Literary Devices - Mrs. Suski AP Lit

Allusion

A reference to a well-known person, place, event, literary work, or work of art

Anaphora

The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses

Antagonist

A person who actively opposes or is hostile to someone or something; an adversary.

Brevity

Succinct, brief, to-the-point

Cacophony

Harsh sounds

Conceit

Elaborate metaphor, fanciful, over-the-top, runs through the whole piece

Denouement/Resolution

The conclusion, falling action, or resolution of a story; French for "unraveling;" mysteries are unraveled, conflicts are solved, questions raised by plot are answered

Diction

Word choice

Archaic

Old-fashioned, no longer sound natural in conversation

Colloquialism

A word or phrase (including slang) used in everyday conversation and informal writing but that is often inappropriate in formal writing (y'all, ain't)

Dialect

A regional variety of a language distinguished by vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation.

Jargon

Special words or expressions that are used by a particular profession or group and are difficult for others to understand.

Profanity

Speaking disrespectfully about something that is sacred or treating it with disrespect

Slang

An informal, often short-lived kind of language used in place of standard words

Trite

Expressions that lack depth or originality, are overworked and not worth mentioning in the first place

Vulgarity

Language widely considered crude, disgusting, and oftentimes offensive, but occasionally adds elements of realism to the piece.

Euphony

Soft, pleasing sounds

Figures of speech

Words or phrases that describe one thing in terms of something else

Hyperbole

Exaggeration

Metaphor

A comparison without using like or as, both are unlike one another

Metonymy

A figure of speech in which something is referred to by using the name of something that is associated with it (suit instead of business executive, the pen is mightier than the sword)

Personification

A figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes

Simile

A comparison of two unlike things using like or as

Synecdoche

A figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole (as hand for sailor), the whole for a part (as the law for police officer), the specific for the general (as cutthroat for assassin), the general for the specific (as thief for pickpocket), or the material for the thing made from it (as steel for sword), ABCs for alphabet, or saying new set of wheels for a car

Understatement/Litotes

The presentation of something as being smaller, worse, or less important than it actually is (not a bad singer)

Flashback

A method of narration in which present action is temporarily interrupted so that the reader can witness past events

Foils

Opposites in one or more characteristic ways

Foreshadowing

A warning or indication of a future event, a hint

Hubris

Exaggerated pride or self-confidence resulting in retribution

Imagery

Description that appeals to the senses, creates "pictures" in the reader's mind (sight, sound, smell, touch, taste)

Irony

A contrast between expectation and reality, what is expected to happen does not

Juxtaposition

Placement of two things closely together to emphasize comparisons or contrasts

Loose sentence

A complex sentence in which the main clause comes EARLY and the subordinate clause follows

Periodic sentence

A complex sentence in which the main clause comes at the END and is preceded by the subordinate clause (main clause is closer to the period)

Motif

A recurring theme, subject or idea

First-person

"I" and "me" standpoint, personal perspective

Second-person

"You" and "your" standpoint, speaking to someone

Third-person

"He," "she," and "they" perspective point of view in which the narrator is outside of the story - an observer, objective point of view

Limited omniscient narrator

A third person narrator who generally reports only what ONE character sees and thinks

Omniscient narrator

A narrator with unlimited awareness, understanding, and insight of ALL characters, setting, background, and other elements of the story

Narrative pace

The speed at which an author tells a story; the movement from one point or section to another.

Oxymoron

A figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase (jumbo shrimp)

Paradox

A statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd in common sense but in reality is actually true (good loss; the more love I share, the more love I have)

Parallel structure

Same pattern of words, phrases repeated for effect

Parody

A work that closely imitates the style or content of another with the specific aim of comic effect, mockery, and/or ridicule

Pathos

Suffering, a character's actions elicit pity or sorrow from the reader

Pedantic

An insulting word used to describe someone who annoys others by correcting their small errors and emphasizing their own expertise in some small or boring subject area

Poetic justice

When characters "get what they deserve" in the end of a story

Prose

Any writing that is not poetry

Protagonist

Main character or hero in a story

Rhetoric

The art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques

Rhetorical questions

A question asked in order to create a dramatic effect or to make a point rather than to get an answer

Satire

A work that targets human vices and weaknesses or social institutions and conventions for reform or ridicule

Shift

A change in tone or style in a text

Symbol

A person, place, thing, or event that represents or stands for something else, especially a material object representing something abstract (dove=peace, heart=love, character=evil or good)

Syntax

Word order and placement (how words/phrases are PLACED to create meaning)

Theme

The message of the author in a text

Tone

The author's attitude that is evident in the text, created through word choice

Tragic hero

A character who experiences an inner struggle because of a character flaw

Trope

A figurative or metaphorical use of a word or expression

Alliteration

Repetition of initial consonant sounds (beautiful blue blanket)

Apostrophe

Addressing someone or something that is not present as though they actually are

Assonance

Partial rhyme/repetition of vowel sounds (made a cake)

Ballad

A story/narrative in verse form that is meant to be sung

Caesura

A natural pause or break in a line of poetry

Consonance

Partial rhyme/repetition of consonant sounds within words (little battle, with this)

Couplet

Two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme

Enjambment

The running over of a sentence or thought from one line of poetry to another

Figurative language

General name for many devices or techniques, it creates comparisons by linking concrete sensory details with abstractions

Free verse

Poetry that does NOT have a regular meter or rhyme scheme, irregular pattern

Heroic couplet

A couplet consisting of two rhymed lines of iambic pentameter

Internal rhyme

A rhyme involving a word in the middle of a line and another at the end of the line or in the middle of the next

Inversion

Flipping a line of poetry (usually for effect or to make a rhyme work)

Onomatopoeia

A word that reflects their meaning and sound (buzz, hiss, meow)

Refrain

Repeated lines of poetry (chorus)

Sonnet

Strict poetic form, written in 14 lines in iambic pentameter

Stanza

A unit or group of lines in poetry that are separated by spaces

Volta

Turn/shift within a POEM