Literary Devices and Examples

1. Literary Devices and Examples

2. Allusion Allusion: a reference to something literary, mythological, religious, historical, or found in pop culture Patrick Henry urged his listeners not to be “betrayed with a kiss”(alluding to Judas kissing Jesus just before betraying him).

3. Apostrophe Apostrophe: speaker directly addresses a person who is dead or not physically present, an imaginary person or entity, something inhuman, or any other abstract thing: “O Death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”

4. Euphemism Euphemism: an indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is considered unpleasant: In Victorian times, ladies were said to “glisten” rather than to sweat or perspire.

5. Onomatopoeia Onomatopoeia: a word formed from the imitation of natural sounds The fire crackled in the fireplace. We could hear the buzzing of the bees in the hive.

6. Personification Personification: endowing non human objects or creatures with human qualities or characteristics The smiling, friendly sun was about to be swallowed by the angry clouds moving in from the south.

7. Symbol Symbol: something that stands for something else; in literature, a symbol must work both literally and symbolically Flags stand for their countries, a ring may symbolize love/marriage, mascots stand for their schools

8. Colloquialism Colloquialism: casual language- similar to spoken language or informal writing, often including slang or regional quirks Huck Finn: "We said there warn't no home like a raft, after all. Other places do seem so cramped up and smothery, but a raft don't. You feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft."

9. Hyperbole Hyperbole: Intentional exaggeration to create an effect There were at least a million people at the mall when I went shopping Saturday.

10. Repetition Repetition: repeating a word or phrase for additional emphasis Hope has sprung a perfect dive, a perfect day, a perfect lie (from the song “The Good Fight”). *Note this example is also parallel structure

11. Alliteration Alliteration: repetition of sounds (mainly consonant sounds) in the stressed syllables of a sequence of words- often the initial letters of words Boast your bitter bragging rights (from “The Good Fight”

12. Oxymoron Oxymoron: An expression in which two words that contradict each other are joined Jumbo shrimp; sweet sorrow; little giant

13. Paradox Paradox: An apparently contradictory statement which actually contains some truth Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind

14. Irony Irony: a contradiction between appearance or expectation and reality. Truth is opposite of appearances. In King Lear, Lear believes his daughter Cordelia to be disloyal, when in fact she is his only faithful daughter

15. Simile Simile: comparison using “like”, “as” or “than” This room is as hot as an oven

16. Metaphor Metaphor: comparison (without using “like” or “as”), one thing representing another School is a prison