Literary Devices in The Outsiders

Figurative Language

• Authors use literary devices to make their writing more engaging and to evoke an emotional or sensual response in readers.
• Figurative language relies on literary devices or special literary techniques to convey meaning beyond the literal.

Literary Devices

• Alliteration: Repetition of similar sounds, e.g., "slowly, silently, smiling" in The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton.
• Allusion: Vaguely mentioning something and leaving it to the reader to interpret, e.g., Johnny's "Stay gold, Ponyboy" referencing Robert Frost's poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay".
• Foreshadowing: Dropping hints to the reader that something is about to happen, e.g., Ponyboy's comment about the church catching fire.
• Hyperbole: Exaggeration used to make a point, e.g., Dally's "I thought I'd killed you" when Ponyboy got hurt.
• Irony: A big departure between what happens and what is expected to happen, e.g., Ponyboy wanting to escape excitement in the country, but ending up saving children from a burning building.
• Metaphor: Comparing two unlike things without using "as" or "like", e.g., Ponyboy comparing Darry to Superman.
• Onomatopoeia: A word used for its sound effect, e.g., "bang" when Steve drops a hymn book.
• Personification: Giving human characteristics to non-human things, e.g., the wall taking the heat for Dally's emotions after Johnny's death.
• Simile: Comparing two unlike things using "like" or "as", e.g., Ponyboy standing "like a bump on a log" when surrounded by the Socs.