Download Literary Devices

Literary Devices
Teachers love talking about literary devices, but what exactly is a literary device? Actually, it's
just a fancier term for the different techniques writers sometimes employ to create a mood or
atmosphere, to put across an idea, to make a point, to describe a person, a thing, or an event.
The following is a list of literary devices that will be mentioned as we study our literature this
semester.
allusion
This is the term given to a reference to either a famous literary work or
figure or to a famous historical event or person.
dialect
The way people from a particular region or group speak that is different
from everyone else is called dialect.
dialogue
Dialogue is the written conversation between characters.
flashback
A flashback is account of something that has already happened in the
story. A flashback usually involves an interruption in the action of the
story.
foreshadowing
Foreshadowing occurs when the author gives us a hint at something that
is going to happen.
hyperbole
A statement that is an obvious exaggeration is called hyperbole.
idiom
Idiom refers to the peculiarities of vernacular language. It is the use of
words in such a way that the meaning is lost if the expression is
translated literally.
imagery
This is the use of language to create a vivid picture and to put across an
experience.
irony
mood
Irony is a figure of speech in which the actual meaning is the opposite of
the words being used.
The atmosphere created by the writer is called mood.
point of view
Point of view refers to the "eyes" through which the story is told.
stream of
consciousness
In this writing technique the writer tries to capture the exact flow of the
character's thoughts.
symbols
A symbol is an image that represents something other than itself.
tone
The feeling or effect that a writer creates toward his characters or his
subject is tone.
Metaphor
a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is
not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance, as in “Life is a
highway.”
Simile
a figure of speech in which two unlike things are explicitly compared using
‘like’ or ‘as’, as in “she is like a rose.”.