Literary devices

• pathetic fallacy


  faulty reasoning that inappropriately ascribes human feelings to nature or nonhuman objects
• Euphemism


  An indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is considered unpleasant
• Equivocation


  the use of ambiguous language to conceal the truth or to avoid committing oneself
• Oxymoron


  A figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase.
• Juxtaposition


  Placement of two things closely together to emphasize comparisons or contrasts
• Litotes


  A form of understatement that involves making an affirmative point by denying its opposite
• Conceit


  a fanciful, particularly clever extended metaphor
• Anaphora


  repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of sentences, lines, or clauses
• loaded language


  words that imply a value judgement, used to persuade a reader without having made a serious argument
• Metonymy


  A figure of speech in which something is referred to by using the name of something that is associated with it

  Pen is mightier than the sword
• Enjambment


  the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza.
• Chiasmus


  A statement consisting of two parallel parts in which the second part is structurally reversed
• literary criticism


  the art or practice of judging and commenting on the qualities and character of literary works.
• Consonance


  the repetition of consonants (or consonant patterns) especially at the ends of words
• prevarication


  evasion of truth
• Antonomasia


  the substitution of an epithet or title for a proper name
• dramatic irony


  when a reader is aware of something that a character isn't
• foil character


  a character's whose main purpose is to highlight the strengths or weaknesses of another character
• Sibilance


  A type of alliteration in which the "s" sound is repeated.
• Alliteration


  The repetition of initial sounds in neighboring words
• Soliloquy


  A long speech expressing the thoughts of a character alone on stage
• Paradox


  a statement that seems contradictory but is actually true
• Metaphor


  A comparison without using like or as
• Foreshadowing


  A narrative device that hints at coming events; often builds suspense or anxiety in the reader.
• Repetition


  Repeated use of sounds, words, or ideas for effect and emphasis
• Allegory


  A story in which each aspect of the story has a symbolic meaning outside the tale itself.
• Semantic field


  Group of words which are related in meaning
• political diatribe


  The way a text is written to criticise a political system or belief.
• Pleonasm


  the use of more words than are necessary to convey meaning [e.g., see with one's eyes ]
• Hypophora


  raising a question then proceeding to answer it
• Anastrophe


  Inversion of the natural or usual word order (yoda)
• Polysyndeton


  Deliberate use of many conjunctions
• Synecdoche


  a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa

  Like metonymy
• circumlocution


  an indirect way of expressing something, usually in evasive situations