "all hands on deck" can substitute for the more awkward "all people on deck."
  • Parody : a narrative work or writing style that mocks or mimics another genre or work. Typically, parodies exaggerate and emphasize elements from the original work in order to ridicule, comment on, or criticize their message.
  • Simile : a figure of speech that compares two people, objects, elements, or concepts using “like” or “as.”

Works Cited

For more information or to read about other literary terms, please see the following texts:

Baldick, Chris. Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms . Oxford University Press, 2001.

Mikics, David. A New Handbook of Literary Terms . Yale University Press, 2007.

Taafe, James G. A Student’s Guide to Literary Term s. The World Publishing Company, 1967.

literary devices purpose

Figurative Language

literary devices purpose

Figurative Language Definition

What is figurative language? Here’s a quick and simple definition:

Figurative language is language that contains or uses figures of speech . When people use the term "figurative language," however, they often do so in a slightly narrower way. In this narrower definition, figurative language refers to language that uses words in ways that deviate from their literal interpretation to achieve a more complex or powerful effect. This view of figurative language focuses on the use of figures of speech that play with the meaning of words, such as metaphor , simile , personification , and hyperbole .

Some additional key details about figurative language:

  • Figurative language is common in all sorts of writing, as well as in spoken language.
  • Figurative language refers to language that contains figures of speech, while figures of speech are the particular techniques. If figurative speech is like a dance routine, figures of speech are like the various moves that make up the routine.
  • It's a common misconception that imagery, or vivid descriptive language, is a kind of figurative language. In fact, writers can use figurative language as one tool to help create imagery, but imagery does not have to use figurative language.

Figurative Language Pronunciation

Here's how to pronounce figurative language: fig -yer-uh-tiv lang -gwij

Figures of Speech and Figurative Language

To fully understand figurative language, it's helpful to have a basic understanding of figures of speech. More specifically, it's helpful to understand the two main types of figures of speech: tropes and schemes .

  • Tropes are figures of speech that play with and shift the expected and literal meaning of words.
  • Schemes are figures of speech that involve a change from the typical mechanics of a sentence, such as the order, pattern, or arrangement of words.

Put even more simply: tropes play with the meaning of words, while schemes play with the structure of words, phrases, and sentences.

The Different Things People Mean When They Say Figurative Language

When people say figurative language, they don't always mean the precise same thing. Here are the three different ways people usually talk about figurative language:

  • Dictionary definition of figurative language: According to the dictionary, figurative language is simply any language that contains or uses figures of speech. This definition would mean that figurative language includes the use of both tropes and schemes.
  • Much more common real world use of figurative language: However, when people (including teachers) refer to figurative language, they usually mean language that plays with the literal meaning of words. This definition sees figurative language as language that primarily involves the use of tropes.
  • Another common real world use of figurative language: Some people define figurative language as including figures of speech that play with meaning as well as a few other common schemes that affect the rhythm and sound of text, such as alliteration and assonance .

What does all that boil down to for you? If you hear someone talking about figurative language, you can usually safely assume they are referring to language that uses figures of speech to play with the meaning of words and, perhaps, with the way that language sounds or feels.

Common Types of Figurative Language

There are many, many types of figures of speech that can be involved in figurative language. Some of the most common are:

