Literary+Devices

Literary Devices **By definition,** a literary device is any literary or linguistic technique that produces a specific effect in writing. There are hundreds of different literary devices, but some of the most common include:

**Allegory** - a form of extended metaphor, in which objects, persons, and actions in a narrative, are equated with the meanings that lie outside the narrative. // The [|Good Samaritan] stopped to help me change my tire. (Good Samaritan represents the right thinking and compassionate person) // **Alliteration** - the repetition of initial sounds in neighboring words. //__ S __//// he __s__ells __s__eashells at the __s__ea __s__hore. (childhood tongue twister) // **Allusion** - a reference to something generally expected to be known, like artwork, literature, film, history, etc. // Our love was as fated as that of __Romeo and Juliet__. (implies that the love is doomed) // **Flashback** - when the author stops the chronological series of events in the plot and goes back to an earlier time. // It all started the day after my tenth birthday. (tells the reader that they are moving back in time) // **Foil -** a character that contrasts another character, often the protagonist, that therefore highlights certain qualities of the protagonist (or whoever the foil may be). // The Joker is the bane of Batman’s existance. // **Foreshadowing** -  when the author provides hints of what is to come later in the story // From Harry Potter - When Professor Lupin is fighting the Boggart, it turns into a silvery orb; Lupin is sick once a month, and the evil Professor Snape gives a substitute lecture on werewolves. //

**Hyperbole** – using a blatant exaggeration for effect // I have a ton of homework tonight! // **Irony** - when the opposite of what is expected to happens actually happens; unexpected turn of events. // You stay up all night studying for a test. When you go to class, you discover the test is not until the next day. // **Metaphor** - is a direct comparison of two unlike things without using “like” or “as” // “It is a sin to kill a mockingbird” (Harper 45). (implies that killing this sweet bird is as deadly an act as committing a sin) // **Onomatopoeia** - a word that imitates the sound it represents. // Bang, Boom, Woosh //

**Oxymoron** - putting two contradictory words together. // Baby grand piano; jumbo shrimp // **Personification** - when inanimate objects are given human qualities // The sun smiled down on our lovely picnic // **Pun** – a “play on words” // My __soles__ are light, but my __soul__ is too heavy to dance. // **Simile** - compares two unlike things USING “like” or “as” // He was quiet as a mouse when he snuck in after his curfew. // **Symbolism** - when something represents or stands for something else, usually an important idea // The dove that returned with the olive branch to Noah’s Ark. (Symbolized new life/peaceful return home) //