Literary devices and terms are the techniques and elements—from figures of speech to narrative devices to poetic meters—that writers use to create narrative literature, poetry, speeches, or any other form of writing.
Acrostic
An acrostic is a piece of writing in which a particular set of letters—typically the first letter of each line, word, or paragraph—spells out a word or phrase with special significance to the text. Acrostics…
Allegory
An allegory is a work that conveys a hidden meaning—usually moral, spiritual, or political—through the use of symbolic characters and events. The story of “The Tortoise and The Hare” is a well-known allegory with a…
Alliteration
Alliteration is a figure of speech in which the same sound repeats in a group of words, such as the “b” sound in: “Bob brought the box of bricks to the basement.” The repeating sound…
Allusion
In literature, an allusion is an unexplained reference to someone or something outside of the text. Writers commonly allude to other literary works, famous individuals, historical events, or philosophical ideas, and they do so in…
Anachronism
An anachronism is a person or a thing placed in the wrong time period. For instance, if a novel set in Medieval England featured a trip to a movie-theater, that would be an anachronism. Although…
Anadiplosis
Anadiplosis is a figure of speech in which a word or group of words located at the end of one clause or sentence is repeated at or near the beginning of the following clause or…
Analogy
An analogy is a comparison that aims to explain a thing or idea by likening it to something else. For example, a career coach might say, “Being the successful boss or CEO of a company…
Anapest
An anapest is a three-syllable metrical pattern in poetry in which two unstressed syllables are followed by a stressed syllable. The word “understand” is an anapest, with the unstressed syllables of “un” and “der” followed…
Anaphora
Anaphora is a figure of speech in which words repeat at the beginning of successive clauses, phrases, or sentences. For example, Martin Luther King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech contains anaphora: “So let freedom…
Antagonist
An antagonist is usually a character who opposes the protagonist (or main character) of a story, but the antagonist can also be a group of characters, institution, or force against which the protagonist must contend….
Antanaclasis
Antanaclasis is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is repeated within a sentence, but the word or phrase means something different each time it appears. A famous example of antanaclasis is…
Anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human characteristics, emotions, and behaviors to animals or other non-human things (including objects, plants, and supernatural beings). Some famous examples of anthropomorphism include Winnie the Pooh, the Little Engine that Could, and Simba from…
Antimetabole
Antimetabole is a figure of speech in which a phrase is repeated, but with the order of words reversed. John F. Kennedy’s words, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you…
Antithesis
Antithesis is a figure of speech that juxtaposes two contrasting or opposing ideas, usually within parallel grammatical structures. For instance, Neil Armstrong used antithesis when he stepped onto the surface of the moon in 1969…
Aphorism
An aphorism is a saying that concisely expresses a moral principle or an observation about the world, presenting it as a general or universal truth. The Rolling Stones are responsible for penning one of the…
Aphorismus
Aphorismus is a type of figure of speech that calls into question the way a word is used. Aphorismus is used not to question the meaning of a word, but whether it is actually appropriate…
Aporia
Aporia is a rhetorical device in which a speaker expresses uncertainty or doubt—often pretended uncertainty or doubt—about something, usually as a way of proving a point. An example of aporia is the famous Elizabeth Barrett…
Apostrophe
Apostrophe is a figure of speech in which a speaker directly addresses someone (or something) that is not present or cannot respond in reality. The entity being addressed can be an absent, dead, or imaginary…
Assonance
Assonance is a figure of speech in which the same vowel sound repeats within a group of words. An example of assonance is: “Who gave Newt and Scooter the blue tuna? It was too soon!”
Asyndeton
An asyndeton (sometimes called asyndetism) is a figure of speech in which coordinating conjunctions—words such as “and”, “or”, and “but” that join other words or clauses in a sentence into relationships of equal importance—are omitted….
Ballad
A ballad is a type of poem that tells a story and was traditionally set to music. English language ballads are typically composed of four-line stanzas that follow an ABCB rhyme scheme.