  • Metaphor : A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unrelated things by stating that one thing is another thing, even though this isn't literally true. For example, the phrase "her lips are a blooming rose" obviously doesn't literally mean what it says—it's a metaphor that makes a comparison between the red beauty and promise of a blooming rose with that of the lips of the woman being described.
  • Simile : A simile, like a metaphor, makes a comparison between two unrelated things. However, instead of stating that one thing is another thing (as in metaphor), a simile states that one thing is like another thing. An example of a simile would be to say "they fought like cats and dogs."
  • Oxymoron : An oxymoron pairs contradictory words in order to express new or complex meanings. In the phrase "parting is such sweet sorrow" from Romeo and Juliet , "sweet sorrow" is an oxymoron that captures the complex and simultaneous feelings of pain and pleasure associated with passionate love.
  • Hyperbole : Hyperbole is an intentional exaggeration of the truth, used to emphasize the importance of something or to create a comic effect. An example of a hyperbole is to say that a backpack "weighs a ton." No backpack literally weighs a ton, but to say "my backpack weighs ten pounds" doesn't effectively communicate how burdensome a heavy backpack feels.
  • Personification : In personification, non-human things are described as having human attributes, as in the sentence, "The rain poured down on the wedding guests, indifferent to their plans." Describing the rain as "indifferent" is an example of personification, because rain can't be "indifferent," nor can it feel any other human emotion.
  • Idiom : An idiom is a phrase that, through general usage within a particular group or society, has gained a meaning that is different from the literal meaning of the words. The phrase "it's raining cats and dogs" is known to most Americans to mean that it's raining hard, but an English-speaking foreigner in the United States might find the phrase totally confusing.
  • Onomatopoeia : Onomatopoeia is a figure of speech in which words evoke the actual sound of the thing they refer to or describe. The “boom” of a firework exploding, the “tick tock” of a clock, and the “ding dong” of a doorbell are all examples of onomatopoeia.
  • Synecdoche : In synecdoche, a part of something is used to refer to its whole . For example, "The captain commands one hundred sails" is a synecdoche that uses "sails" to refer to ships—ships being the thing of which a sail is a part.
  • Metonymy : Metonymy is a figure of speech in which an object or concept is referred to not by its own name, but instead by the name of something closely associated with it. For example, in "Wall Street prefers lower taxes," the New York City street that was the original home of the New York Stock Exchange stands in for (or is a "metonym" for) the entire American financial industry.
  • Alliteration : In alliteration, the same sound repeats in a group of words, such as the “ b ” sound in: “ B ob b rought the b ox of b ricks to the b asement.” Alliteration uses repetition to create a musical effect that helps phrases to stand out from the language around them.
  • Assonance : The repetition of vowel sounds repeat in nearby words, such as the " ee " sound: "the squ ea ky wh ee l gets the gr ea se." Like alliteration, assonance uses repeated sounds to create a musical effect in which words echo one another.

Figurative Language vs. Imagery

Many people (and websites) argue that imagery is a type of figurative language. That is actually incorrect. Imagery refers to a writers use of vivid and descriptive language to appeal to the reader's senses and more deeply evoke places, things, emotions, and more. The following sentence uses imagery to give the reader a sense of how what is being described looks, feels, smells, and sounds:

The night was dark and humid, the scent of rotting vegetation hung in the air, and only the sound of mosquitoes broke the quiet of the swamp.

This sentence uses no figurative language. Every word means exactly what it says, and the sentence is still an example of the use of imagery. That said, imagery can use figurative language, often to powerful effect:

The night was dark and humid, heavy with a scent of rotting vegetation like a great-aunt's heavy and inescapable perfume, and only the whining buzz of mosquitoes broke the silence of the swamp.

In this sentence, the description has been made more powerful through the use of a simile ("like a great-aunt's..."), onomatopoeia ("whining buzz," which not only describes but actually sounds like the noise made by mosquitoes), and even a bit of alliteration in the " s ilence of the s wamp."

To sum up: imagery is not a form of figurative language. But a writer can enhance his or her effort to write imagery through the use of figurative language.

Figurative Language Examples

Figurative language is more interesting, lively, beautiful, and memorable than language that's purely literal. Figurative language is found in all sorts of writing, from poetry to prose to speeches to song lyrics, and is also a common part of spoken speech. The examples below show a variety of different types of figures of speech. You can see many more examples of each type at their own specific LitChart entries.

Figurative Language Example: Metaphor

Metaphor in shakespeare's romeo and juliet.

In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet , Romeo uses the following metaphor in Act 2 Scene 2 of Romeo and Juliet , after sneaking into Juliet's garden and catching a glimpse of her on her balcony:

But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.

Romeo compares Juliet to the sun not only to describe how radiantly beautiful she is, but also to convey the full extent of her power over him. He's so taken with Juliet that her appearances and disappearances affect him like those of the sun. His life "revolves" around Juliet like the earth orbits the sun.

Figurative Language Example: Simile

In this example of a simile from Slaughterhouse-Five , Billy Pilgrim emerges from an underground slaughterhouse where he has been held prisoner by the Germans during the deadly World War II firebombing of Dresden:

It wasn't safe to come out of the shelter until noon the next day. When the Americans and their guards did come out, the sky was black with smoke. The sun was an angry little pinhead. Dresden was like the moon now , nothing but minerals. The stones were hot. Everybody else in the neighborhood was dead.

Vonnegut uses simile to compare the bombed city of Dresden to the moon in order to capture the totality of the devastation—the city is so lifeless that it is like the barren moon.

