Disarming Literary Devices

Characters that do not change during the course of a story.

The atmosphere or feeling created by a literary work by an author's use of description.

A reference in one literary work to a character or theme found in another literary work.

Use of historically inaccurate details in a text.

The audience knows something that the characters in the drama do not.

Characters with only one dominant trait or aspect, such as greed or anger.

A phrase that is common in everyday, unconstrained conversation, rather than in formal speech.

Expresses the author's attitude toward his or her subject.

Characters that change during the course of a story.

A purification of emotions in literature or art.

The result of an action is the reverse of what the actor expected.

A play on words wherein a word is used to convey two meanings at the same time.

The contrast is between the literal meaning of what is said and what is meant.

Characters that have many traits or aspects to their personality.

A device in literature where an object represents an idea.