Literary Devices

A story or tale with two or more levels of meaning: a literal and one or more symbolic levels

• Allegory

• Idiom

• Diction

• Nuance

The repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words

• Alliteration

• Onomatopoeia

• Denotation

• Pun

A brief reference to a person, event , or place (real or not), or to a work of art.

• Allusion

• Motif

• Mood

• Imagery

When a speaker directly addresses an absent person (someone who has died) or an inanimate object that is personified (e.g. the moon).

• Apostropher

• Flashback

• Euphemism

• Paradox

The way in which a character is described or developed; can be stated (direct) or implied through language, behavior, etc. (indirect)

• Characterization

• Conflict

• Foreshadowing

• Point of view

A problem that has to be resolved or worked out

• Conflict

• Motif

• Satire

• Style

Problem within a character

• Internal conflict

• External conflict

• Oxymoron

• Rhetoric

Problem a character has with someone or something else

• External conflict

• Internal conflict

• Simile

• Personification

The implied or emotional meaning of a word, in addition to its dictionary definition

• Connotation

• Denotation

• FOIL

• Metaphor

The dictionary definition or literal definition of a word.

• Connotation

• Denotation

• Diction

• Parody