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    Literary Devices

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    Jévell Sanderson
    The document defines and provides examples of various literary devices including: - Alliteration, which is the repetition of similar sounds at the beginning of words. - Allusion, which is an indirect reference to another work or event. - Imagery, which creates pictures in the reader's mind through descriptions of senses. - Irony, which contrasts what is stated versus what is meant or expected. There are three main types: verbal, situational, and dramatic irony. - Metaphor, which compares two unlike things without using "like" or "as". - Simile, which explicitly compares two things using "like" or "as". - Symbolism

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    Literary Devices

    Uploaded by

    Jévell Sanderson
    28 views6 pages
    The document defines and provides examples of various literary devices including: - Alliteration, which is the repetition of similar sounds at the beginning of words. - Allusion, which is an indirect reference to another work or event. - Imagery, which creates pictures in the reader's mind through descriptions of senses. - Irony, which contrasts what is stated versus what is meant or expected. There are three main types: verbal, situational, and dramatic irony. - Metaphor, which compares two unlike things without using "like" or "as". - Simile, which explicitly compares two things using "like" or "as". - Symbolism

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    The document defines and provides examples of various literary devices including: - Alliteration, which is the repetition of similar sounds at the beginning of words. - Allusion, which is an indirect reference to another work or event. - Imagery, which creates pictures in the reader's mind through descriptions of senses. - Irony, which contrasts what is stated versus what is meant or expected. There are three main types: verbal, situational, and dramatic irony. - Metaphor, which compares two unlike things without using "like" or "as". - Simile, which explicitly compares two things using "like" or "as". - Symbolism

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    28 views6 pages

    Literary Devices

    Uploaded by

    Jévell Sanderson
    The document defines and provides examples of various literary devices including: - Alliteration, which is the repetition of similar sounds at the beginning of words. - Allusion, which is an indirect reference to another work or event. - Imagery, which creates pictures in the reader's mind through descriptions of senses. - Irony, which contrasts what is stated versus what is meant or expected. There are three main types: verbal, situational, and dramatic irony. - Metaphor, which compares two unlike things without using "like" or "as". - Simile, which explicitly compares two things using "like" or "as". - Symbolism

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    Literary Devices

    Alliteration

    Alliteration is the repetition of similar sounds, generally at the beginning of words and usually by
    means of consonants or consonant sound clusters in a group of words.

    Examples: ‘Landscape-love, lord of language’ Alfred, Lord Tennyson

    Bed, Bath, and Beyond

    Allusion

    Allusion is an indirect or passing reference to some event, person, place or another work.

    Examples: Your backyard is a Garden of Eden (Biblical Allusion)


    He’s the Einstein of our English Literature class.
    The Ides of March is upon us.
    She has the voice of Whitney Huston.

    Anecdote

    Anecdote is a very short story that is told to make a point.

    Aphorism

    Aphorism is a statement expressing some truth/general principle by condensing much wisdom


    into a few words. This can be highlighted or shown in a story; it can be a moral, or proverb, or
    maxim.

    Examples: Don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched.


    Everyone is afraid of something.
    The grass is greener on the other side.
    ‘Give a man a mask and he will tell you the truth’ (Wilde)

    Assonance

    Assonance is the repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds in non-rhyming words.

    Example: Hear the mellow wedding bells. — Edgar Allan Poe, "The Bells"
    or

    And murmuring of innumerable bees - Alfred Lord Tennyson, The Princess VII.203)

    Consonance

    Consonance is the repetition of identical or similar consonant sounds in neighbouring words


    whose vowels sound different.

    Example: Mike likes his bike.

    Enjambment

    Enjambment is the running over of (the sense and grammatical structure) a sentence from one
    verse line or couplet to the next without a punctuated pause.

    Euphemism

    Euphemism is an innocuous (safe) word or expression used in place of one that is deemed
    offensive or suggests something unpleasant.

    Examples: ‘Passed away’ instead of died


    ‘Senior citizens’ instead of old people.
    ‘Let go’ instead of fired

    Farse

    A farce is type of comedy that inspires hilarity mixed with panic and cruelty in its audience
    through an increasingly rapid and improbable series of ludicrous confusion, physical disasters,
    and sexual innuedos among its *stock characters.

    Hyperbole

    Hyperbole is an exaggeration for the sake of emphasis, used either for serious or comic effect.

