Literary Devices

Mara Castorino Mujica

Mr. Ryan
English-6
June 22, 2015

Alliteration
Noun.
The occurrence of the same letter or
sound at the beginning of adjacent or
closely connected words.

Assonance
Noun
in poetry, the repetition of the sound
of a vowel or diphthong in
nonrhyming stressed syllables near
enough to each other for the echo to
Example
be discernible

Clich
Noun
a phrase or
opinion that is
overused and
betrays a lack of
original thought.

Examples

Colloquialism
Noun
a word or phrase
that is not formal
or literary,
typically one
used in ordinary
or familiar
conversation.

Examples:
To bamboozle
Go bananas
Wanna
Gonna
Yall
Go nuts
Look blue
Buzz of

Consonance
Noun
the recurrence of
similar sounds,
especially
consonants, in
close proximity
(chiefly as used
in prosody).

Examples

End Rhyme
Noun
when a poem has lines ending with
words that sound the same.
Examples:
Hector the Collector
Collected bits of string
Collected dolls with broken heads
And rusty bells that would not ring

Euphemism
Noun
a mild or indirect
word or expression
substituted for one
considered to be
too harsh or blunt
when referring to
something
unpleasant or
embarrassing.

Example:
Instead of fire you Santa used let
you go

Hyperbole
Noun
exaggerated
statements or
claims not meant
to be taken
literally.

Examples

Imagery
Noun
visually
descriptive or
figurative
language,
especially in a
literary work.

Examples

Internal Rhyme
Noun
is rhyme that occurs within a single
line of verse, or between internal
phrases across multiple lines.
Example

Metaphor

Examples:
Noun
is a type of analogy Freddie is a pig when he eats
and is closely
related to other
rhetorical figures of
speech which
achieve their efects
via association,
comparison or
resemblance

Onomatopoeia
Noun
the formation of
a word from a
sound associated
with what is
named
Example

Oxymoron
Noun
a figure of speech in which
apparently contradictory terms
Examples
appear in conjunction.

Paradox
Noun
a statement or
proposition that,
despite sound (or
apparently sound)
reasoning from
acceptable premises,
leads to a conclusion
that seems senseless,
logically unacceptable,
or self-contradictory.

Simile
Example

Noun
a figure of speech
involving the
comparison of one
thing with another
thing of a diferent
kind, used to make
a description more
emphatic or vivid