Literary devices for prose

This expresses the author's attitude or feelings towards the subject s/he is writing about. In most cases it remains the same throughout the story, but sometimes it may change with the progression of the story symbolizing a change of heart.

• Mood

• Tone

• Characterization

This is the impact on the reader when reading or watching a text. Masterful creators can design the impact on their audiences through their use of different devices and techniques.

• Tone

• Mood

• Hyperbole

This is a literary device in which the writer places two opposite or contradictory words together. Such placement allows for creating entertainment, highlighting a point or creating an impact. Some popular examples are - 'only choice', 'virtual reality' and 'random order'.

• Simile

• Oxymoron

• Hyperbole

This literary device is used by poets, song writers and also sometimes by novelists in their dialogues to emphasize the intensity of an emotion or to call for focus on the importance , gravity or size of a matter or object. It involves an unnatural exaggeration of facts eg. We haven't eaten out in ages.

• Hyperbole

• Oxymoron

• Simile

This is a literary device quite commonly used in children's stories and fantasy stories. This is a technique of treating animals, objects and any non human living thing as human. The animal/object talks, walks, thinks, behaves and even feels like humans. Such characters are often main characters in animations, comics or stories. eg Winnie the Pooh, E-Wall the robot and Baloo the bear.

• Metaphor

• Personification

• Anthropomorphism

This is a technique of bringing alive objects and animals in the mind of the reader. This is a technique which calls for attributing human qualities or behaviors to animals, plants and objects to create a sense of familiarity for the readers and allow them to connect with the writer's imagination. This technique is used only for the purpose of building images in the mind of the reader.

• Metaphor

• Personification

• Anthropomorphism

This is a technique which the writers use to give the readers a hint of what is to come later in a story. Such communication can be made through a dialogue between characters or through a description of the ambience. A hint of what is coming ahead can be given through an incident in the story or even through the title of a chapter. This technique allows the authors to hold the interest of the readers.

• Foreshadowing

• Irony

• Connotation

This is a literary technique that defines a situation or statement which is the opposite to what was expected or when something quite contrary to expectations happens. There are three kinds of the technique - situational, verbal and dramatic.

• Pun

• Sarcasm

• Irony

In this kind or irony a person or character says something which is an exact opposite to what s/he means. Writers use this kind of irony to create humor or create suspense. Essentially, this form of irony makes use of statements with layered meanings- one literal and the other underlying which the speaker uses knowingly. The listener may or may not be aware of the layered meanings. There are 3 kinds of this kind or irony- Sarcasm, Exaggeration and understatement.

• Verbal Irony

• Situational Irony

• Dramatic Irony

In this kind of irony, what happens is completely opposite to what the audiences/readers expect. This is a very common kind used in suspense or mystery movies. This kind of irony generates contradictions between appearances and reality. It is what we call a twist in the story. eg. All through the Harry Potter series we expect harry to kill Voldemort when what finally happens is just the opposite.

• Verbal Irony

• Situational Irony

• Dramatic Irony