    Example: Her eyes opened wide as saucers.

    Idiom
    An idiom is an expression and a phrase or grammatical contraction that cannot be translated
    literally into another language because its meaning is not equivalent to that of its component
    words.

    In simpler words, it is an expression that does not exactly or literally mean what the words say.

    Example: He spilled the beans.


    A piece of cake.
    On cloud nine.

    Imagery

    Imagery is used to describe vivid descriptions. It refers to the use of language/words to evoke
    sense-impression by literal or figurative reference to perceptible or concrete objects, scenes,
    actions or states.

    In other words it creates or suggests pictures in the reader’s mind – what we see, hear, smell,
    feel, or taste. Imagery also allows readers to see and feel what the character is experiencing.

    Example: The pungent fragrance of orange blossoms sweetly drifted through the air.

    Her mouth watered and her tongue burned as she bit into the sour, peppery mango chow.

    Irony

    Irony is the contrast between what is stated and what is meant or between what is expected to
    happen and what actually happens.

    Here are three types of irony; Verbal Irony, Situational Irony and Dramatic Irony.

    Verbal Irony - occurs when the writer or the speaker says one thing, but means something else.

    Situational Irony - when the opposite occurs of what is expected to happen.

    Dramatic Irony - occurs when the audience or readers know or are aware of something that the
    character does not know.

    Juxtaposition
    Juxtaposition occurs when two or more things/ideas are placed side by side, to highlight the
    comparison and or contrast between them.

    Example: It is better late than never.


    Beggars can't be choosers.

    Metaphor

    A metaphor is the comparison of one thing, idea, or action to another thing, idea, or action, to
    suggest some common quality shared between the two.

    Example: James is a walking dictionary.


    Life is one long scary roller coaster!

    NOTE: A metaphor DOES NOT use the word like, as, or than.

    Onomatopoeia

    An onomatopoeia is the use of words that imitates the sound they refer to or mean.

    Example: Hiss, fizz, whack, snap, bang, buzz etc.

    Oxymoron

    An oxymoron is the combination of two or more words that are diametrically opposed in
    meaning.

    Example: Sweet sorrow, wise fool, living death, honest thief, big baby, bittersweet etc.

    Panoramic View

    Panoramic view refers to having a ‘bird’s eye view’, or a wide and unlimited view of; the
    actions, ideas, thoughts, and inner feelings of a character or characters, through the use of a third
    person omniscient.

    Paradox
    A paradox is a statement or expression so surprisingly self-contradictory that provokes readers
    into seeking another sense or context in which it would be true.

    The statement or expression may appear to be silly but in reality, contains some truth.

    Examples: Everything I say is a lie.


    My weakness is my strength.
    “the animals were all equal, but some were more equal than other” George Orwell ‘Animal
    Farm’

    Pun

    A pun is an expression that achieves emphasis or humour by using words or phrases that have
    more than one meaning (or two similarly spelled words that sound alike).

    Examples: The duck said to the bartender, ‘put it on my bill”.


    I wanted to buy a camouflage shirt, but i didn't see one.

    Sarcasm

    Sarcasm is the use of a humorous expression to mock, ridicule and express contempt with
    someone or something. This occurs when you are saying the opposite of what you mean.

    Example: I am extremely happy that my teacher gave me all these assignments right before my
    summer vacation.

    Satire

    Satire is a mode of writing that uses humour to expose/ridicule the failings (weaknesses and
    wrongdoings) of individuals, institutions, or societies.

    The aim of satirists is to set a moral standard for society, and they attempt to persuade the reader
    to set their point of view through the force of laughter.

    Examples: Animal Farm (novella) by George Orwell and The Office (show) etc.

    Simile

    A simile is an explicit comparison between two different things, actions, idea, or feelings, using
    the words ‘as’ or ‘like’.
    Example: My love is like a rose.
    She is as blind as a bat.
    “I wandered lonely as a cloud” Wordsworth

    Symbolism

    Symbolism refers to the use of symbols, or to a set of related symbols; objects, persons, places,
    or actions that has a meaning in itself and that also stands for something larger than itself, such as
    a quality, an attitude, a belief, or a value.

    Example: A rose is often a symbol of love.


    A rainbow often symbolizes hope and promise.
    A ring is often a symbol of commitment.

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