Figurative Language Example: Oxymoron

These lines from Chapter 7 of Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls describe an encounter between Robert Jordan, a young American soldier fighting in the Spanish Civil War, and his lover María.

She held herself tight to him and her lips looked for his and then found them and were against them and he felt her, fresh, new and smooth and young and lovely with the warm, scalding coolness and unbelievable to be there in the robe that was as familiar as his clothes, or his shoes, or his duty and then she said, frightenedly, “And now let us do quickly what it is we do so that the other is all gone.”

The couple's relationship becomes a bright spot for both of them in the midst of war, but ultimately also a source of pain and confusion for Jordan, as he struggles to balance his obligation to fight with his desire to live happily by Maria's side. The contradiction contained within the oxymoron "scalding coolness" emphasizes the couple's conflicting emotions and impossible situation.

Figurative Language Example: Hyperbole

Elizabeth Bennet, the most free-spirited character in Pride and Prejudice , refuses Mr. Darcy's first marriage proposal with a string of hyperbole :

From the very beginning, from the first moment I may almost say, of my acquaintance with you, your manners impressing me with the fullest belief of your arrogance, your conceit, and your selfish disdain of the feelings of others, were such as to form that ground-work of disapprobation, on which succeeding events have built so immoveable a dislike; and I had not known you a month before I felt that you were the last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed on to marry.

Elizabeth's closing statement, that Darcy is the "last man in the world" whom she would ever marry, is an obvious hyperbole. It's hard to believe that Elizabeth would rather marry, say, an axe murderer or a diseased pirate than Mr. Darcy. Even beyond the obvious exaggeration, Austen's use of hyperbole in this exchange hints at the fact that Elizabeth's feelings for Darcy are more complicated than she admits, even to herself. Austen drops various hints throughout the beginning of the novel that Elizabeth feels something beyond mere dislike for Darcy. Taken together with these hints, Elizabeth's hyperbolic statements seem designed to convince not only Darcy, but also herself, that their relationship has no future.

Figurative Language Example: Personification

In Chapter 1 of The Scarlet Letter , Nathaniel Hawthorne describes a wild rose bush that grows in front of Salem's gloomy wooden jail:

But, on one side of the portal, and rooted almost at the threshold, was a wild rose-bush, covered, in this month of June, with its delicate gems, which might be imagined to offer their fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisoner as he went in, and to the condemned criminal as he came forth to his doom, in token that the deep heart of Nature could pity and be kind to him.

In the context of the novel's setting in 17th century Boston, this rose bush, which grows wild in front of an establishment dedicated to enforcing harsh puritan values, symbolizes those elements of human nature that cannot be repressed, no matter how strict a community's moral code may be: desire, fertility, and a love of beauty. By personifying the rosebush as "offering" its blossoms to reflect Nature's pity (Nature is also personified here as having a "heart"), Hawthorne turns the passive coincidence of the rosebush's location into an image of human nature actively resisting its constraints.

Figurative Language Example: Idiom

Figurative language example: onomatopoeia.

In Act 3, Scene 3 of Shakespeare's The Tempest , Caliban uses onomatopoeia to convey the noises of the island.

Be not afeard. The isle is full of noises, Sounds, and sweet airs that give delight and hurt not. Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices...

The use of onomatopoeia makes the audience feel the sounds on the island, rather than just have to take Caliban's word about there being noises.

Figurative Language Example: Synecdoche

In Act 4, Scene 3 of Shakespeare's Macbeth , an angry Macbeth kicks out a servant by saying:

Take thy face hence.

Here, "thy face" stands in for "you." Macbeth is simply telling the servant to leave, but his use of synecdoche makes the tone of his command more harsh and insulting because he uses synecdoche to treat the servant not as a person but as an object, a body part.

Figurative Language Example: Metonymy

In his song "Juicy," Notorious B.I.G. raps:

Now I'm in the limelight 'cause I rhyme tight

Here he's using "limelight" as a metonymy for fame (a "limelight" was a kind of spotlight used in old theaters, and so it came to be associated with the fame of being in the spotlight). Biggie's use of metonymy here also sets him up for a sweet rhyme.

Figurative Language Example: Alliteration

In his song "Rap God," Eminem shows his incredible lyrical dexterity by loading up the alliteration :

S o I wanna make sure, s omewhere in this chicken s cratch I S cribble and doodle enough rhymes T o maybe t ry t o help get s ome people through t ough t imes But I gotta k eep a few punchlines Just in c ase, ‘ c ause even you un s igned Rappers are hungry l ooking at me l ike it's l unchtime…

Why Do Writers Use Figurative Language?

