Literary Devices and Terms for English 9
This list contains literary devices and terms that we will see and discuss this year in English class.
Allegory – a narrative that can be read on more than one level; a story in which the characters and events are symbols that stand for ideas about human life or for a political or historical situation
Examples: The novel Animal Farm can be read as a story about animals on a farm or as an allegory of political unrest in the Soviet Union.
Alliteration - repeated consonant sound at the beginning of words or within words;used to establish mood and rhythm in a story; true alliteration has three wordsbeginning with the same sound
Examples: bucking bronco; miserable morning; Bed, Bath, and Beyond
Allusion - a reference in one story to a well-known character or event from another
story, history, or place
Examples: the rise of the baseball team from last place to first was a realCinderella story; at times teachers need the wisdom of Solomon to makedecisions
Analogy - comparing one thing to another very different thing in order to explain it
better
Examples: a school is like a garden, where children are lovingly raised andcared for; the rabbit shot from its hole like a rocket; the confetti fell like snow ina blizzard as the parade passed through the city streets (these three analogies are
all written as similes)
Antonym – a word opposite in meaning to another
Example: fast and slow; tall and short
Aphorism - a brief statement expressing some truth as shown is a story; it can be amoral, or proverb, or maxim.
Examples: Don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched.
Everyone is afraid of something.
Don’t make a big fuss if someone isn’t like us.
Argument/Position– reason or set of reasons given with the aim of persuading others
Assonance – the repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words
Example: Rise high in the bright sky.
Atmosphere - mood or feeling developed through descriptions of the setting andsenses (how things feel, taste, smell, sound, look)
Example: Camping in those woods, time went slow. The thick forest air just saton you, hot and wet like a wool blanket, while mosquitoes droned in your earsand stung you on the back where you could never quite reach to smack them.
Author’s Purpose – the author’s reason for writing; can hint at the theme or a lesson to be learned
Examples: to persuade, to inform, to entertain
Ballad – a type of narrative poem that tells a story; has setting, plot, and characters
Bias –prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another, usually in a way considered to be unfair
Example: an article presenting only one side of a story, not giving fair treatment to all sides
Biography – the author tells the true story of another person; a type of non-fiction
Example: Doris Kearns Goodwin wrote a biography of Abraham Lincoln that tells of his rise from near obscurity to political fame.
Character - a person or player (it can also be an animal, an imaginary creature) in a
story; character can also be used as a word meaning “personal traits,” as in“Write a paragraph about the character of the Big Bad Wolf.”
Characterization – the information the author gives the reader about the characters; the method through which the author reveals and develops personalities of characters within a text
Claim – what an author is trying to prove or call to action
Example: The claim of the author was that all shelter dogs should be treated equally.
Climax - the most exciting moment of the story, where the main character faces
his/her ultimate challenge
Example: In Cinderella, the clock begins striking twelve, and Cinderella mustrush home before the handsome prince finds out her secret. That is the climax.
Concrete Poem – a poem that uses visible shape to create a picture related to the poem’s subject
Conflict - the problem, or challenge, that the main character faces
Example: The main character may be challenged by another character (two kidsrunning in a race), by nature (a boy struggling to survive in the wilderness), or byhim/herself (a girl who must get over her fear of speaking in front of an audience)
Connotation – the idea or feeling that a word invokes; an idea or quality that a word makes you think about in addition to its meaning
Example: The connotation of the word “discipline” is negative.
Counterargument – a contrasting or opposing argument; a viewpoint that opposes the main argument
Example: The counterargument to cutting educational programs in order to save money is that the students often suffer.
Couplet –2 lines of verse (poetry) that form a unit
Examples:I made the cookies one by one.
I hear the bell, so they are done.
Dialect – a form of language spoken by a particular social or ethnic group in a particular geographic area; it can be reflected in writing in specific pronunciations, vocabulary, idioms, or other grammatical constructions
Example: Y’all is a word from the southern dialect.
Dialogue - spoken lines between characters, set with quotation marks; each newspeaker’s lines appear in a new paragraph; when one person speaks for anextended time (to himself or the audience) it is called a monologue
Example: “Where are you going?” Nicole asked.
“To the library,” replied Jeremy.
Dramatic Irony is when the reader knows things that the characters in a story donot
Example: We learn that Mary really likes Frankie because she writes about himin her diary all the time. Frankie, however, is scared to ask Mary to the dancebecause she is so popular and “cool.” We wish we could tell Frankie what we,
as the readers, know!
