Literary Devices

An implied comparison between two unlike things that have something important in common.

• Metaphor

• Simile

• Personification

• Alliteration

The repetition of beginning consonant sound

• Consonance

• Allusion

• Alliteration

• Vivid word choice

A device where the speaker refers to something that the reader needs prior knowledge of or experience with in order to understand.

• Allusion

• Personification

• Simile

• Metaphor

A device where the speaker talks directly to an absent person, living or dead, or even a nonexistent person or thing as if it was capable of understanding.

• Allusion

• Apostrophe

• Juxtaposition

• Alliteration

Repetition of ending (of the word or stressed syllable) consonant sound

• Assonance

• Consonance

• Alliteration

• Repetition

Placing two things that directly oppose each other (often abstract concepts) near each other or directly side-by-side so the reader can compare them.

• Metaphor

• Extended Metaphor

• Simile

• Juxtaposition

A comparison using “like” or “as” between two unlike things that have something important in common

• Metaphor

• Extended Metaphor

• Simile

• Juxtaposition

Words that imitate the sound they are

• Alliteration

• Onomatopoeia

• Assonance

• Consonance

A device where the author chooses nouns, adjectives, or verbs that paint a strong mental picture and often have layers of meaning.

• Vivid word choice

• Allusion

• Alliteration

• Repetition

Repetition of internal vowels

• Assonance

• Consonance

• Allusion

• Repetition