Literary Devices

LITERARY DEVICES
Literary devices are methods used by authors to enhance

their writing and convey a message or emotion in a more
captivating way.
1. Simile:- This is a figure of speech in which an explicit
comparison is made between two essentially different things,
actions or feelings. This is done by using words such as ‘ like’
and ‘as’.
i) She looked like a corpse.
ii) I ran like a wind.
2. Metaphor:- A word or phrase that is used in an
imaginative way to show that somebody/something has the
same qualities as another thing.
Ex. i) Her words were a knife in his heart.
ii) He is the star of the class.
3. Personification :- In personification , non –living objects
and abstract ideas are spoken of as having human- like
characteristics. Ex. i) The wind was lurking outside.
ii) The moon smiled down on the earth.
4. Epithet:- An adjective applied to a person or a thing that
clearly describes a quality or a particular characteristic.
Ex. i) Wine-dark sea
ii) The weary road ( Transferred Epithet)
5. Imagery : The use of language aimed at forming mental
images against physical images . By use of imagery, a poet or
writer appeals to the readers to create an image or idea in their
mind.
Ex. i) The night was black as ever
ii) Silence was broken by the peal of piano keys
6. Irony: A figure of speech in which there is a contrast
between expectation and reality.
Ex. i) A fire station burns down
ii) A pilot has a fear of heights.
7. Oxymoron: A figure of speech in which two contradictory
terms are combined in a compressed paradox to produce a
rhetorical effect, such as ‘ living death’, ‘sound of silence’.,
etc.
8.Refrain: A phrase, or verse or a line repeated at intervals in
a poem or a song, usually at the end of each stanza.
Ex. i) “ Return and return again”
ii) “ jump back dear jump back”
9. Allegory: A literary composition where places, characters
and events are symbolically represented.
Ex. i) Winter’s moon – symbolic of decay.
ii) Animal farm
10. Alliteration: An expression, a phrase where the same
letter or sound at the beginning of words is repeated.
Ex. i) short sweet song
ii) as busy as a bee
11.Repetition: Repetition occurs when poets repeat words,
phrases or stanzas to emphasize a point or land a musical
effect.
Ex. i) smile and smile and smile ( My Mother at Sixty – six)
ii) Get ready, get set,go
12. Anaphora : An anaphora is a rhetorical device in which a
word or expression is repeated at the beginning of a number
of sentence, clauses or phrases.
Ex. “It was the best of times,
It was the worst of time”
13. Metonymy : Metonymy is a figure of speech where a
word is replaced by something that is associated with it.
Ex. i) Lend me your ears
ii) The pen is mightier than the sword
14. Denotation : A denotation is literal framing of a term or
sign.
Ex. i) The girl was blue.
ii) He was cold.
15.Connotation : Connotation refers to a meaning that is
implied by a word apart from the thing which it describes
explicitly. Words carry cultural and emotional associations or
meanings, in addition to their literal meanings or denotations.
 “He’s such a dog.” – In this sense, the word dog connotes
shamelessness or ugliness.
 “That woman is a dove at heart.” – Here, the dove
implies peace or gentility

16. Elegy : An elegy is a form of poetry that typically reflects
on death or loss.
Ex. “ O captain my captain”
17. Enjambment : In poetry, enjambment describes a clause
or a sentence that continues from one line to the next without
a pause and without punctuation.
We real cool. We
Left school. We
Lurk late. We ...
18. Hyperbole: Hyperbole is a figure of speech you use when

you want to exaggerate what you mean or emphasize a point.
1. He’s running faster than the wind.
2. The teacher asked us to be quiet a million times.
3. There’s enough food on the table to feed an entire army!
4. I’m so hungry, I could eat an elephant.
19. Consonance : Consonance is a literary magic trick, where
words and sounds play together like a symphony. It’s the
repetition of similar consonant sounds that creates a harmony
that can be heard but not seen.
It’s the “s” in “slip and slide” or the “h” in “hissing snakes”
that make the words sing together.
20. Antithesis : A literary device that states that two objects
are different from each other.
Ex. i) Easy come, easy go
ii) One man’s junk is another man’s treasure.
21. Assonance : Assonance is a literary device that uses
repetition to create a sense of rhythm and mood in prose or
poetry.
Ex. i) the lady of the lake.
ii) The breeze rustled the trees.

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LITERARY DEVICES

Literary devices are methods used by authors to enhance

implies peace or gentility

18. Hyperbole: Hyperbole is a figure of speech you use when

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