Literary Devices

Allegory A symbolic representation, prolonged metaphor.

Allegory Faith is like a stony uphill climb: a single stumble might send you sprawling but belief and steadfastness will see you to the very top.

Alliteration The repetition of sounds especially of the initial consonant

Alliteration The Wicked Witch of the West went her own way.

Anaphora The repetition of the same word

Anaphora This royal throne of kings, this sceptered isle, This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars

Aposiopesis Sentence broken off or left unfinished, dramatic interruption mid-sentence

Aposiopesis But I… never mind.

Apostrophe Address to someone or something not present

Apostrophe Oh ancestors, what would you say about this matter?

Asyndeton Omission of conjunctions

Asyndeton Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Chiasmus ABBA word order

Chiasmus It is boring to eat; to sleep is fulfilling.

Ecphrasis Description of another work of art or place

Ecphrasis And first Hephaestus makes a great and massive shield, blazoning well wrought emblems all across its surface, raising a rim around it, glittering, triple ply with a silver shield strap run from edge to edge and five layers of metal to build the shield itself.

Ellipsis Omission of one or more words (usually est)

Ellipsis The streets were deserted, the doors bolted.

Enjambment Delay of the final word or phrase of a sentence to the beginning of the following line

Enjambment I think I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree.

Hendiadys Two nouns connected by a conjunction instead of an adjective modifying a noun

Hendiadys He came despite the rain and weather.

Hyperbaton Words that naturally belong to one another are separated for emphasis or effect

Hyperbaton Alone he walked on the cold, lonely roads.

Hyperbole Exaggeration, emphatic overstatement

Hyperbole Waves high as mountains broke over the reef.

Hysteron Proteron Events out of logical chronological order

Hysteron Proteron He died and he rushed against the enemy.

Irony The use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning

Irony Watching it rain, he said, “Lovely day for a picnic.”

Litotes Deliberate understatement

Litotes Jackie Robinsons breaking of baseball’s color barrier was no small accomplishment.

Metaphor A comparison in which one thing is said to be another

Metaphor Henry was a lion on the battlefield.

Metonymy One word closely related to another used to suggest the other word

Metonymy The Crown had absolute power in the Middle Ages.

Onomatopoeia The use of words to imitate the sounds they describe

Onomatopoeia The burning crackled and hissed; now and again an owl hooted somewhere in the darkness.

Oxymoron Putting two contradictory words together

Oxymoron He possessed a cold fire in his eyes.

Personification Giving human qualities to animals or objects

Personification Love enfolded us in her arms.

Pleonasm Redundancy, the use of more words than are necessary to express an idea

Pleonasm Take your shoes off your feet.

Polyptoton A type of anaphora, repetition of the same word but used in a different case or tense (different ending on word)

Polyptoton With eager feeding food doth choke the feeder.

Polysyndeton Use of several conjunctions in close succession, especially where some may be excessive

Polysyndeton Marge and Susan and Anne and Daisy and Barry all planned to go for a picnic.

Praeteritio Suggesting one will pass over a topic and then continuing to discuss it in detail

Praeteritio Not to mention your salary, but I don’t think you can afford this.

Prolepsis The description of events that will in fact take place AFTER the story that is being told

Prolepsis The murdered king falls by a traitors hand.

Prosopopoeia An imagery in which one thing is said to be another

Prosopopoeia The homicide victim is speaking to us through the evidence.

Simile Figure of speech involving a comparison between unlike things using like, as, or as though

Simile He is like a mouse in front of the teacher.

Synchesis Interlocked word order, ABAB

Synchesis I run fast and shoot accurately.

Synecdoche Use of a part for the whole

Synecdoche You’ve got to come take a look at my new set of wheels.

Tmesis Separation of one word into two parts (in Latin this is always the separation of a compound word)

Tmesis It's a sort of long cocktail--he got the formula off a barman in Marrakesh or some-bloody-where.

Transferred Epithet Application of an adjective to one noun when it properly applies to another

Transferred Epithet Angry crowns of kings

Tricolon Crescens Series of 3, each lengthier or more important than the previous

Tricolon Crescens We cannot dedicate We cannot consecrate We cannot hallow

Zeugma Single word with a pair of others when the single word logically applies to only one

Zeugma You are free to execute your laws, and your citizens, as you see fit.