Ballade
A ballade is a form of lyric poetry that originated in medieval France. Ballades follow a strict rhyme scheme (“ababbcbc”), and typically have three eight-line stanzas followed by a shorter four-line stanza called an envoi….
Bildungsroman
Bildungsroman is a genre of novel that shows a young protagonist’s journey from childhood to adulthood (or immaturity to maturity), with a focus on the trials and misfortunes that affect the character’s growth.
Blank Verse
Blank verse is the name given to poetry that lacks rhymes but does follow a specific meter—a meter that is almost always iambic pentameter. Blank verse was particularly popular in English poetry written between the…
Cacophony
A cacophony is a combination of words that sound harsh or unpleasant together, usually because they pack a lot of percussive or “explosive” consonants (like T, P, or K) into relatively little space. For instance, the…
Caesura
A caesura is a pause that occurs within a line of poetry, usually marked by some form of punctuation such as a period, comma, ellipsis, or dash. A caesura doesn’t have to be placed in…
Catharsis
Catharsis is the process of releasing strong or pent-up emotions through art. Aristotle coined the term catharsis—which comes from the Greek kathairein meaning “to cleanse or purge”—to describe the release of emotional tension that he…
Characterization
Characterization is the representation of the traits, motives, and psychology of a character in a narrative. Characterization may occur through direct description, in which the character’s qualities are described by a narrator, another character, or…
Chiasmus
Chiasmus is a figure of speech in which the grammar of one phrase is inverted in the following phrase, such that two key concepts from the original phrase reappear in the second phrase in inverted…
Cinquain
The word cinquain can refer to two different things. Historically, it referred to any stanza of five lines written in any type of verse. More recently, cinquain has come to refer to particular types of…
Cliché
A cliché is a phrase that, due to overuse, is seen as lacking in substance or originality. For example, telling a heartbroken friend that there are “Plenty of fish in the sea” is such a…
Climax (Figure of Speech)
Climax is a figure of speech in which successive words, phrases, clauses, or sentences are arranged in ascending order of importance, as in “Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s…
Climax (Plot)
The climax of a plot is the story’s central turning point—the moment of peak tension or conflict—which all the preceding plot developments have been leading up to. In a traditional “good vs. evil” story (like many superhero movies)…
Colloquialism
Colloquialism is the use of informal words or phrases in writing or speech. Colloquialisms are usually defined in geographical terms, meaning that they are often defined by their use within a dialect, a regionally-defined variant…
Common Meter
Common meter is a specific type of meter that is often used in lyric poetry. Common meter has two key traits: it alternates between lines of eight syllables and lines of six syllables, and it…
Conceit
A conceit is a fanciful metaphor, especially a highly elaborate or extended metaphor in which an unlikely, far-fetched, or strained comparison is made between two things. A famous example comes from John Donne’s poem, “A…
Connotation
Connotation is the array of emotions and ideas suggested by a word in addition to its dictionary definition. Most words carry meanings, impressions, or associations apart from or beyond their literal meaning. For example, the…
Consonance
Consonance is a figure of speech in which the same consonant sound repeats within a group of words. An example of consonance is: “Traffic figures, on July Fourth, to be tough.”
Couplet
A couplet is a unit of two lines of poetry, especially lines that use the same or similar meter, form a rhyme, or are separated from other lines by a double line break.
