Literary Devices

A writer asks a question and then immediately answers it

Which literary device is the following song an example of?

The roadsides, once so attractive, were now lined with browned and withered vegetation...

She is between jobs

A more gentle or tactful term for a difficult, painful, or embarrassing subject.

Brave as a lion

He whiffed the aroma of brewed coffee.

What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

A contrast between what is expected and what actually happens.

Descriptive language which appeals to one or more of the five senses

The wind howled.

The placing together of sentences, clauses, or phrases without a conjunctive word or words

Overstatement or exaggeration

Gives the qualities of a person to an animal, an object, or an idea

I came, I saw, I conquered

She sells sea shells by the sea shore

Directly compares two unlike things using like or as

Placing two or more things side by side often to compare or contrast.

I've told you a million times to study.

An object which has meaning in itself, but which also stands for something broader than itself

A hint given by the writer about something that will happen later in the story

Life is a rollercoaster.

The white dove soared through the sky the day the war ended.

The same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom...

Directly compares two unlike things, does not use like or as

The fire station burns down.

Repetition of a word or words at the beginning of two or more successive clauses, or sentences