List of Literary Devices (Rhetorical Devices)

Alliteration - Alliteration is the repetition of similar sounds, generally at the beginning of words and usually by means of consonants or consonant

sound clusters in a group of words. (“The willfull waterbeds help me thrall, / the laving laurel turned my tide.”)

Allusion  - In literature, this is a reference to another work. (In the Police song “Wrapped Around Your Finger”, Sting writes, “trapped between

the Scylla and Charybdis” in reference to Homer’s Oddyssey.)

Analogy - a comparison between one thing and another, usually to explain or clarify something (simile/metaphor)

Anecdote - A very short story that is told to make a point.

Antithesis -  a figure of speech that states strongly contrasting ideas placed in juxtaposition (contrasting ideas)

Assonance - This is the repetition of vowel sounds in non-rhyming words.

(Hear the mellow wedding bells. — Edgar Allan Poe, "The Bells" or And murmuring of innumerable bees - Alfred Lord Tennyson,

The Princess VII.203)

Charged Language -  language that contains implications beyond the meanings of words, and is often used to persuade or convey a specific way of thinking; strong language meant to evoke an emotion

Characterization - the way the author describes the character or how they show the characters personality, choice, thoughts, actions

Consonance - is the repetition, at close intervals, of the final consonants of accented syllables or important words, especially at the ends of words

(as in blank and think or strong and string or Lady lounges lazily and Dark deep dread.)

Diction - word choice; how the author uses words to convey their meaning

Flashback - A scene in a short story, a novel, a narrative poem, or a play that interrupts the action to show an event that happened earlier.

Foreshadowing - The use of hints or clues in a narrative to suggest what action is to come. Writers use foreshadowing to create interest and build

suspense.

Hyperbole - Hyperbole is an exaggeration of fact used either for serious or comic effect. (“Her eyes opened wide as saucers.”)

Imagery - Imagery refers to the way words create or suggest pictures in the reader’s mind – what we see, hear, smell, feel, or taste. (“The

pungent fragrance of orange blossoms sweetly drifted through the air.” / ‘The stunning blue waters sparkled with brilliant clarity.’)

BU - A contrast or an incongruity between what is stated and what is meant or between what is expected to happen and what actually

happens. The three kinds of irony are verbal irony, in which a writer or speakers says one thing and means something entirely

different, dramatic irony, in which a reader or an audience knows something that a character in the story or play does not know,

and irony of situation, in which the writer shows a discrepancy between the expected result of some action or situation and its

actual result. (“It was ironic when the marriage counselor himself got a divorce.”)

Metaphor - A metaphor is a comparison that is only suggested or implied, with no clear indication of a relation between the two items. (“Her

face is a wrinkled leaf.”)

Mood - how the reader feels as they read the story; the words the author chooses to help show this create the mood

Motif  - A reoccurring feature, such as a name, an image, or a phrase, in a work of literature. A motif generally contributes in some way to

the theme of a short story, novel, poem, or play.

Onomatopoeia - Onomatopoeia is the use of a word in which the sound imitates or suggests its meaning. (Hiss, clang, snap buzz.)

Oxymoron - A phrase where two or more words are diametrically opposed. (Sweet sorrow, wise fool, honest thief, short eternity)

Paradox - A statement that reveals a kind of truth, although it seems at first to be self-contradictory and untrue.

Parallelism - a similarity of grammatical form for similar elements of meaning within a sentence or among sentences 

Personification - A figure of speech in which something nonhuman is given human qualities. (“Grey mist on the sea’s face”)

Persuasive appeals - Logos, Ethos, Pathos

Rhetorical Question - questions that are not meant to be answered. They are usually used to make a point or to draw attention to something. 

Satire  - A kind of writing that holds up to ridicule or contempt the weaknesses and wrongdoings of individuals, groups, institutions, or

humanity in general. The aim of satirists is to set a moral standard for society, and they attempt to persuade the reader to set their

point of view through the force of laughter.

Simile - A figure of speech comparing two essentially unlike things through the use of words “like” or “as”. (My love is like a rose)

Symbol - Any object, person, place, or action that has a meaning in itself and that also stands for something larger than itself, such as a

quality, an attitude, a belief, or a value. Such as a rose if often a symbol of love.

Tone - the author's feelings; shown through word choice