Literary Devices PDF

Literary Devices 1. Tone: The tone is how the writer feels about the characters and the plot. It might be light, romantic, sympathetic, ironic, pensive, (usually described by adjectives). Tone is the author’s attitude toward the subject...

Literary Devices 1. Tone: The tone is how the writer feels about the characters and the plot. It might be light, romantic, sympathetic, ironic, pensive, (usually described by adjectives). Tone is the author’s attitude toward the subject (how the author feels). A bitter and sardonic tone, revealing the speaker’s anger and resentment. 2. Mood: The general emotion exhibited by the characters and consequently felt by the reader (how the reader feels). A dark, murky and mysterious mood, creating a sense of fear and uncertainty. 3. Atmosphere: The environmental and circumstantial features surrounding the characters which affects their mood (how the characters feel). 4. Foreshadowing: A hint given by the author about something that will happen later in the story. 5. Symbolism: Any image, object, character or action that stands for an idea (or ideas) beyond its literal meaning. A cross symbolizes Christianity and The Star of David symbolizes Judaism. 6. Simile: A comparison of two unlike things, often linked by words such as ‘like, as, or than.’ His skin was as wrinkled as a prune. 7. Metaphor: A direct comparison in which the literal meaning of one action or quality is applied to another to suggest the likeness between the two. The students galloped down the hallway. 8. Imagery: Words and phrases the writer selects to create a certain picture in the mind of the reader. Imagery is usually based on the five senses. 9. Verbal Irony: Speakers use verbal irony when the meaning they wish to communicate is different from, or opposite to, what their actual words seem to say. 10. Dramatic Irony: When the audience knows something that the characters in the story do not. 11. Situational Irony: The reader expects one thing to happen, but the opposite occurs. 12. Personification: The representing of inanimate objects as having human personalities, feelings, or emotions. Inanimate objects are endowed with human characteristics. ‘The wind whispered many truths to me.’ 13. Pathetic Fallacy: The practice of attributing human emotion or responses to nature, inanimate objects, or animals. It is a form of personification. Pathetic fallacy is a reflection of the actions/events through nature/weather. When nature is in sympathy with the actions of humans. A thunderstorm during the creation of Frankenstein 14. Alliteration: The repeated use of words that begin with the same letter or similar sounds. Alliteration is the repetition of the initial (at the beginning) CONSONANT sounds. ‘gaggle of geese’ 15. Assonance: The repetition of a vowel sound in any part of the word (usually in the middle of the words). ‘The rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain.’ 16. Oxymoron: A figure of speech that places opposites together to create an effect. A contradiction in terms. Jumbo Shrimp 17. Onomatopoeia: The use of words that imitate a sound. boom, bang 18. Hyperbole: A description which exaggerates. A bold, unrealistic overstatement, not intended to be taken literally. ‘I’d give you my right arm for a slice of pizza.’ 19. Paradox: Where a situation is created which cannot possibly exist because different elements of it cancel each other out. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” 20. Allusion: A figure of speech that makes a brief reference to a literary character, event or object. An allusion is always indirect. “To my dog, our neighborhood park is the Garden of Eden” (alludes to the Bible) Allusion almost acts like a hidden message or clue, and you need to rely on your knowledge of other works to understand what the allusion means. Characters, and events from the Bible, historical people, kings/queens, famous literary characters, Greek myths, legends, and epics are often used as allusions.