Literary Devices
List 1
Allegory
Definition - Allegory is a figure of speech in which abstract
ideas and principles are described in terms of characters,
figures and events. The objective of its use is to preach
some kind of a moral lesson.
• The Wizard of Oz, in which cowardice is embodied in the
lion, thoughtless panic in the scarecrow.
• Hester Prynne’s daughter, Pearl in who is a walking
representative of something precious, purchased with a
great price.
Irony
Definition – A difference between the appearance and
reality.
• A man who is a traffic cop gets his license suspended for
unpaid parking tickets.
• The Titanic was promoted as being 100% unsinkable; but,
in 1912 the ship sank on its maiden voyage.
Imagery
Definition - Language that appeals to the senses.
• On a starry, winter night in Portugal
• A host, of golden daffodils
• The eerie silence was shattered by her scream.
Ambiguity
Definition - a word, phrase, or statement which
contains more than one meaning.
• "Brave men run in my family."
• “Nurse required for a baby about twenty years of
age.”
• "We saw her duck”
Mood
Definition - The overall emotion created by the work of
literature.
• “There was no moon, and everything beneath lay in
misty darkness: not a light gleamed from any house, far
or near all had been extinguished long ago: and those
at Wuthering Heights were never visible…” (Wuthering
Heights)
• “Gimmerton chapel bells were still ringing; and the full,
mellow flow of the beck in the valley came soothingly
on the ear. It was a sweet substitute for the yet absent
murmur of the summer foliage, which drowned that
music about the Grange when the trees were in leaf.”
Metaphor
Definition - An imaginative comparison between
two unlike things in which one is said to be
another thing.
• My brother was boiling mad.
• The assignment was a breeze.
• It is going to be clear skies from now on.
Paradox
Definition - is a statement that appears to be selfcontradictory or silly but may include a latent truth.
• “What a pity that youth must be wasted on the young.”
– George Bernard Shaw
• Wise fool
• Truth is honey which is bitter.
• “I can resist anything but temptation.” Oscar Wilde
Simile
Definition - A comparison between two unlike
things, using a word such as like, as, than or
resembles.
• Our soldiers are as brave as a lion.
• Her cheeks are red like a rose.
• He is as funny as a monkey.
Foreshadowing
Definition - an advance hint of what is to come in the later in the
story.
• “Life were better ended by their hate,
Than death prorogued, wanting of thy love”
• In the balcony scene, Juliet is concerned about Romeo’s safety
as she fears her kinsmen may catch him. Romeo says, that he
would rather like to have her love and die sooner than not
obtain her love and die later.
• In John Steinbeck novel “Of Mice and Men”, George kills
Candy’s dog. Later George kills Lennie. Candy is identical to
George and Lennie to the dog. Even death of the dog was the
same as Lennie’s as both were shot in the back of the head.
Candy tells George, “I ought to of shot that dog myself”. He
chooses to kill Lennie himself in order to save him from being
killed by a stranger.
Internal Conflict
Definition - A struggle or conflict occurring
within a character’s mind.
• Man vs Himself
• You know you need to study, but you know
that there is something good on T.V. You have
a decision to make.
• You know something is bad, but you do it
anyway.
External Conflict
Definition - A struggle between a character and
another character or outside force.
• Jim gets into a fight with Robert.
• The character is attacked by a vicious dog.
• The characters are caught in a blizzard.
Theme
Definition - The insight about human life that is
revealed in literary work.
• The insight of a person who has been wronged
and seeks revenge.
• The insight of a person with a broken heart.
• The insight of love that does not materialize.
Allusion
Definition – The reference to someone or something
that is known from history, literature, religion, politics,
sports or some other branch of culture.
• In Taylor Swift’s song, “Love Story”, she mentions a
“scarlet letter”.
• In the movie, Men In Black, the characters mention
that “Roaches check in, but they don’t check out,”
which is from a commercial for Roach Motels.
• In Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech,
he mentions that “All men are created equal” which
is from “The Declaration of Independence”.