Literary Devices

• Theme: Underlying message about the story. Illustrates some kind of truth about life in general.
• Tone: The attitude or mood that is conveyed by an author's choice of words, phrases, sentence structure, etc.
• Plot: The main events of a play, novel, movie, or similar work, devised and presented by the writer as an interrelated sequence.
• Figurative Language: You need to figure out what the words mean
• Literal Language: Words function exactly as they are written
• Imagery: Descriptive language used to appeal to a reader’s senses (sight, smell, taste, touch, sound).
• Symbolism: Objects, characters, figures, or colors represent abstract ideas or concepts.
• Simile: A comparison between two things using the words "like" or "as
• Metaphor: Comparison between two things that does not use “like” or “as.”
• Personification: Giving human qualities to nonhuman objects or animals.
• Alliteration: The repetition of the same letter or sound at the beginning of words
• Understatement: Expression with less strength than expected.
• Hyperbole: Exaggerated statement used for emphasis.
• Onomatopoeia: Words imitating sounds they describe.
• Juxtaposition: The placing of two or more elements side by side to compare and contrast
• Paradox: A statement that seems to contradict itself, but is true.
• Allusion: A reference to something outside the text, usually a literary or historical reference.
• Pathetic Fallacy: The idea that the weather or the environment can influence the characters' emotions.
• Allegory: An extended metaphor that reveals a hidden meaning.
• Analogy: A comparison between two things that are not directly related. (usually to explain or clarify)
• Oxymoron: A figure of speech in which two contradictory terms are used together.
• Rhythm: the pattern of sound created by stressed (more emphasis, `) and unstressed (less emphasis, υ) syllables.  Many poems are given diacritical markings (` and υ) depending on the rhythm.
• Rhyme: repetition of sound at the ends of words. 

  -Rhyme occurring within a line is called internal rhyme.

  -Rhyme occurring at the end of a line is called end rhyme
• Rhyme Scheme:  the pattern of end rhyme in a poem.  Lines that rhyme are given the same letter.  
• Repetition: The use of a word or phrase more than once in a sentence or paragraph.
• Irony: When the exact opposite of what you expect happens
• Mood:

  • the emotional atmosphere of a given piece of writing.
  • Evokes certain feelings or vibes in readers through words and descriptions
• Tone: The attitude of the writer towards the subject of the text.
• Dramatic Irony: The audience knows more than the characters about the situation.
• Setting: The time and place of the story, the time of day, and the weather
• Point of view: Who's telling the story
• First Person: The narrator is the same person who's telling the story (using "I" and "me")
• Third Person: The narrator is not a character in the story.
• Omniscient: All-knowing, All-powerful, All-seeing
• Conflict: A struggle between two opposing forces
• Foreshadowing: A hint or suggestion of something to come in the future.
• Flashback: A scene that is shown in the past, usually to reveal something about the present.
• Style: The way in which a writer uses language to convey meaning and create an effect.
• Stanza: A group of lines in a poem
• Cacophony: A combination of sounds that is unpleasant or harsh.