Literary Devices

A secondary character who contrasts with the major character

A type of drama that combines certain elements of both tragedy and comedy

Speaker or writer's manner of expression

The voice of the person telling the story

Where the author drops subtle hints about the plot development to come later in the story

Represents the language of everyday use, often includes slang and many simple and common words

A speaker created by the writer to tell a story or to speak in a poem

A defect in the tragic hero that leads to his downfall, such as greed, pride or ambition

Correct use of language but less elevated than formal diction. Reflects educated speaking

Short tale narrating an interesting or amusing biographical incident

The abstract concept explored in a literary work

The writer's attitude toward the work and the readers (serious, playful, formal, ironic,...)

Way poets sometimes employ an elevated diction from the common speech and writing of their time

It refers to who tells us the story and how it is told

A line having no pause but having uninterrupted grammatical meaning into the next line

A story that represents courageous individuals who confront powerful forces

Choice of words, phrases, sentence structure and figurative language which create meaning

Action that interrupts to show an event that occured at an earlier time

The way in which linguistic elements (words) are put together

A recurrent thematic element in a literary work; a dominant or central theme

A story or short narrative to reveal allegorically some religious principle, moral lesson, etc.

Dignified, impersonal and elevated use of language, described by complex words and lofty tone

A protagonist who has the opposite of most of the traditional attributes of a hero