Literature and

Literary
Devices
What is literature?
Literature refers to written works of fiction, usually novels or poetry.

When we study literature, we study many different things. We try to understand the
different components of a story, the author, the ideas and themes of the story, and
the techniques that were used to write it.

Today I want us to look at techniques used in writing.

What is a literary device?
Literary devices are techniques that are used in writing to make your writing more
interesting and effective.

Understanding literary devices will not only help you be a better writer, but a better
reader!

Literary devices are found in all kinds of different stories, including television and
movies.
List of Literary Devices
● Alliteration
● Allegory
● Personification
● Simile
● Metaphor
● Foreshadowing
● Satire
● Symbolism
● Onomatopoeia
● Hyperbole
● Oxymoron
Alliteration
Alliteration is the repetition of the same sound and letters to create an effect! It can
be pretty fun!

Let’s try an example:

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.

Alliteration - Examples
○ Becky's beagle barked and bayed, becoming bothersome for Billy.
○ Can you keep the cat from clawing the couch? It's creating chaos.
○ Dan's dog dove deep in the dam, drinking dirty water as he dove.
○ Fred's friends fried Fritos for Friday's food.
○ Greedy goats gobbled up gooseberries, getting good at grabbing the goodies.
○ Hannah's home has heat now, hopefully.
○ Jackrabbits jump and jiggle jauntily.
○ Kim's kid kept kicking like crazy.
○ Larry's lizard likes lounging in the sun.
○ Mike made mellow music with his new microphone.
More examples
○ Nick's nephew needed some new notebooks.
○ Peter's piglet pranced priggishly.
○ Quincy's quilters quit quilting quickly.
○ Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer rose rapidly into the air.
○ Seven sisters slept soundly on the sand.
○ Tim took tons of tools to make toys for the tots.
○ Vivien is very vixen-like and vexing.
○ While walking wearily home I wondered where Wally was.
○ Yarvis yanked his ankle at yoga, and Yolanda yelled out in surprise.
○ Zachary zeroed in on zoo keeping as a career.
 Symbolism

Symbolism is using objects or things to represent greater ideas. In literature, objects,

events, places and other things are often symbols for the themes and ideas of the
story.

For example, a character’s scar could represent a bad memory. Or the color green
could represent money or greed. A character themselves could represent an idea or
another person or group of people, as we find in allegories.

What is an allegory? Let’s find out.

Allegory
An allegory is a story that is supposed to have a deeper message about a real world
issue. Like a metaphor, the fictional characters and events in the story are supposed
to represent something else, in this case a bigger idea. They are “symbols.”
Allegory - Example
Animal Farm is a great example of an allegory. It uses animals and a farm to
represent humans and society.
Personification
Personification is assigning human characteristics to non human beings or objects.

For example, when talking about the wind being loud, we could say “the wind is
howling,” as if it is screaming.
Personification - Examples
● Lightning danced across the sky.
● The wind howled in the night.
● The car complained as the key was roughly turned in its ignition.
● Rita heard the last piece of pie calling her name.
● My alarm clock yells at me to get out of bed every morning.
● The avalanche devoured anything standing in its way.
● The door protested as it opened slowly.
● My house is a friend who protects me.
● The moon played hide and seek with the clouds.
● The approaching car's headlights winked at me.
● The camera loves her since she is so pretty.
● The stairs groaned as we walked on them.
Simile and Metaphor
Let’s review similes and metaphors from yesterday!

Let’s see if we can remember the difference! Which of the following is metaphor and
which is simile? :

1) A comparison drawn to show similarity that uses “like” or “as”

2) A comparison drawn to show similarity that does not use “like” or “as”
Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing is how an author can leave clues about what will happen next in the
story. Foreshadowing is often used to give an idea of what will happen to a character.

To understand this better, let’s look at a simple example. Foreshadowing can occur in
real life, for example: a cold wind “foreshadows” a storm coming.

In books, foreshadowing often means something bad will happen. Symbolism and
imagery are used to express this idea. You might not catch foreshadowing the first
time reading a book, sometimes it is subtle!
Satire
Satire uses humor and irony to make fun of something. It is sort of like comedy.

Satire will often use sarcasm and present over the top parodies to show how silly
something is.

A satire can be about many things, but it is often about politics or society. Satirical
statements are often found in books, for example in Animal Farm.
Satire - Examples
Satire - Examples
Onomatopoeia
Onomatopoeia is a hard word to say and spell! Let’s say it a few times for fun!

Onomatopoeia refers to words that mimic real life sounds. For example, in English,
we say that a cow makes a “moo” sound. Or when something explodes, that it goes
“boom!”
Onomatopoeia - Examples
Onomatopoeia - More Examples
Let’s practice!
Unscramble the word: llraogye
Animal Farm is an ________, it uses animals and a farm to represent humans and
human society.
Unscramble the word: steari
Unscramble the word: omislbsym
The animals represent humans in Animal Farm, they act as s_______. This is known as
s__________.
Unscramble the word: fodoaerngwhsi
A cold wind was blowing, this meant a storm was on its way.
Unscramble the word: prtsaneofinocii
Lightning danced across the sky.
Unscramble the word: ellitiaornta
She sells seashells by the sea-shore
Unscramble this word: opionmeatooa