The term figurative language refers to a whole host of different figures of speech, so it's difficult to provide a single definitive answer to why writers use figurative language. That said, writers use figurative language for a wide variety of reasons:

  • Interest and beauty: Figurative language allows writes to express descriptions, ideas, and more in ways that are unique and beautiful.
  • Complexity and power: Because figurative language can create meanings that go beyond the literal, it can capture complex ideas, feelings, descriptions, or truths that cause readers to see things in a new way, or more closely mirror the complex reality of the world.
  • Visceral affect: Because figurative language can both impact the rhythm and sound of language, and also connect the abstract (say, love) with the concrete (say, a rose), it can help language make an almost physical impact on a reader.
  • Humor: By allowing a writer to layer additional meanings over literal meanings, or even to imply intended meanings that are the opposite of the literal meaning, figurative language gives writers all sorts of options for creating humor in their writing.
  • Realism: People speak and even think in terms of the sorts of comparisons that underlie so much figurative language. Rather than being flowery, figurative language allows writers to describe things in ways that match how people really think about them, and to create characters who themselves feel real.

In general, figurative language often makes writing feel at once more accessible and powerful, more colorful, surprising, and deep.

Other Helpful Figurative Language Resources

  • The dictionary definition of figurative : Touches on figurative language, as well as some other meanings of the word.
  • Figurative and Frost : Examples of figurative language in the context of the poetry of Robert Frost.
  • Figurative YouTube : A video identifying various forms of figurative language from movies and television shows.
  • Wikipedia on literal and figurative language : A bit technical, but with a good list of examples.

The printed PDF version of the LitCharts literary term guide on Figurative Language

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  • Explanations and citation info for 39,263 quotes across 1868 books
  • Downloadable (PDF) line-by-line translations of every Shakespeare play
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Definition of Analogy

An analogy is a figure of speech that creates a comparison by showing how two seemingly different entities are alike, along with illustrating a larger point due to their commonalities. As a literary device, the purpose of analogy is not just to make a comparison, but to provide an explanation as well with additional information or context . This makes analogy a bit more complex than similar literary devices such as metaphor and simile . Analogy is an effective device in terms of providing a new or deeper meaning to concepts through the artistic use of language.

For example, the analogy  nose is to olfactory as ear is to auditory makes a comparison between parts of the body that are related to certain senses and the words to describe the senses themselves. “Olfactory” refers to the sense of smell, which is related to “nose.” “Auditory” refers to the sense of hearing, which is related to “ear.” Of course, the writer could use the analogy  nose is to smell as ear is to hear for a similar comparison. However, the description words of olfactory and auditory create a deeper meaning and sense of the relationship between these parts of the body and the senses.

Common Examples of Analogy

Many people are introduced to analogy as a form of word relationship that demonstrates the associations between two object or concept pairs on the basis of logic or reasoning. The phrasing for these analogies is generally “(first word) is to (second word) as (third word) is to (fourth word)” or “baby is to adult as kitten is to cat.” Here are some common examples of verbal analogies:

  • blue is to color as circle is to shape
  • eyes are to sight as fingers are to touch
  • cub is to bear and calf is to cow
  • sand is to beach as water is to ocean
  • glove is to hand as sock is to foot
  • ripple is to pond as wave is to ocean
  • words are to writing as notes are to music
  • fish are to aquariums as animals are to zoos
  • fingers are to snapping as hands are to clapping
  • petal is to flower as leaf is to tree

Famous Examples of Analogy

Think you haven’t heard of any famous analogies? Here are some recognizable examples of this figure of speech by well-known writers and speakers :

  • That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet ( William Shakespeare )
  • And I began to let him go. Hour by hour. Days into months. It was a physical sensation, like letting out the string of a kite. Except that the string was coming from my center. (Augusten Burroughs)
  • It has been well said that an author who expects results from a first novel is in a position similar to that of a man who drops a rose petal down the Grand Canyon of Arizona and listens for the echo. (P.G. Wodehouse)
  • Don’t worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. (Mary Schmich)
  • Confession is good for the soul only in the sense that a tweed coat is good for dandruff – it is a palliative rather than a remedy. (Peter De Vries)
  • Withdrawal of U.S. troops will become like salted peanuts to the American public; the more U.S. troops come home, the more will be demanded. (Henry Kissinger)
  • People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within. (Elisabeth Kubler-Ross)
  • A nation wearing atomic armor is like a knight whose armor has grown so heavy he is immobilized; he can hardly walk, hardly sit his horse, hardly think, hardly breathe. The H-bomb is an extremely effective deterrent to war, but it has little virtue as a weapon of war because it would leave the world uninhabitable. (E.B. White)

