Literary Devices/Figures Of Speech are tools or techniques that writers use to make their writing more engaging, vivid, and meaningful. They are like tricks or strategies that writers use to convey their ideas or emotions in a creative and effective way. Examples of literary devices include using descriptive language to create vivid images, comparing things to help readers understand them better, giving human qualities to non-human things, using symbols to represent ideas, using irony to create unexpected situations, making references to other well-known things or events, dropping hints about what might happen later in the story, using exaggeration for emphasis, and imitating sounds or actions with words. These literary devices help writers make their writing more interesting and impactful, and they can be found in various forms of literature such as poetry, prose, and drama. 

Literary Devices/Figures Of Speech

    Some Important Literary Devices and Their Meanings

    Allegory

    Allegories are narratives that represent something else entirely, like a historical event or significant ideology, to illustrate a deeper meaning. Sometimes the stories are entirely fabricated and only loosely tied to their source, but sometimes the individual characters act as fictional stand-ins for real-life historical figures.

    Examples: Animal Farm, an allegory about the Russian Revolution of 1917, is one of the most famous allegories ever written; a more modern example is the animated film Zootopia, an allegory about the prejudices of modern society.

    Alliteration

    Alliteration is the literary technique of using a sequence of words that begin with the same letter or sound for a poetic or whimsical effect.

    Examples: Sally sells sea shells by the sea shore.

    Allusion

    An allusion is an indirect reference to another figure, event, place, or work of art that exists outside the story. Allusions are made to famous subjects so that they don’t need explanation—the reader should already understand the reference.

    Example: "He had the strength of Hercules." This is an allusion to the mythological figure of Hercules, suggesting that the person possesses great strength.

    Amplification

    Amplification is the technique of embellishing a simple sentence with more details to increase its significance.

    Example: “A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts it will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.” —Roald Dahl, The Twits

    Anagram

    An anagram is a word puzzle where the author rearranges the letters in a word or phrase to make a new word or phrase.

    Example: In Silence of the Lambs, the antagonist Hannibal Lector tried to trick the FBI by naming the suspect Louis Friend, which the protagonist realized was an anagram for “iron sulfide,” the technical term for fool’s gold.

    Analogy

    An analogy compares one thing to something else to help explain a similarity that might not be easy to see.

    Example: In The Dragons of Eden, Carl Sagan compares the universe’s entire history with a single Earth year to better demonstrate the context of when major events occurred; i.e., the Earth formed on September 9, humans first appeared at 10:30 p.m. on December 31.

    Anthropomorphism

    Anthropomorphism is when non-human things like animals or objects act human, exhibiting traits such as speech, thoughts, complex emotions, and sometimes even wearing clothes and standing upright.

    Example: The wise old owl hooted in the night.

    In this sentence, the owl is described as "wise" and is attributed to the human characteristic of hooting, which is a form of anthropomorphism.

    Antithesis

    Antithesis places two contrasting and polarized sentiments next to each other in order to accent both.

    Example: “To be or not to be, that is the question." - William Shakespeare, Hamlet

    Chiasmus

    The literary technique of chiasmus takes two parallel clauses and inverts the word order of one to create a greater meaning.

    Example: “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” —John F. Kennedy

    Colloquialism

    Colloquialism is using casual and informal speech, including slang, in formal writing to make dialogue seem more realistic and authentic. It often incorporates respelling words and adding apostrophes to communicate the pronunciation.

    Example: “How you doing’?” asked Friends character Joey Tribesman.

    Circumlocution

    Circumlocution is when the writer deliberately uses excessive words and over complicated sentence structures to intentionally convolute their meaning. In other words, it means to write lengthily and confusingly on purpose.

    Example: He did not have the same level of enthusiasm for the task at hand, and his motivation to complete it was not as high as we had hoped.

    Epigraph

    An epigraph is an independent, pre-existing quotation that introduces a piece of work, typically with some thematic or symbolic relevance.

    Example:  "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." - Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

    Euphemism

    A euphemism is a soft and inoffensive word or phrase that replaces a harsh, unpleasant, or hurtful one for the sake of sympathy or civility.

    Example: "He passed away peacefully in his sleep."

    In this sentence, "passed away" is a euphemism for "died." It is used to convey the concept of death in a more indirect and gentle way, avoiding the use of the harsher term "died" which may sound more blunt or offensive.

    Foreshadowing

    Foreshadowing is the technique of hinting at future events in a story using subtle parallels, usually to generate more suspense or engage the reader’s curiosity.

    Example: In William Shakespeare's play "Macbeth," the witches' prophecy of Macbeth becoming king is a form of foreshadowing. The witches say, "All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis!... All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!... All hail, Macbeth! That shalt be king hereafter!" This foreshadows Macbeth's rise to power as king, which later unfolds in the play.

    Hyperbole

    Hyperbole is using exaggeration to add more power to what you’re saying, often to an unrealistic or unlikely degree.

