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Literary Devices are narrative techniques to add meaning to the text or grip the reader's imagination and provide more information. There are hundreds of literary devices, and below are the most common ones in English writing.
Simile vs Metaphor vs Analogy
These 3 literary devices are very similar and easily mixed-up.
Simile is a comparison between two unlike things using like, as, etc.
Example: The school is like a garden.
Metaphor is a compression between two unlike things without using like, as, etc.
Example: The school is a garden.
Analogy compares one thing to another very different thing in order to explain it better.
Example: The school is like a garden where children are lovingly raised and cared for.
Personification refers that the writer gives human characteristics to animals or objects.
Example1: The wind whistled through the trees.
Example2: The video camera observed the whole scene.
Onomatopoeia is words that imitate or sound like the actions described.
Example: Duck quack, cat meow.
Hyperbole vs Understatement
Hyperbole is exaggeration to emphasize or to get the interest of the reader.
Example1: I am so hungry that I could eat a horse.
Example2: I told you a million times not to touch my things.
Understatement is the opposite of Hyperbole, often used for ironic or comic effect.
Example: “Good gracious, anybody hurt?” “No’m. Killed a nigger.”
Imagery refers to mental pictures which are created by description of the senses.
Example1: The night was filled with sparkling stars twinkling brightly in the sky.
Example2: The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green.
Foreshadowing is the hint given by the writer about what will happen later on in the story. For example, a heavy storm can be a hint for an overflowing river which cause the character drowned in it.
Flashback in a story interrupts the sequence of events to explain an earlier event. Usually a character has a flashback by remembering something from the past.
Allusion if a reference to something that are famous in previous literary works or history.
Example: The investigation turned into a real Pandora's box.
Symbolism is any person, place, object, animal, plant, action, or thing that has additional meaning beyond itself.
Example: "Pigeon" is always a symbol of peace, however, "Dragon" in western culture is always a symbol of evil.
Rhetorical Question is a question which does not require an answer since the answer is already understood.
Example: Should you be talking when I'm talking?
Parallel Structure vs Balanced Structure
Parallel Structure is sections of a sentence which are equal in value but each part does NOT form a sentence.
Example: He cleaned the fish, lit the fire, and set up the tent.
Balanced Structure is complete sentences form each part of the balance which are equal in length and importance.
Example: The Petersons flew to Mexico; the Comphells travelled to ski country; the Fishers remained at home.
Irony vs Sarcasm
Irony has 3 different types: Verbal Irony, Situational Irony and Dramatic Irony.
Verbal Irony involves what one does not mean. For example, when you hear a stupid idea and you say "what a smart idea". It also called Sarcasm.
Situational Irony happens when, for example, in a sunny day, you spent an hour to persuade your friend to go outside and play football, however, as soon as you went out of the door, it began raining.
Dramatic Irony refers that the read knows the situation but the character doesn't know. For example, in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, we know Juliet isn't dead but Romeo doesn't know.
Paradox vs Oxymoron
Paradox is an apparent contradiction at some level which is true.
Example: Good fences make good neighbours. (Fences do separate people, but they help people get along by making boundaries clear)
Oxymoron is a form of a paradox in which contrary terms are places side by side in a single phrases.
Example: "Sound of silence", "Wise fool", "Pretty ugly"
Diction vs Denotation vs Connotation
Diction refers a writer's choice of words.
Denotation is the literal or dictionary meaning of a word or phrase.
Connotation is the emotion that a word generates in addition to the actual meaning.
For example, "Amanda's stingy ways will allow her to live comfortably for the rest of her life", the word "stingy" evokes a negative feeling; but if you change the word to "frugal", then it evokes a positive feeling. Choosing a right and accurate word, diction, separates good writing from bad writing.
Literary Devices related to the sounds
Alliteration is repeated consonant sounds at the beginning of words or within words.
Example1: Tim took the train to Toronto.
Example2: A better butter makes a batter better.
Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds but not only at the beginning of words, normally in the end of words.
Example1: Last but not the least.
Example2: Increasing store with loss and loss with store.
Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in words.
Example: If I bleat when I speak it’s because I just got . . . flee
Internal Rhyme is the words rhyme comes in the middle of lines..
Example: While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping.
End Rhyme is the words rhyme comes in the end of lines.
Example:
Once upon a midnight dreary,
while I pondered,
weak and weary.
Repetition vs Anaphora
Repetition is to repeat words, phrases, or should to emphasize.
Example: I told you! I told you! I told you many many times!
Anaphora is the repetition of parts of a phrase.
Example: I have a dream that....; I have a dream that ...;
Pun vs Double-Entendre
Pun is a play on words that are identical or similar in sound but have diverse meaning, and it's normally for fun.
Example: You can tune a guitar, but you can't tuna fish. Unless, of course, you play bass.
Double-Entendre refers a phrase or text has at least two possible meanings, the first meaning is usually straightforward, while the second meaning is ironic or inappropriate.
Example: A new weight-loss study requires a larger sample group. ("larger" means the study needs more participants, also means the study needs physically larger participants).
Antithesis is balanced grammatical structure compared of opposing or contrasted words or sentiments.
Example: One small step for a man, one giant leap for all mankind.
Anticlimax is the opposite of climax in humorous writing style.
Example: She hiked, cycled, fished, and climbed - at least once every 10 years.
Euphemism is a nice way to talk about horrible thing.
Example: The dog is too old and ill, so he had it put to sleep. (Using "sleep" to softly refer to death).
Anecdote is a short story of interesting or humorous incident.
Anagram is a form of word play in which letters of a word or phrase are rearranged in such a way that a new word or phrase is formed.
Example: large -> lager -> regal -> glare (4 words have exactly same letters but the orders of the letters are different)
Epigraph is a few sentences from a poem or quotation which belongs to another write, usually placed at the beginning of a work.
Example: Tennessee Williams writes "Nobody, not even the rain, has such small hands" at the very beginning of his play The Glass Menagerie. This sentence is from E.E. Cummings's poem "Somewhere I Have Never Travelled, Gladly Beyond".
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