Examples of Analogy by Thomas Carlyle

Thomas Carlyle was a British writer, historian, philosopher, and mathematician of the 19th Century. His writings often featured analogies that have since appeared in standardized tests of advanced placement English, among others. Carlyle’s analogies are thought-provoking as comparisons and valuable for analysis. Here are some examples:

  • Under all speech that is good for anything, there lies a silence that is better. Silence is deep as Eternity; speech is shallow as Time.
  • No great man lives in vain. The history of the world is but the biography of great men.
  • It has been well said that the highest aim in education is analogous to the highest aim in mathematics, namely, to obtain not results but powers, not particular solutions, but the means by which endless solutions may be wrought.
  • What we become depends on what we read after all of the professors have finished with us. The greatest university of all is a collection of books.
  • Music is well said to be the speech of angels; in fact, nothing among the utterances allowed to man is felt to be so divine. It brings us near to the infinite.
  • The block of granite which was an obstacle in the pathway of the weak becomes a stepping-stone in the pathway of the strong.
  • Wondrous is the strength of cheerfulness, and its power of endurance – the cheerful man will do more in the same time, will do it better, will preserve it longer, than the sad or sullen.
  • Show me the man you honor, and I will know what kind of man you are.

Difference Between Analogy, Metaphor, and Simile

Analogies, similes, and metaphors are all figures of speech used to create comparisons between different entities. These literary devices are often confused with each other, though they can be distinguished. A simile utilizes the words “like” or “as” to make a comparison. A metaphor uses figurative language to compare two things by stating that one is the other. An analogy creates a comparison with the intent of explanation or indicating a larger point.

Here are some examples to help differentiate between these three literary devices:

  • Memory is to love what the saucer is to the cup.– This is an analogy . It explains the abstract relationship between memory and love by making a comparison between the tangible and familiar relationship between a cup and saucer. Though these entities are different in terms of abstract concepts and tangible items, they are alike in the sense that a saucer holds and supports a cup as memory holds and supports love. This analogy provides an interesting image of the relationship between memory and love through the artistic comparison to the saucer and cup.
  • Memory and love are like a saucer and cup. –This figure of speech is a Simile . The presence of the word “like” is the basis of the comparison.
  • Memory and love are a saucer and cup. –This is an example of a Metaphor . The language used in this metaphor is figurative in the sense that the reader knows that memory and love are not literally a saucer and cup. Instead, the example is making a comparison by linking them directly–that one is the other.

Analogy, simile, and metaphor are all useful and related literary devices for writers to make comparisons. The intention of these devices and their wording is what differentiates them from each other.

Writing Analogy

Overall, as a literary device, analogy functions as a means of comparing entities and enhancing the clarity of one entity through connection with the other. This is effective for readers in that analogies create imagery and a deeper understanding of concepts. Therefore, this can enhance the meaning and understanding of a literary work or theme by using artistic language to present ideas in a new way.

There are two primary types of analogy:

  • Identification of identical relationships: Like the word relationships featured above, Greek scholars utilized analogies as direct illustrations of similar relationships between word pairings. These analogies identify identical word relationships based in logic and for the purpose of reasoned argument . They also enhance connections for readers between the meanings of words and concepts.
  • Identification of shared abstraction: This type of analogy creates comparisons between two things that appear unrelated but share an attribute or pattern. The purpose of these analogies is to utilize a reader’s current knowledge of something familiar and connect it to an abstract idea so that it is more concrete in comparison.

Writers benefit from incorporating analogies into their work for the purpose of explaining and connecting ideas for their readers. It’s important for writers to understand that an effective analogy is one in which the comparison is logical and easily understood. An analogy that made an unreasonable or illogical comparison would be an improper use of the literary device.

Types of Analogy: Literal and Figurative

There are two types of analogy. One is literal and the other is figurative. In literal analogy, the comparison is literal, as one thing is stated to be similar to the other. It is used for persuasion in an argument. However, the figurative analogy is based on some features and properties. It mostly occurs through metaphors and similes. Both of these figures of speech are used in figurative analogies.