End Rhyme – occurs when the last syllables or words in two or more lines rhyme with one another
Example:In Flanders Field the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
Epic–a long narrative poem; usually recounts the adventures of an epic hero, who undertakes great journeys and performs deeds of remarkable strength and skill
Example: The Odyssey by Homer recounts the adventures of Odysseus, the epic hero.
Epic Hero – a brave and noble character in an epic poem who is admired for great achievements or affected by grand events
Example: Odysseus is the epic hero of The Odyssey.
Euphemism – the substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague expression for one thought to be offensive, harsh, or blunt
Example: “To pass away” is a euphemism for “to die.”
Evidence - information from the text that supports, or proves, an inference or fact
Example: We know that the Wolf wants to eat Little Red Riding Hood because
a) Red Riding Hood’s mother warned her about wolves in the forest
b) the Wolf tried tricking her once in the forest
c) he has already eaten her grandmother
d) he drools when he sees her
e) he says things such as, “All the better to eat you with!”
Exposition –important background information within a story, usually including information about the setting, characters’ backstories, prior plot events, etc.
Extended Metaphor – a comparison between two unlike things that continues throughout all or part of a literary work
Falling Action – part of the plot that occurs right after the climax
Fiction – literature in the form of prose (not poetry) that describes imaginary events and people
Example: The Harry Potter series is a work of fiction.
First Person– literary point of view used when the main character is telling the story; the narrator uses the pronoun “I”
Flashback - interruption of the present action to insert an episode that took placeearlier; this gives the reader needed information to understand a current event, ora character’s motivation
Example: I could tell that Jimmy wasn’t going to back down. He stood up tobullies before, like back in first grade when Roger Neary used to eat everybody’ssnack. One day Jimmy had caught Roger in his snack bag, and...
Flash-Forward - a sudden jump forward in time, usually used to eliminateunnecessary events between the more interesting events of a story
Example: Quietly, Janice slid the book into her backpack. A week later, theteacher asked if anyone had seen her copy of The Magic Mouse. “I’ve lookedeverywhere,” she explained, “and I just can’t find it.”
Foreshadowing - clues used to alert the reader about events that will occur later;used to build suspense
Example: I laughed as we snuck out the back door. The plan had worked outperfectly. Nothing could possibly go wrong now!
Haiku– a traditional Japanese three-line poem having 17 syllables (first line has 5, second line has 7, third line has 5)
Example: I am first with five
Then seven in the middle
Five again to end.
Homeric Simile– a long comparison of two unlike things that continues through several lines of poetry
Example: From Book 9 of The Odyssey: "As a blacksmith plunges an axe or hatchet into cold water to temper it -- for it is this that gives strength to the iron -- and it makes a great hiss as he does so, even thus did the Cyclops' eye hiss round the beam of olive wood."
Hyperbole - obvious exaggeration which is not meant to be taken literally
Example: I’m so hungry I could eat a horse!
Iambic Pentameter – the meter or rhythm of Shakespeare’s plays; consists of 10 syllables per line, grouped into 5 iambs (one unstresses and one stressed syllable)
Example: But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?
Imagery - mental pictures which are created by descriptions of the senses, so thatwe can see and feel what the character is experiencing
Example: Even the dark, shiny leaves which usually clung to the chimney of mygrandmother’s house hung dry and brittle on that hot summer day.
Inference - conclusions which can be drawn by the reader based upon limited cluesor facts presented by the author; the reader is encouraged to discover things forhimself/herself without being directed by the author
Example: Mark’s father was surprised the following week when, all of a sudden,Mark quit begging for a dog. He began spending much more of his time out atthe old barn by the creek, and had even begun to ask for seconds and thirds at
suppertime.
Informational Text– nonfiction writing that is written to inform the reader about a specific topic
Example: magazines, textbooks, articles, biographies
Internal Rhyme - two or more words rhyme in the same line
Example: I bring fresh showers to the thirsting flowers.
Irony - contrast between the expected outcome and the actual way things turn out
(see Dramatic Irony)
Example: In the book Holes, no one in the courtroom believes that StanleyYelnats is innocent. Once he gets to Camp Green Lake he lies about committingthe crime, but then no one there believes he is guilty! He just can’t seem to win.
Limerick –a poem made up of five lines with a rhyme scheme of AABBA, it is usually humorous
Example: Tim wore rubberbands on his wrist
For each item on his to-do list.
But the more he forgot,
The bigger it got
So now it’s a big rubber fist.