Dactyl
A dactyl is a three-syllable metrical pattern in poetry in which a stressed syllable is followed by two unstressed syllables. The word “poetry” itself is a great example of a dactyl, with the stressed syllable…
Denotation
Denotation is the literal meaning, or “dictionary definition,” of a word. Denotation is defined in contrast to connotation, which is the array of emotions and ideas suggested by a word in addition to its dictionary…
Dénouement
The dénouement is the final section of a story’s plot, in which loose ends are tied up, lingering questions are answered, and a sense of resolution is achieved. The shortest and most well known dénouement, it could be…
Deus Ex Machina
A deus ex machina is a plot device whereby an unsolvable conflict or point of tension is suddenly resolved by the unexpected appearance of an implausible character, object, action, ability, or event. For example, if…
Diacope
Diacope is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is repeated with a small number of intervening words. The first line of Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, “Happy families are all alike;…
Dialogue
Dialogue is the exchange of spoken words between two or more characters in a book, play, or other written work. In prose writing, lines of dialogue are typically identified by the use of quotation marks…
Diction
Diction is a writer’s unique style of expression, especially his or her choice and arrangement of words. A writer’s vocabulary, use of language to produce a specific tone or atmosphere, and ability to communicate clearly…
Dramatic Irony
Dramatic irony is a plot device often used in theater, literature, film, and television to highlight the difference between a character’s understanding of a given situation, and that of the audience. More specifically, in dramatic…
Dynamic Character
A dynamic character undergoes substantial internal changes as a result of one or more plot developments. The dynamic character’s change can be extreme or subtle, as long as his or her development is important to…
Elegy
An elegy is a poem of serious reflection, especially one mourning the loss of someone who died. Elegies are defined by their subject matter, and don’t have to follow any specific form in terms of…
End Rhyme
End rhyme refers to rhymes that occur in the final words of lines of poetry. For instance, these lines from Dorothy Parker’s poem “Interview” use end rhyme: “The ladies men admire, I’ve heard, / Would shudder…
End-Stopped Line
An end-stopped line is a line of poetry in which a sentence or phrase comes to a conclusion at the end of the line. For example, the poet C.P. Cavafy uses end-stopped lines in his…
Enjambment
Enjambment is the continuation of a sentence or clause across a line break. For example, the poet John Donne uses enjambment in his poem “The Good-Morrow” when he continues the opening sentence across the line…
Envoi
An envoi is a brief concluding stanza at the end of a poem that can either summarize the preceding poem or serve as its dedication. The envoi tends to follow the same meter and rhyme…
Epanalepsis
Epanalepsis is a figure of speech in which the beginning of a clause or sentence is repeated at the end of that same clause or sentence, with words intervening. The sentence “The king is dead,…
Epigram
An epigram is a short and witty statement, usually written in verse, that conveys a single thought or observation. Epigrams typically end with a punchline or a satirical twist.
Epigraph
An epigraph is a short quotation, phrase, or poem that is placed at the beginning of another piece of writing to encapsulate that work’s main themes and to set the tone. For instance, the epigraph of Mary…
Epistrophe
Epistrophe is a figure of speech in which one or more words repeat at the end of successive phrases, clauses, or sentences. In his Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln urged the American people to ensure that,…
Epizeuxis
Epizeuxis is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is repeated in immediate succession, with no intervening words. In the play Hamlet, when Hamlet responds to a question about what he’s reading…
Ethos
Ethos, along with logos and pathos, is one of the three “modes of persuasion” in rhetoric (the art of effective speaking or writing). Ethos is an argument that appeals to the audience by emphasizing the…
Euphony
Euphony is the combining of words that sound pleasant together or are easy to pronounce, usually because they contain lots of consonants with soft or muffled sounds (like L, M, N, and R) instead of consonants with harsh, percussive sounds (like…
Exposition
Exposition is the description or explanation of background information within a work of literature. Exposition can cover characters and their relationship to one another, the setting or time and place of events, as well as…
Extended Metaphor
An extended metaphor is a metaphor that unfolds across multiple lines or even paragraphs of a text, making use of multiple interrelated metaphors within an overarching one. So while “life is a highway” is a…
External Conflict
An external conflict is a problem, antagonism, or struggle that takes place between a character and an outside force. External conflict drives the action of a plot forward.
