LITERARY DEVICES AND EXAMPLES

The reason behind a writer’s work; what the writing is intending to accomplish.

The balanced/equal structure of a sentence/text.

good and evil, man and woman start out as enemies and fall in love, things happen in threes

____7. Credibility, authority; education, experience

____6. Giving human traits to something nonhuman or inanimate.

instructions, directions, when reader is spoken to a "you"

____4. The pattern of rhyme in a poem, like ABAB, CDCD, etc.

Time and tide wait for none.

"So sick, so sick of being tired. And oh so tired of being sick."

"Remi was a Romeo, wooing all the women with his good looks and charm.”

“My feet practically begged me to sit down because they were tired.”

"If ever two were one - then surely we . . ."

Do something at the drop of a hat

____5. To suggest something without stating it directly or literally

A deeply symbolic story

____9. The attitude of a speaker toward the subject.

“Give me liberty, or give me death!”

Words like “boom,” “pop,” and “hiss”—the words themselves make the sound they are describing

Language that appeals to the senses: “The dense, gray fog enveloped me...

The intended recipient of a message; the group or person a person is speaking or writing to

ABABCDCDEFEFGG

Surroundings; clues that hint at a meaning

"My life is my purpose. My life is my goal. My life is my inspiration."

“The ocean was as clear and smooth as a piece of glass.”

There are boat loads of other things to do.

____6. Logic and reason, facts and statistics.

The young writer was rightly called the Shakespeare of modern times.

Our soldiers are as brave as lions.

narrator is not part of the story and only knows the thoughts and feelings of one character.

The voice of the text

“Chocolate was her Achilles’ heel.”

Language used for rhetorical effect incorporating several literary devices.

The assignment was a breeze.

I am trying to solve a million issues in an hour.

Emotion evoked in the reader of a text

The message of a text, like “the importance of friendship” or "love conquers all"

____8. Details that appeal to emotion.

The basketball player was as big as an elephant.

____3. Exaggeration, such as “I am so hungry, I could eat my hand.”

Her house was a cave.

The "rustling" leaves kept me awake.

A comparison that uses “like” or “as.”

But a better butter makes a batter better.

Group of lines in a poem

Tells a story

____7. A strong comparison.

Death wandered the battlefield.

The rearrangement of words in a sentence from their typical word order.

narrator is part of the story and tells it from his perspective

when the reader knows the thoughts, actions, and motives of many characters