The Top 25(ish) Literary Devices
Simile: Comparison of two seemingly unlike things using like or as
Metaphor: Comparison of two seemingly unlike things not using like or as
Personification: Talking about an animal, object, or idea as if it were a human being
Apostrophe: Speaking to an object, idea, animal, dead person, or absent person as if it/he/she
could respond
Imagery: An appeal to any of the five senses: visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile, and gustatory
Allusion: Reference to a person or event outside the work
Alliteration: The repetition of the initial sound at the beginnings of proximate words
Diction: Word choice
Syntax: Sentence Structure
Characterization: Established by describing what a person does and says, what others say and
think about him/her, and act toward him/her
Elements of plot: Protagonist, conflict, rising action, climax, falling action, denouement
Tone: The speaker’s attitude toward the material
Antithesis: Polar opposite; could refer to characters or ideas
Irony: Three types: situational, dramatic, and verbal
Hyperbole: Intentionally exaggerating for effect
Understatement: Intentionally minimizing something for effect
Onomatopoeia: Boom! Zip! Pow! Rumble!
Oxymoron: Figure of speech in which incongruous or seemingly contradictory terms appear side
by side
Parallelism/parallel structure: Repetition of words, phrases or sentence/line structures
Point of view: First or third person narrative but also a narrator’s attitude
Realism: Picturing life as it really is
Romance: Seeing life as we wish it to be
Rhetorical question: Question asked for effect, not expecting an answer
Poetic elements: Rhyme, rhythm, meter
Allegory: A story or poem that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral
or political one
Symbolism: the use of symbols to signify ideas and qualities by giving them symbolic meanings
that are different from their literal sense.