Types of Analogy in Writing

Analogy occurs at two levels in writing. The first one is the comparison of relationships. Two things are set side by side and their relationship is identified through the use of similes. The second analogical writing is about abstract ideas as two ideas are compared with each other by setting them side by side.

Use of Analogy in Sentences

  • Searching for a chicken in Granma’s soup is like searching for a turtle in the ocean.
  • Abbie’s like a squeaky mouse when she’s on the stage.
  • Water is to the lake as lava is to the volcano.
  • Pedals are to the bicycle as oars are to the boat.
  • Flow is for water as the break is for solid.
  • Drive : Steer :: Live : Breathe (A few analogies used for critical thinking are written in this form)

Examples of Analogy in Literature

Analogy is an effective literary device as a method of creating comparisons and developing meaning. Here are some examples of analogy and the way it enhances the significance of well-known literary works:

Example 1: There is no Frigate like a Book by Emily Dickinson

There is No Frigate like a Book To take us Lands away Nor any Coursers like a Page Of prancing Poetry – This Traverse may the poorest take Without oppress of Toll – How frugal is the Chariot That bears the Human Soul –

Example 2: Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

In this stanza , Thomas utilizes several literary devices, including metaphor and simile. As a whole, these lines create an analogy for death. “The dying of the light” signifies death, and that moment is compared to both blindness and sight. This creates a deeper meaning as the poet calls for “rage” against this moment to fight against blindness towards the unknown and the clarity of vision that comes with death.

Example 3: A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers by Henry David Thoreau

This world is but a canvas to our imaginations.

In this analogy, Thoreau compares the world to a canvas in terms of human imagination. To a degree, Thoreau could have created a more abstract comparison by stating that the world is but a canvas, which would have implied creativity, art, beauty in nature, and so on. Instead, he provides the added context of imagination. This allows for clarity as to what Thoreau is trying to convey to his readers, yet the analogy is still comprised of artistic and figurative language.

Synonyms of Analogy

Like other literary devices, it has close synonyms such as likeness, similarity, resemblance, or similitude could prove its synonyms.

Related posts:

  • Importance of Analogy and How to Write with Examples

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  2. 28 Common Literary Devices to Know

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    A literary device is a writing technique that writers use to express ideas, convey meaning, and highlight important themes in a piece of text. A metaphor, for instance, is a famous example of a literary device. These devices serve a wide range of purposes in literature.

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    Definition & Examples I. What is a Literary Device? In literature, any technique used to help the author achieve his or her purpose is called a literary device. Typically, these devices are used for an aesthetic purpose - that is, they're intended to make the piece more beautiful.

  7. 112 Common Literary Devices: Definitions & Examples

    Common literary devices, such as metaphors and similes, are the building blocks of literature, and what make literature so enchanting. Language evolves through the literary devices in poetry and prose; the different types of figurative language make literature spark in different ways. Consider this your crash course in common literary devices.

  8. 22 Essential Literary Devices and How to Use Them In Your Writing

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  9. Literary Devices List: 33 Main Literary Devices with Examples

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  11. Literary Devices and Literary Terms

    Common Literary Techniques. 1. Imagery: It is the use of figurative language to create visual representations of actions, objects and ideas in our mind in such a way that they appeal to our physical senses. For example: The room was dark and gloomy. -The words "dark" and "gloomy" are visual images. The river was roaring in the mountains.

  12. Literary Devices

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  16. What are Literary Devices?

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  18. Literary Devices: 55+ Devices to Enrich Your Writing

    22 - Tautology. A tautology occurs when a writer uses the same words or synonyms through repetition to emphasize a point. This literary device can be tricky because although some writers use repetition to emphasize a point poetically, others use repetition to emphasize a point in a way that may appear redundant.

  19. Diction

    Definition of Diction. As a literary device, diction refers to the linguistic choices made by a writer to convey an idea or point of view, or tell a story, in an effective way. The author's selection of words or vocabulary and the artistic arrangements of these words is what constitutes the style and establishes the voice of a literary work.

  20. Literary Terms

    Literary Terms. Included below is a list of literary terms that can help you interpret, critique, and respond to a variety of different written works. This list is by no means comprehensive, but instead offers a primer to the language frequently used by scholars and students researching literary works. This list and the terms included in it can ...

  21. Figurative Language

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  23. Analogy

    As a literary device, the purpose of analogy is not just to make a comparison, but to provide an explanation as well with additional information or context. This makes analogy a bit more complex than similar literary devices such as metaphor and simile.