Literary Terms and Devices

giving human qualities to objects

I'm tired, I think I'll call it a night.

The situation is opposite of the expected.

The main character in a literary work.

The turning point of a narrative.

A series of related events that make up a story.

all the events that follow the climax

The cereal went snap, crackle, pop!

all the events which lead up to the turning point

Mild or pleasant way of saying something harsh.

The general idea about life the author wants to communicate.

Tells the setting, characters, and a hint of the problem

I wondered why the baseball seemed bigger, then it hit me.

opposite ideas joined to create an effect

Narrator uses pronouns such as I, we, me, my, etc.

extravagant exaggeration

play on words that have more than one meaning.

My pillow was calling my name.

The narrator uses pronouns such as he and she; the reader knows the feelings of one character

Your smile is a ray of light.

A word which mimics a sound

Pronouns he, she, it and they are used and the reader knows feelings of all characters

Told by a narrator who uses the pronoun "you".

a string of words with the same initial consonant sound

Time and place of the story.

pronouns such as he and she are used; the reader does not know the feelings of any character

The vantage point from which a story is told.

comparison without using like or as

I'm so hungry I could eat a horse!

Roger rarely reads any resources.

The conclusion; the tying up of all loose ends

You sing like a sweet bird!

This is disgustingly delicious!

The character in conflict with the main character

The struggle between opposing forces