Our Town By: Thornton Wilder Literary devices Our Town By: Thornton Wilder

Diction Generally speaking, diction is just word choice. Which words is the author using, and what's their effect? Should you call your crush "sweetie," "dearest," "darling," "beloved," "boo," "sugar pie," or "Hey, you"? It makes a difference. Trust us. See, diction creates tone, and tone is one of the most important aspects up for discussion in literature. So when your teacher asks, what's the tone of this novel? Just ask yourself: what words are being used?

Figurative language This is just a fancy term for words that mean more than meets the eye. Figurative language uses figures of speech like similes and metaphors to build meaning beyond the literal. Think of figurative language as words that have more than one level of meaning. We often use figurative language in our everyday speech without even realizing it. When we say "it's raining cats and dogs," we don't literally mean that felines and canines are falling from the sky. It's a metaphor for a major downpour. Here are a few other examples: She runs like the wind. I smell a rat.  America is a melting pot. How could she marry a snake like that? My head is spinning. My love is a red, red rose.  This classroom is like a circus.

Figure of speech Figure of speech is a catch-all phrase that refers to the literary devices used in figurative language. Called tropes by some folks, figures of speech take meaning to another level (to the figurative, beyond the literal), and come in all shapes and sizes. Figures of speech include metaphors, similes, and personification. In our everyday conversations, we often use "figure of speech" to refer to a common metaphor that everyone understands. So when you tell your mother that you love her to death and she looks horrified, you can say, "Aw, it's okay, Ma. That's just a figure of speech." But then again, she probably already knew that.

syntax When it comes to syntax, it's all about sentence structure—how words and phrases relate to each other. But, more figuratively, it can refer to the organization of ideas or topics in a poem, as in, "Why did the poet go from talking about his mother to a description of an ostrich?"

metaphors metaphors describe one object as another. A metaphor has two parts: a tenor and a vehicle. The tenor is the subject of the metaphor. That is, what you're trying to describe as something else. The vehicle is what you use to transform the subject into something else. I'm king of the world! The tenor is "I" (Leonardo DiCaprio) The vehicle is "king"

simile A simile is a figure of speech that makes use of the adverbs "like" or "as" to make a comparison or analogy. In that sense, it's a very specific kind of metaphor, but for the most part, we can think of it as its own separate beast.

allusion An allusion is, plain and simple, a reference. You'll find allusions (or shout-outs, as we like to call them) when the book you're reading makes a reference to something outside of itself, whether another work of literature, something from pop culture, a song, myth, history, or even the visual arts.

personification Personification is figurative language that gives human traits (qualities, feelings, action, or characteristics) to non-living objects (things, colors, qualities, or ideas).

Imagery Imagery is all of the pictures and sensations a piece of writing conjures up in your noggin. Imagery is the key to literature—especially poetry. If you're reading a description that engages any one of your five senses, you're reading imagery, folks.

Synecdoche A synecdoche is a figure of speech in which a part of something represents the whole. So the next time someone says to you, "All hands on deck," tell them thanks for the synecdoche, but you think it's best that your whole body goes on deck, too.

Metonymy Metonymy is a scary word for a not-so-scary concept. It's just a type of metaphor in which an object is used to describe something that's closely related to it. So, for example, when you're talking about the power of a king, you might say "the crown," instead. The crown is the physical object that is usually associated with royalty and power.

hyperbole Hyperbole is completely over-the-top exaggeration or overstatement—and one that's easily recognizable to readers. Like, "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse" or "Ryan Gosling is so hot, I would jump into a giant pit of flaming snakes for him!"

Oxymoron An oxymoron is a figure of speech that puts together two seemingly contradictory words or phrases that actually end up making a whole lot of sense. Example? "The jumbo shrimp she brought to the party was terribly good." (There were two of them in that sentence. Did you catch them?)

Understatement An understatement seeks to express a thought or impression by underemphasizing the extent to which a statement may be true. Understatement is the opposite of hyperbole and is frequently used for its comedic value in articles, speeches, etc. when issues of great importance are being discussed, as in, "There's just one, tiny, little problem with that plan—it'll get us all killed!"

Malapropism When someone who's not the sharpest tool in the shed uses one word when they mean another, that's a malapropism. Well, it's also a malapropism even if the utterer is a genius. But hey, we're not going to start throwing stones at grass houses, even if we are a suppository of knowledge. I am not one to be truffled with. (The Office, "Casual Friday")