Literary Device –structures used by a writer to convey his or her message to readers
Examples: alliteration, foreshadowing, imagery
Literary Element –a feature present in all works of narrative fiction
Examples: plot, theme, character
Literary Non-fiction –a type of nonfiction that uses the literary devices usually found in fiction works to create factually accurate narratives
Examples: personal journals, diaries, memoirs
Lyric –type of short poem in which a single speaker expresses personal thoughts or feelings
Main Idea –the most important or central thought of a paragraph or larger section of text
Metaphor - a suggested comparison between two unlike things in order to point out
a similarity; a metaphor DOES NOT use the word like, as as, or than.
Example: Hot orange coals burned at the edge of the woods as the wolveswatched and waited with hungry eagerness. (the wolves’ eyes are compared toorange coals because of their brightness and color)
Monologue – a speech presented by a single character on stage, usually to express his or her thoughts aloud, or to address another character or the audience
Mood – literary element that evokes certain feelings in readers through words and descriptions; also known as atmosphere
Examples: suspenseful, frightening, dark, cheerful
Motive - a character’s reason for doing what he/she does
Example: “So why did you tear up Janie’s paper?” demanded the teacher.
Margaret said nothing and stared at her shoes. The teacher wouldnever understand. She could never understand how it felt to be the new kid inschool, and to have one student turn all the others against you. All becauseyou...
Narrator –person who recounts the events of a novel or narrative; can be a character is the novel or narrative
Nonfiction –prose (not poetry) writing that is based on facts, real events, and read people
Examples: articles, biographies, speeches
Ode – a complex lyric poem that develops a serious theme; commemorates events or praises people or elements of nature
Omniscient – “all-knowing;” describes a novel or story where the narrator has free access to the thoughts, motivations, and feelings of any character
Onomatopoeia - words that imitate, or sound like, the actions they describe
Examples: bang, slurp, ping, slam, hiss, squish
Oral Tradition –information passed down through generations by word of mouth and is not written down
Outcome - the last event of the story which tells how the story ends; it explainswhether the main character met his/her challenge
Example: “And they all lived happily ever after,” is a common outcome in fairytales.
Paraphrase– to reword something written by another for the sake of clarity; to put into one’s own words
Parody - a humorous story that makes fun of another well-known story by imitatingit; characters, plot, theme, setting, may all be copied or changed for humorouseffect
Examples: The True Story of the Three Little Pigsby John Scieszka has thestory of the Three Little Pigs explained from the wolf’s point of view, and in hisversion it was all a big misunderstanding and he was innocent.
Personification - a description in which an object (or animal, or idea, or force ofnature) takes on human characteristics or actions
Examples: the tornado stooped to snatch the house; the sun hid its face behindthe clouds; the rain tapped against the window with its wet, insistent fingers
Plot - what happens in a story, told in a sequenced, chronological order
Example: Samantha received a new skateboard for her birthday. A week later,however, she lost it. She looked everywhere but couldn’t find it. Then oneday...
Point of View - the perspective from which a story is seen or told; there are threemain forms.
Propaganda –a type of message aimed at influencing opinions and/or behavior of people (often found on television, in magazines, or in newspapers); information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc.; this term usually has a negative connotation involving brainwashing and the spread of bigotry and ignorance, but the term actually involves all types of messages – positive, negative, and neutral
Example: a commercial that repeats a phrase over and over in hopes to convince the audience to buy the product
Pun - a humorous use of a word or phrase that has more than one meaning (or twosimilarly spelled words that sound alike)
Example: “If you really want to keep warm, try bear skin,” said the trapper.
“But won’t I be really cold in my bare skin?” asked the boy.
Why is it easy for an elephant to travel?He can carry his own trunk.
Repetition - the author purposely repeats words or phrases; the author is trying tocreate rhythm or suspense, or is trying to really emphasize a certain idea.
Example: It was all gone. Burned to ashes. He had no clothing, no blankets, nobow, no hatchet, no map. It was all gone.
Resolution–the end of a story where remaining questions are answered and the reader learns how everything has turned out
Rhetorical Device – technique that an author or speaker uses to persuade his or her audience
Examples: hyperbole, repetition, parallelism
Rhyme – correspondence of sound between words or the endings of words, especially at the ends of lines of poetry
Examples: small and tall, speak and peak
Rhyme Scheme– an ordered pattern of rhymes at the ends of lines of a poem or verse
Examples: ABAB, AABBA
Rhythm – a strong, regular, repeated pattern of movement or sound
Rising Action – the series of events in a story that propels the story as conflict builds; keeps the audience interested and moves the story towards the climax
Satire –the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, etc. to ridicule or scorn an issue, person, or event
Setting - the time and place of a story; the time may simply be “present day”
Example: Over a hundred years ago, Abraham Lincoln was born in a log cabin...