Falling Action
The falling action of a story is the section of the plot following the climax, in which the tension stemming from the story’s central conflict decreases and the story moves toward its conclusion. For instance, the traditional “good…
Figurative Language
Figurative language is language that contains or uses figures of speech. When people use the term “figurative language,” however, they often do so in a slightly narrower way. In this narrower definition, figurative language refers…
Figure of Speech
A figure of speech is a literary device in which language is used in an unusual—or “figured”—way in order to produce a stylistic effect. Figures of speech can be broken into two main groups: figures…
Flat Character
A character is said to be “flat” if it is one-dimensional or lacking in complexity. Typically, flat characters can be easily and accurately described using a single word (like “bully”) or one short sentence (like “A naive…
Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don’t actually occur until later in the story. Foreshadowing can be achieved directly or indirectly, by making explicit statements or leaving subtle…
Formal Verse
Formal verse is the name given to rhymed poetry that uses a strict meter (a regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables). This two-line poem by Emily Dickinson is formal verse because it rhymes and…
Free Verse
Free verse is the name given to poetry that doesn’t use any strict meter or rhyme scheme. Because it has no set meter, poems written in free verse can have lines of any length, from…
Hamartia
Hamartia is a literary term that refers to a tragic flaw or error that leads to a character’s downfall. In the novel Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein’s arrogant conviction that he can usurp the roles of God…
Hubris
Hubris refers to excessive pride or overconfidence, which drives a person to overstep limits in a way that leads to their downfall. In Greek mythology, the legend of Icarus involves an iconic case of hubris:…
Hyperbole
Hyperbole is a figure of speech in which a writer or speaker exaggerates for the sake of emphasis. Hyperbolic statements are usually quite obvious exaggerations intended to emphasize a point, rather than be taken literally….
Iamb
An iamb is a two-syllable metrical pattern in poetry in which one unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed syllable. The word “define” is an iamb, with the unstressed syllable of “de” followed by the…
Idiom
An idiom is a phrase that conveys a figurative meaning that is difficult or impossible to understand based solely on a literal interpretation of the words in the phrase. For example, saying that something is…
Imagery
Imagery, in any sort of writing, refers to descriptive language that engages the human senses. For instance, the following lines from Robert Frost’s poem “After Apple-Picking” contain imagery that engages the senses of touch, movement,…
Internal Rhyme
Internal rhyme is rhyme that occurs in the middle of lines of poetry, instead of at the ends of lines. A single line of poetry can contain internal rhyme (with multiple words in the same…
Irony
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how they actually are. If this seems like a loose definition, don’t worry—it is. Irony is a…
Juxtaposition
Juxtaposition occurs when an author places two things side by side as a way of highlighting their differences. Ideas, images, characters, and actions are all things that can be juxtaposed with one another. For example,…
Kenning
A kenning is a figure of speech in which two words are combined in order to form a poetic expression that refers to a person or a thing. For example, “whale-road” is a kenning for…
Line Break
A line break is the termination of one line of poetry, and the beginning of a new line.
Litotes
Litotes is a figure of speech and a form of understatement in which a sentiment is expressed ironically by negating its contrary. For example, saying “It’s not the best weather today” during a hurricane would…
Logos
Logos, along with ethos and pathos, is one of the three “modes of persuasion” in rhetoric (the art of effective speaking or writing). Logos is an argument that appeals to an audience’s sense of logic…
Metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing is the other. The comparison in a metaphor can be stated explicitly, as in the sentence “Love is…
Meter
Meter is a regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables that defines the rhythm of some poetry. These stress patterns are defined in groupings, called feet, of two or three syllables. A pattern of unstressed-stressed,…
Metonymy
Metonymy is a type of figurative language in which an object or concept is referred to not by its own name, but instead by the name of something closely associated with it. For example, in…
Mood
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes in the reader. Every aspect of a piece of writing can influence its mood, from the…
