Duplicate of Literary Devices

the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose/criticize people's stupidity/vices

Author's choice of words that help establish tone, mood, imagery, etc.

[His] high-backed chair was of deadly black horse-hair with rows of brass nails...like a coffin

Attaching human traits to inanimate objects, phenomena, and animals

The eggs from which young insurers were hatched were incubated in dust and heat

The personality of a character is revealed through speech, actions, appearance, etc.

Technique where the author hints at a future event in the story.

The author specifically reveals traits about a character in a straightforward manner.

Flopson and Millers had got the children into the house, like a little flock of sheep...

Conflict where character is placed at odds against government or cultural tradition or norms.

Time and place in which a story takes place.

A discrepancy between what is expected to happen versus what actually happens

Use of words to mean something different than what is actually said

The author's overall attitude towards a subject.

Miss Havisham's conflict with her half-brother would be considered...

"His mouth was such a post office of a mouth that he had a mechanical way of smiling" (180).

Comparison between two unrelated/dissimilar things, people, objects, etc using "like" or "as"

Pip struggles between admiration and shame for Joe.

The dictionary or literal definition of a word.

Author makes a passing reference to a significant person, place, historical event, etc.

process wherein an author introduces and then describes a character

Logical sequence of events that develops a story

The resistance the protagonist of the story finds in achieving his/her aims or dreams.

Associations people make with words beyond literal or dictionary definitions.

An extreme exaggeration to emphasize a point

Author uses words and phrases to help reader visualize the author's writings.

My Achilles' heel is shopping, eating out, and watching the Real Housewives franchise.

The emotional atmosphere of a work evoked by an author; how we are made to feel about a text...

External conflict between two more characters - usually protagonist and antagonist

Internal conflict where one struggles between right and wrong/must overcome his own nature.

A subject is compared to another, using a form of "to be," to show similarity/ emphasize trait

The audience is aware of something the characters are not

a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning as a whole

The main character of a story, novel, or play.

Character is at odds with a force of nature, such as a natural disaster.

While To Let To Let To Let glared at me from empty rooms, as if no new wretches ever came there

"coming of age story" in which the plot focuses on the overall growth of the central character

The main idea or underlying meaning of a literary work.

An owl is often used to represent wisdom.

An object, person, place, or situation has another meaning than its literal one.