Literary Devices

Literary devices (literary terms or literary techniques) are specific structures that writers often use to add meaning or create more compelling stories for the reader. Some common examples are metaphor, alliteration, hyperbole, and imagery. These techniques can give the reader a greater understanding and meaning of the writers intent.

A

Accumulation Ad Hominem Adynaton Allegory Alliteration Allusion Ambiguity Anachronism Anadiplosis Anagram Analogy Anapest Anaphora Anecdote Antagonist Antanaclasis Anthropomorphism Anticlimax Antihero Antimetabole Antistrophe Antithesis Aphorism Aporia Aposiopesis Apostrophe Appositive Archaism Archetype Argument Assonance Asyndeton Atmosphere

B

Ballad Bandwagon Bathos Bildungsroman Biography Blank Verse

C

Cacophony Cadence Caesura Caricature Catharsis Characterization Chiasmus Claim Cliché Cliffhanger Climax Colloquialism Comedy Comparison Conceit Concession Conflict Connotation Consonance Contrast Couplet

D

Dactyl Denotation Denouement Deus Ex Machina Dialect Dialogue Diction Didacticism Discourse Doppelgänger Double Entendre Drama Dramatic Irony Dystopia

E

Elegy Ellipsis End Stopped Line Enjambment Epigraph Epilogue Epiphora Epistolary Epistrophe Epitaph Epithet Epizeuxis Eponym Essay Ethos Eulogy Euphemism Euphony Evidence Exaggeration Exposition Extended Metaphor

F

Fable Fallacy Fantasy Farce Figurative Language Flash Forward Flashback Foil Free Verse

G

Genre

H

Haiku Half Rhyme Hamartia Homograph Homophone Hook Hubris Hyperbole Hypophora

I

Iamb Idiom Imagery Induction Inference Innuendo Internal Rhyme Intertextuality Invective Inversion Irony Isocolon

J

Jargon Juxtaposition

K

Kenning

L

Limerick Line Break Litotes Logos

M

Malapropism Memoir Metaphor Meter Metonymy Monologue Mood Motif Myth

N

Narrative Naturalism Nemesis Non Sequitur

O

Ode Omniscient Onomatopoeia Oxymoron

P

Parable Paradox Parallelism Parataxis Parody Pastiche Pathetic Fallacy Pathos Periphrasis Persona Personification Pleonasm Plot Poem Poetic Justice Point of View Polyptoton Polysyndeton Prologue Propaganda Prose Protagonist

Q

Quatrain

R

Red Herring Refutation Repetition Rhetoric Rhetorical Question Rhyme Rhythm Riddle Rising Action

S

Sarcasm Satire Self Fulfilling Prophecy Semantic Sestina Setting Sibilance Simile Situational Irony Slang Soliloquy Sonnet Spondee Stanza Stream of Consciousness Style Subplot Syllogism Symbolism Synecdoche Synesthesia Syntax

T

Tautology Theme Thesis Tone Tragedy Tragic Flaw Tragicomedy Transition Trimeter Trope

U

Understatement Utopia

V

Verisimilitude Verse Vignette Villanelle Voice

Z

Zeugma Zoomorphism