Motif
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of related symbols, help develop the central themes of a book or play. For example, one…
Narrative
A narrative is an account of connected events. Two writers describing the same set of events might craft very different narratives, depending on how they use different narrative elements, such as tone or point of view. For…
Onomatopoeia
Onomatopoeia is a figure of speech in which words evoke the actual sound of the thing they refer to or describe. The “boom” of a firework exploding, the “tick tock” of a clock, and the…
Oxymoron
An oxymoron is a figure of speech in which two contradictory terms or ideas are intentionally paired in order to make a point—particularly to reveal a deeper or hidden truth. The most recognizable oxymorons are…
Paradox
A paradox is a figure of speech that seems to contradict itself, but which, upon further examination, contains some kernel of truth or reason. Oscar Wilde’s famous declaration that “Life is much too important to be…
Parallelism
Parallelism is a figure of speech in which two or more elements of a sentence (or series of sentences) have the same grammatical structure. These “parallel” elements can be used to intensify the rhythm of…
Parataxis
Parataxis is a figure of speech in which words, phrases, clauses, or sentences are set next to each other so that each element is equally important. Parataxis usually involves simple sentences or phrases whose relationships…
Parody
A parody is a work that mimics the style of another work, artist, or genre in an exaggerated way, usually for comic effect. Parodies can take many forms, including fiction, poetry, film, visual art, and…
Pathetic Fallacy
Pathetic fallacy occurs when a writer attributes human emotions to things that aren’t human, such as objects, weather, or animals. It is often used to make the environment reflect the inner experience of a narrator…
Pathos
Pathos, along with logos and ethos, is one of the three “modes of persuasion” in rhetoric (the art of effective speaking or writing). Pathos is an argument that appeals to an audience’s emotions. When a…
Personification
Personification is a type of figurative language in which non-human things are described as having human attributes, as in the sentence, “The rain poured down on the wedding guests, indifferent to their plans.” Describing the…
Plot
Plot is the sequence of interconnected events within the story of a play, novel, film, epic, or other narrative literary work. More than simply an account of what happened, plot reveals the cause-and-effect relationships between…
Point of View
Point of view refers to the perspective that the narrator holds in relation to the events of the story. The three primary points of view are first person, in which the narrator tells a story from…
Polyptoton
Polyptoton is a figure of speech that involves the repetition of words derived from the same root (such as “blood” and “bleed”). For instance, the question, “Who shall watch the watchmen?” is an example of…
Polysyndeton
Polysyndeton is a figure of speech in which coordinating conjunctions—words such as “and,” “or,” and “but” that join other words or clauses in a sentence into relationships of equal importance—are used several times in close…
Protagonist
The protagonist of a story is its main character, who has the sympathy and support of the audience. This character tends to be involved in or affected by most of the choices or conflicts that…
Pun
A pun is a figure of speech that plays with words that have multiple meanings, or that plays with words that sound similar but mean different things. The comic novelist Douglas Adams uses both types…
Quatrain
A quatrain is a four-line stanza of poetry. It can be a single four-line stanza, meaning that it is a stand-alone poem of four lines, or it can be a four-line stanza that makes up…
Red Herring
A red herring is a piece of information in a story that distracts readers from an important truth, or leads them to mistakenly expect a particular outcome. Most often, the term red herring is used to refer…
Refrain
In a poem or song, a refrain is a line or group of lines that regularly repeat, usually at the end of a stanza in a poem or at the end of a verse in…
Repetition
Repetition is a literary device in which a word or phrase is repeated two or more times. Repetition occurs in so many different forms that it is usually not thought of as a single figure…
Rhetorical Question
A rhetorical question is a figure of speech in which a question is asked for a reason other than to get an answer—most commonly, it’s asked to make a persuasive point. For example, if a…
Rhyme
A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds in two or more words. Rhyming is particularly common in many types of poetry, especially at the ends of lines, and is a requirement in formal verse….
