1. LITERARY DEVICES Unit 3
ENGLISH IV
Manning

2. 1. Editorial
A piece of writing that can be found in newspapers and magazines and its purpose is to persuade.

3. 2. Feature Article
A piece of writing that can be found in newspapers and magazines and its purpose is strictly to inform.

4. 3. Myth
Ancient story (often Greek) that explains natural occurrences/happenings in the world

5. 4. Fable
A brief story/poem, usually with animal characters, that teaches a moral lesson.

6. 5. Folk Tale
A story first composed orally and passed down by word of mouth.

7. 6. Haiku
A three-line Japanese poem with 17 syllables

8. 7. Text Features
Pictures, side bars, bold print, graphs, charts, and captions.

9. 8. Monologue A long formal speech made by a character in a play
HAMLET: (Speaking to Horatio) / Let me see. Takes the skull / Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio: a fellow / of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy: he hath / borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how / abhorred in my imagination it is!

10. 9. Pun
A play on the multiple meanings of a word or on two words that sound alike but have two different meanings.
HAMLET (speaking to his uncle/stepfather): Not so, my Lord. I am too much in the sun. (play on the word sun/son)
A horse is a very stable animal.
Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

11. 10. Soliloquy
A long speech in which a character who is usually alone onstage expresses his or her private thoughts or feelings.
HAMLET (to himself): "To be or not to be...”
PROCTOR (speaking to the night sky): “Peace. It is providence, and no great change; we are only what we always were, but naked now. . . Aye, naked! And the wind, God’s icy wind will blow.”

12. 11. Oxymoron
 A figure of speech that combines apparently contradictory or incongruous ideas
“cruel kindness” or “living death”
“open secret” or “tragic comedy”
“seriously funny” or “awfully pretty”

13. 12. Assonance
The repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds in words that are close together.
“Men sell the wedding bells.”
I feel depressed and restless.
The engineer held the steering to steer the vehicle.

14. 13. Double Entendre
 A word, phrase, etc, that can be interpreted in two ways, especially one having one meaning that is indelicate
HAMLET: “Get thee to a nunnery!”
“Marriage is a fine institution, but I’m not ready for an institution” (Mae West).

15. 14. Consonance
The repetition of final consonant sounds after different vowel sounds.
All’s well that ends well
A blessing in disguise
All mammals named Sam are clammy

16. 15. Aside
Private words that a character speaks to the audience or to another character that are not supposed to be overheard by others onstage.
POLONIUS: (To himself) Though this be madness, yet there is method in ’t.— / (to HAMLET) Will you walk out of the air, my lord?

17. 16. Foil
A character who sets off another character by strong contrast.
Milton’s “Paradise Lost Book I” is based on the comparison of two contrasting characters: God and Satan. 
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (“Hyde” is an evil double of the honorable Dr. Jekyll )

18. 17. Symbolism
A literary movement that advocates the use of highly personal symbols to suggest ideas, emotions, and moods.
The dove is a symbol of peace.
A red rose or red color stands for love or
romance.
Black is a symbol that represents evil or death.

19. YOU SHOULD ALREADY KNOW!
Conflict
Protagonist/Antagonist
Foreshadowing
Simile
Flashback
Dialect
Genre
Meter
Onomatopoeia
Imagery
Hyperbole
Paradox
Irony
Dialogue
Figurative Language
Setting
Resolution
Plot
Metaphor
Extended Metaphor
Apostrophe
Allusion
Alliteration
Mood
Personification