English Literary Device

Front 1

The repetition of the same sounds at the beginning of words.

Back 1

Alliteration

Front 2

An indirect or direct reference to something you assume your audience will understand and appreciate.

Back 2

Allusion

Front 3

A situation that is similar, comparable; a likeness in some respects.

Back 3

Analogy

Front 4

Repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of successive clauses.

Back 4

Anaphora

Front 5

A brief story that shares an interesting or amusing event dealing with one incident

Back 5

Anecdote

Front 6

Placing a good point or benefit next to a fault criticism, or problem in order to reduce the impact or significance of the negative point.

Back 6

Antanagoge

Front 7

A brief saying embodying a moral, a concise statement of a principle or precept given in pointed words.

Back 7

Aphorism

Front 8

The organization of ideas in descending order of importance.

Back 8

Anti-Climax

Front 9

One idea is set against a sharply contrasting idea. Often, it is, but not necessarily, in the same sentence. It is a balancing of two opposite or contrasting words, phrases, clauses or paragraphs. Effective antithetical statements balance the first idea against the second by setting each in parallel grammatical structure.

Back 9

Antithesis

Front 10

The repetition of vowel sounds in closely followed words.

Back 10

Assonance

Front 11

The repetition, in a sentence or in a consecutive sentence, of the arrangement of words.

Back 11

Balance

Front 12

The crisscrossing of successive phrase or clauses.

Back 12

Chiasmus

Front 13

An idea or meaning suggested/ implied by or associated with a word or thing in addition to its literal meaning

Back 13

Connotation

Front 14

Involves the juxtaposition (placing side by side) of words that are directly opposite in meaning

Back 14

Contrast

Front 15

The listing, in numerical order, of points or ideas.

Back 15

Enumeration

Front 16

When you substitute for a particular attribute the name of a famous person recognized for that attribute.

Back 16

Eponym

Front 17

The substitution of a more delicate or less offensive word or phrase for another - both of which tend of mean the same thing.

Back 17

Euphemism

Front 18

A statement that stretches the truth to add emphasis and entertainment value (Also called Hyperbole).

Back 18

Exaggeration

Front 19

The writer describes an earlier time in the story that will help the reader understand the plot and the characters better.

Back 19

Flashback

Front 20

A clue or hint about what will happen later in the story.

Back 20

Foreshadowing

Front 21

An exaggeration for effect.

Back 21

Hyperbole

Front 22

A common phrase or expression that means something different from what the words actually say.

Back 22

Idiom

Front 23

A technique a writer uses to create pictures in the reader’s mind and to appeal to the senses of touch, taste, smell sight or hearing

Back 23

Imagery

Front 24

Any variation of the normal order of subject, verb, or object which is used for emphasis

Back 24

Inversion

Front 25

the reader or audience knows about an event or situation that the character does not.

Back 25

Dramatic Irony

Front 26

the speaker says one thing but means something else.

Back 26

Verbal Irony

Front 27

Specialized words or terminology used in certain situation and occupations.

Back 27

Jargon/Colloquialism

Front 28

Place two ideas together so that their closeness and comparison create a sharp contrast or a new, sometimes ironic, meaning.

Back 28

Juxtaposition

Front 29

Understatement for effect- saying less than you really mean.

Back 29

Litotes

Front 30

An expression that describes or implies a comparison between a person, place or thing.

Back 30

Metaphor

Front 31

Reference to something or someone by naming one of its attributes or something intimately associated with it

Back 31

Metonymy

Front 32

Words whose sound makes you think of their meaning.

Back 32

Onomatopoeia

Front 33

The joining of two contradictory words in a phrase.

Back 33

Oxymoron

Front 34

An apparently contradictory statement that nevertheless contains an element of truth

Back 34

Paradox

Front 35

When elements of a clause or sentence function in the same way and also have a similar structure. This type of structure adds strength and control to writing. It helps not only to structure ideas but also to clarify the relationships among them.

Back 35

Parallel Structure

Front 36

is a form of satire that imitates another work of art in order to ridicule it.

Back 36

Parody

Front 37

When the writer describes an animal, an object or thing as if it were a person

Back 37

Personification

Front 38

Ends with the most important item from an independent clause and begins with all other information in subordinate clauses.

Back 38

Periodic Sentence

Front 39

A word or phrase with more than one possible meaning used to create comic effect

Back 39

Pun

Front 40

Repeating of a word, phrase, or line to add rhythm or to emphasize an idea

Back 40

Repetition

Front 41

A question whose answer is already known or implied

Back 41

Rhetorical Question

Front 42

A literary tone used to ridicule or make fun of human vice or weakness, often with the intent of correcting, or changing, the subject of the satiric attack

Back 42

Satire

Front 43

An expression that describes or directly compares a person, place or thing by comparing it to something else using the words “like” or “as”.

Back 43

Simile

Front 44

A person, place or thing or event that is used to represent something else.

Back 44

Symbol

Front 45

A figure of speech in which a part stands for the whole.

Back 45

Synecdoche