Literary Devices Review

a reference, usually an indirect reference, to another work of literature or myth

the specific, exact meaning of a word, free of emotional association

a concrete thing, person, or action that expresses an abstract meaning

The moral, message, or lesson you learn from the story; the heart or "big idea" of the story

the story shown through the experiences and thoughts of one character; uses he, she, they

time, place, and social context within which a story takes place

the writers attitude towards the situations and characters in a story

the unified, deliberate structure of the events of a story

the recognition of a reality that contradicts the appearance: verbal, situation, or dramatic

a moment of choice, action, or recognition that resolves the conflict of the story

central character in the story

writer providing hints or clues about events that will occur later in the story

introductory material that establishes the setting, the main characters, and initial situation

circumstances in which there is a sudden insight or realization that can change understanding

writers limit themselves to exterior reality, what a camera may record

the multiple implications that words or phrases carry, often of an emotional quality

protagonist tells his/her story using I or Me

the final section of the plot that shows the reader the final consequences of the climax

a recurrent image, word, object, phrase, or action that helps to unify a work

when a writer interrupts the story to show a scene from the past

where a word or phrase is applied to an object or action which it's not literally applicable

less significant characters that have no real depth or complexity (static)

giving inanimate objects human characteristics

all knowing narrator moving among time, place, and minds of the characters

fully developed, complex personalities that defy simple analysis (dynamic)

a stated comparison between two dissimilar things using like or as

clashes between opposing forces in a story; drives the plot of the story