ALLUSION: |
an indirect reference to a character, event, or place in cinema, literature, history, or mythology that enriches the meaning of the passage |
| ANALOGY: | a comparison between two unlike things or activities for the purpose of argument |
| ANECDOTE: | a short, simple, usually true story |
| ARGUMENT: | providing or presenting the truth or falseness of a statement |
| ATMOSPHERE: | the mood of the story which sets up expectations in the reader |
| CAUSE AND EFFECT: | an argument that draws a link between a circumstance and its result(s) |
| CHARACTER: | an individual (or animal) in a literary work; character refers to appearance as well as personality |
| CLASSIFICATION: | the grouping of items or subjects in to categories |
| CLIMAX: | the point of highest tension or interest in fiction |
| COMPARISON: | the similarities or both similarities and differences of two or more items |
| CONFLICT: | opposition or struggle between characters and forces (for example, society, other characters, or even forces within the self) |
| CONTRAST: | the difference within a common category |
| DESCRIPTION: | the way in which an author creates a visual or sensory image |
| DIALOGUE: | conversation used in fiction to create character, move the plot along, establish conflict, support themes, etc. |
| DICTION: | the type of words used by an author, word-choice creates a particular effect |
| ENUMERATION: | a listing of items/things |
| EPIPHANY: | a character's moment of insight and revelation; a reader can also experience and epiphany |
| EXAMPLE: | the support for the author's idea or point |
| FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE: | writing that departs from the literal meansing of words to achieve a particularly vivid, expressive or imaginative image (imagery, metaphor, simile, allusion, hyperbole) |
| FLASHBACK: | a scene that depicts an earlier event |
| FORESHADOWING: | early clues or hints about events that will happen later |
| HYPERBOLE: | an exaggeration or overstatement |
| IMAGERY: | visual pictures received through language that appeal to any of the senses (smell, touch, sound, taste) |
| IRONY: | some contrast or discrepancy between appearances and reality; also, verbal irong involves the saying of one thing and meaning of something opposite, or at least very different |
| LEVEL OF LANGUAGE: | the formality or informality of a pice of writing, whether it uses complex or highly descriptive vocabulary or slang |
| METAPHOR: | comparison of something concrete to something abstract (e.g. "my love is a red, red rose" and "he slithered through the crowd" - a snake metaphor) |
| NARRATOR: | the teller of the story; it can be first person or third person |
| PERSONIFICATION: | human qualities given to inanimate objects |
| PLOT: | what happens in a story amd makes up the story's basic structure |
| POINT OF VIEW: | the perspective or angle from which the story is told. The author might choose an omniscient point of view, first person, etc. |
| REPETITION: | used to emphasize a point or create a mood |
| RHETORICAL QUESTIONS: | used to provoke thought rather than to bring forth answers |
| SETTING: | the time and place in which a story occurs |
| SIMILE: | a comparison using like or as (e.g. "my love is like a red, red rose") |
| SYMBOL: | something that suggest or stands for more than its literal meaning |
| THEME: | the central or dominating idea of the story |
| TONE: | the author's attitude or position toward the subject or reader |
Literary devices common in fiction |
Literary devices common in essays |
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| atmosphere | imagery | analogy | enumeration |
| character | metaphor | argument | examples |
| conflict | point of view | cause and effect | tone |
| flashback | setting | comparison/contrast | imagery |
| foreshadowing | symbolism | description | level of language |
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