Literary Devices

Something that stands for something larger than itself

The overall emotion in a work of literature

A speaker's choice of words

An expression particular to a specific language that isn't literal

Two consecutive rhyming lines of poetry

Poetry that doesn't have any meter or rhyme scheme

A short, unrhymed poem with 17 syllables

Descriptive language that evokes a picture... of a person, place, thing, or experience

The order of words in a sentence

A voice that addresses the reader of a poem

An ordinary form of written or spoken language

Six lines of poetry, especially the last six in a sonnet

A song or poem that tells a story

A pattern of stressed & unstressed syllables in poetry

A comparison between two things where one is said to be the other

When a writer deliberately suggests two or more different or conflicting meanings in a work

The repetition of consonant sounds in words that are close together

A figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human qualities

A word whose sound suggests its meaning

Word, phrase line or group of lines that is repeated for effect several times in a poem

A reference to something in history, literature, religion, etc. that the author expects the reader to recognize

Repetition of words or phrases with similar structure

The attitude an author takes toward a work, the character, or the plot

A figure of speech that combines contradictory words in a brief phrase

A comparison between two unlike things using the words like or as

A play on words

A statement that seems contradictory but reveals the truth

The insight into human life that is revealed through a literary work