literary devices (grade 10)

• Alliteration - Occurs when a series of words in a row (or close to a row) have the same first consonant sound.
• Allusion - A reference to a literary or historical person or event to explain a present situation.
• Analogy - A comparison between two things, typically for the purpose of explanation or clarification.
• Characterization - The method used by the narrator to describe the character.
• Direct Characterization - Narrator tells the reader about the character's traits.
• Indirect Characterization - Narrator presents character's traits and lets the readers draw their own conclusions.
• Comic Relief - A humorous scene or speech in a serious drama, which is meant to provide relief from emotional intensity and, by contrast, to heighten the seriousness of the story.
• Diction - The author's choice of words.
• Flashback - Takes the reader back in time to provide important information.
• Foreshadowing - Refers to clues that hint at what is going to happen later in the plot. It is used to arouse the readers curiosity, build suspense, and prepare the reader to accept events that occur in the story.
• Hyperbole - Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.
• Imagery - Words or phrases that create pictures in the mind of the reader.
• Irony - When double meanings are implied.
• Verbal Irony - A statement in which the implicit meaning intended by the speaker differs from what he/she actually says. In an ironic statement one attitude is spoken but another is meant.
• Dramatic Irony - The audience/reader has knowledge of which the character is unaware.
• Situational Irony - The opposite of the expected occur or is presented visually.
• Metaphor - A figure of speech that compare unlike objects without using connecting items such as "like" or "as".
• Metonymy - A figure of speech that replaces the name of a thing with the name of something else which it is closely associated.
• Motif - An element that recurs frequently in literature.
• Onomatopoeia - Words that, when pronounced, give the reader an intended effect.
• Oxymoron - Contradictory words paired together for a special effect.
• Pathetic Fallacy - Using the weather/environmental conditions to suggest the mood of the story.
• Personification - A figure of speech in which objects or animals are given human qualities.
• Pun - A play on words with two meanings, two words of similar meanings, or words that are similarly spelled or pronounced.
• Repetition - The return of a word, phrase, or stanza form, or effect in any form of literature. This may bring comfort, suggest order, and add special meaning to a piece of literature.
• Simile - A direct comparison between two unlike objects using "like" or "as".
• Static Character - A character that does not change, grow or mature throughout the story.
• Stock or Stereotyped Characters - A typical type of character that can be easily described and understood.
• Suspense - Used to maintain the reader's attention and interest in the story.
• Symbol - Something that means something more than what it is; something that represents something else.
• Tone - The writer or narrator's attitude toward the story and audience. Authors create tone through their choice of words, details, imagery and style.