Rhyme Scheme
A rhyme scheme is the pattern according to which end rhymes (rhymes located at the end of lines) are repeated in works poetry. Rhyme schemes are described using letters of the alphabet, such that all…
Rising Action
The rising action of a story is the section of the plot leading up to the climax, in which the tension stemming from the story’s central conflict grows through successive plot developments. For example, in the story of “Little…
Round Character
A character is said to be “round” if they are lifelike or complex. Round characters typically have fully fleshed-out and multi-faceted personalities, backgrounds, desires, and motivations. Jay Gatsby in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby…
Satire
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians, are often the subject of satire, but satirists can take aim at other targets as…
Sestet
A sestet is a six-line stanza of poetry. It can be any six-line stanza—one that is, itself, a whole poem, or one that makes up a part of a longer poem. Most commonly, the term…
Setting
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or it can be an imagined location, like Middle Earth in…
Sibilance
Sibilance is a figure of speech in which a hissing sound is created within a group of words through the repetition of “s” sounds. An example of sibilance is: “Sadly, Sam sold seven venomous serpents to Sally and…
Simile
A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two unlike things. To make the comparison, similes most often use the connecting words “like” or “as,” but can also use other words that indicate…
Slant Rhyme
Traditionally, slant rhyme referred to a type of rhyme in which two words located at the end of a line of poetry themselves end in similar—but not identical—consonant sounds. For instance, the words “pact” and…
Soliloquy
A soliloquy is a literary device, most often found in dramas, in which a character speaks to him or herself, relating his or her innermost thoughts and feelings as if thinking aloud. In some cases,…
Sonnet
A sonnet is a type of fourteen-line poem. Traditionally, the fourteen lines of a sonnet consist of an octave (or two quatrains making up a stanza of 8 lines) and a sestet (a stanza of…
Spondee
A spondee is a two-syllable metrical pattern in poetry in which both syllables are stressed. The word “downtown” is a spondee, with the stressed syllable of “down” followed by another stressed syllable, “town”: Down-town.
Stanza
A stanza is a group of lines form a smaller unit within a poem. A single stanza is usually set apart from other lines or stanza within a poem by a double line break or…
Static Character
A character is said to be “static” if they do not undergo any substantial internal changes as a result of the story’s major plot developments. Antagonists are often static characters, but any character in a…
Stream of Consciousness
Stream of consciousness is a style or technique of writing that tries to capture the natural flow of a character’s extended thought process, often by incorporating sensory impressions, incomplete ideas, unusual syntax, and rough grammar.
Syllogism
A syllogism is a three-part logical argument, based on deductive reasoning, in which two premises are combined to arrive at a conclusion. So long as the premises of the syllogism are true and the syllogism…
Symbolism
Symbolism is a literary device in which a writer uses one thing—usually a physical object or phenomenon—to represent something more abstract. A strong symbol usually shares a set of key characteristics with whatever it is…
Synecdoche
Synecdoche is a figure of speech in which, most often, a part of something is used to refer to its whole. For example, “The captain commands one hundred sails” is a synecdoche that uses “sails”…
Theme
A theme is a universal idea, lesson, or message explored throughout a work of literature. One key characteristic of literary themes is their universality, which is to say that themes are ideas that not only…
Tone
The tone of a piece of writing is its general character or attitude, which might be cheerful or depressive, sarcastic or sincere, comical or mournful, praising or critical, and so on. For instance, an editorial in a newspaper…
Tragic Hero
A tragic hero is a type of character in a tragedy, and is usually the protagonist. Tragic heroes typically have heroic traits that earn them the sympathy of the audience, but also have flaws or…
Trochee
A trochee is a two-syllable metrical pattern in poetry in which a stressed syllable is followed by an unstressed syllable. The word “poet” is a trochee, with the stressed syllable of “po” followed by the…
Understatement
Understatement is a figure of speech in which something is expressed less strongly than would be expected, or in which something is presented as being smaller, worse, or lesser than it really is. Typically, understatement is…
Verbal Irony
Verbal irony occurs when the literal meaning of what someone says is different from—and often opposite to—what they actually mean. When there’s a hurricane raging outside and someone remarks “what lovely weather we’re having,” this…
Villanelle
A villanelle is a poem of nineteen lines, and which follows a strict form that consists of five tercets (three-line stanzas) followed by one quatrain (four-line stanza). Villanelles use a specific rhyme scheme of ABA…
Zeugma
A zeugma is a figure of speech in which one “governing” word or phrase modifies two distinct parts of a sentence. Often, the governing word will mean something different when applied to each part, as…