    Example: "I've told you a million times!" This is a hyperbolic statement, exaggerating the number of times something has been said to emphasize frustration.

    Imagery

    Imagery: The use of vivid descriptions and sensory details to create mental images in the reader's mind.

    Example: "The sun dipped below the horizon, painting the sky with fiery hues of orange and red, casting long shadows across the tranquil lake."

    Irony

    Irony: A situation where the opposite of what is expected occurs or when there is a discrepancy between what is said and what is meant.

    Example: "The fire station burned down." Here, the irony lies in the fact that the very place that is supposed to extinguish fires has burned down.

    Metaphor

    Metaphor: A figure of speech that compares two things without using "like" or "as," in order to suggest a similarity between them.

    Example: "The world is a stage." (Shakespeare) Here, the world is being compared to a stage, suggesting that life is like a theatrical performance.

    Mood

    A story’s mood is the emotional response the author is targeting. A writer sets the mood not just with the plot and characters, but also with tone and the aspects they choose to describe.

    Example:  "The dark, gloomy forest was shrouded in mist, and the branches creaked and groaned in the wind. The owls hooted mournfully, and the rustling leaves seemed to whisper secrets. John walked cautiously, his heart pounding, as he felt a sense of foreboding creep over him."

    In this example, the use of descriptive language, such as "dark," "gloomy," "mist," "creaked," "groaned," "hooted mournfully," "rustling leaves," and "whispering secrets," creates a mood of foreboding, fear, and unease. The overall atmosphere of the forest is one of darkness, mystery, and tension, which sets a mood that influences the reader's emotional response to the scene.

    Motif

    A motif is a recurring element in a story that holds some symbolic or conceptual meaning. It’s closely related to theme, but motifs are specific objects or events, while themes are abstract ideas.

    Example:  The motif of water in Shakespeare's play "Macbeth"

    In Shakespeare's play "Macbeth," the motif of water is used to represent different themes and ideas throughout the play. Water appears in various forms, such as rain, oceans, rivers, and tears, and it is used to symbolize different aspects of the characters and the story. In the beginning of the play, water is associated with cleansing and purification, as Lady Macbeth uses water to wash away the guilt of murder from her hands: "Out, damned spot! Out, I say! ... What, will these hands ne'er be clean?" (Act 5, Scene 1).

    Onomatopoeia

    Onomatopoeia: Words that imitate sounds or actions.

    Example: "The buzz of the bees." Here, the word "buzz" imitates the sound made by bees, using onomatopoeia.

    Oxymoron

    An oxymoron combines two contradictory words to give them a deeper and more poetic meaning.

    Example: “Parting is such sweet sorrow.” —William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

    Paradox

    Similar to an oxymoron, a paradox combines two contradictory ideas in a way that, although illogical, still seems to make sense.

    Example: “I know only one thing, and that is I know nothing.” —Socrates in Plato’s Apology

    Personification

    Personification: A figure of speech that gives human qualities or characteristics to non-human entities, such as animals or objects.

    Example: "The leaves danced in the wind." Here, leaves are being attributed with the human quality of dancing.

    Portmanteau

    Portmanteau is the literary device of joining two words together to form a new word with a hybrid meaning.

    Example: Words like “blog” (web + log), “paratrooper” (parachute + trooper), “motel” (motor + hotel), and “telethon” (telephone + marathon) are all portmanteaus in common English.

    Puns

    Puns are a type of comedic wordplay that involve homophones (different words that are pronounced the same) or two separate meanings of the same word.

    Example: “Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.” —Groucho Marx

    Satire

    Satire is a style of writing that uses parody and exaggeration to criticize the faults of society or human nature.

    Example: The works of Jonathan Swift (Gulliver’s Travels) and Mark Twain (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn) are well known for being satirical. A more modern example is the TV show South Park, which often satirizes society by addressing current events.

    Simile

    Simile: A figure of speech that compares two things using "like" or "as" to suggest a similarity between them.

    Example: "Her smile was as bright as the sun." Here, the brightness of the smile is being compared to the brightness of the sun using "as."

    Symbolism

    Symbolism: The use of symbols to represent ideas, emotions, or concepts beyond their literal meaning.

    Example: The white dove is often used as a symbol of peace and purity in literature.

    Tone

    Tone refers to the language and word choice an author uses with their subject matter, like a playful tone when describing children playing, or a hostile tone when describing the emergence of a villain. If you’re confused about tone vs. mood, tone refers mostly to individual aspects and details, while mood refers to the emotional attitude of the entire piece of work.

    Example: Told in the first person, J. D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye uses the angst and sardonic tone of its teenage protagonist to depict the character’s mindset, including slang and curse words.

    Literary Devices/Figures Of Speech are techniques or tools used by writers to create specific effects or convey meaning in their literary works. They add depth, complexity, and richness to a writer's writing, making it more engaging and impactful. Literary devices are commonly used in various forms of literature, including poetry, prose, drama, and other forms of written expression.