Literary Devices
1. Allusion-a brief reference to a person, event, or place
2. Audience-a writer’s reader
3. Connotation-emotional implications that a word may carry(ex. Mother=kind, caring woman who raises her child)
4. Denotation-the dictionary meaning of a word(ex. Mother= one who bears or adopts children)
5. Cliché-a trite, overused statement or idea(“Have a nice day”or giving roses on Valentine’s day)
6. Claim/Thesis-the main idea in a text, often the main generalization or conclusion.
7. Denouement-the final resolution in a story (where all the loose ends are tied up)
8. Diction-author’s word choice
9. Ellipses-the omission of a word or words necessary to make sense (three periods are used…)
10. Euphemism-saying something in a politer or more politically correct way(correction facility instead of jail ; pre-owned instead of used)
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11. Exposition- 1.writing that seeks to clarify, explain, or inform ; 2.the introduction
12. Flashback- an interruption in the normal sequence of events to recall an earlier time
13. Hyperbole- extreme exaggeration (“I nearly died laughing” or “ I have a million things to do today” )
14. Metaphor-direct comparison of two unlike things (“He was a lion in the fight” or “You are the sunshine of my life”)
15. Personification- giving human characteristics to non-human things (“The wind whispered through the trees” or “The cars lights blinked at passersby”)
16. Point of View- position from which the story is told
1st person: through the characters eyes (uses I)
3rd person limited: narrator or bystander who knows what is going on; focus is on one character.
3rd person omniscient: an “all knowing” narrator who has a universal awareness, understanding or insight
17. Simile- a comparison using “like” or “as” or “seems” (“I feel as free as the wind”)
18. Symbol- an object that represents something else in a philosophic, religious, spiritual, or social way
19. Voice- the individuality and personality that an author expresses in his writing
20. Proverb- a saying, adage or maxim, short and generally believed to be true (“a stitch in time saves nine”)
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21. Paradox-a statement that may seem contradictory and absurd but is often true (“She loved him and hated him at the same time” or “less is more”)
22. Oxymoron-combining two normally opposite ideas (“old news” or “wise fool” or “pretty ugly”)
23. Bias-an influence or prejudice on a topic
24. Propaganda- information, ideas, or rumors spread to deliberately harm or help a cause
25. Syntax-order or arrangement of words or sentences
26. Theme-main idea, topic or subject in literature
27. Tone-the reflection of a writer’s mood, manner, and attitude (see “tone” sheet for examples)
28. Antagonist-character who opposes or competes with the protagonist
29. Protagonist-main character
30. Foil-character different from the protagonist used to highlight the protagonist’s traits
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31. Infer-to draw a conclusion from known facts or evidence
32. Foreshadowing- predicting the future
33. Genre-kind or type (for our purposes- literature)
34. Verbal Irony-saying one thing and meaning another (sarcasm)
35. Situational Irony-an outcome that turns out to be very different from what was expected
36. Dramatic Irony-when the audience knows something that the characters do not know
37. Jargon- vocabulary of a particular trade or profession
38. Idiom-a figure of speech that does not literally mean what it says (“It’s raining cats and dogs” or “She stabbed her friend in the back”)
39. Motif-a recurrent image, symbol, or theme that unifies the work
40. Pun-a humorous play on similar sounding words.