Literary Devices :

 Register : often refers to the degree of formality in language that's determined

by the context in which it is spoken or written.
 Diction : word choice. Anglo-Saxon words (angry), are more precise while
words of Latin origin (furious) are stronger, more emotionally loaded.
 Figures of speech : a mode of expression in which words are used out of their
literal meaning or out of their ordinary use :
 Simile: one thing is likened to another, a comparison using device "like" or "as"
(explicit). Eg : She is like a rose.
 Metaphor: one thing is described in terms of another, implicit comparison
without the use of devices. Eg : She is a rose.
 Personification : Is the attribution of human qualities to inanimate objects.
Eg : The sea breathes in every wave.
• Apostrophe: a thing, a place, an idea, a dead or absent person is addressed as if
present and capable of understanding. Mostly used in poetry.
Eg : O sea, why have you drowned my children?
• Hyperbole : is an exaggeration for emphasis.
Eg : She cried rivers of tears.
 Litotes : is a figure of speech that uses negative terms to express a positive
statement ; a way of saying something by saying what it's not. Eg : "This
dessert isn't bad" to mean "It's pretty good".
• Irony : what is meant is the opposite of what is actually written. This device is
mainly used in satire to criticize social aspects. (You worked very well!)
 Paradox : a statement where two contrasting items are put side by side. It is a
statement that contradicts itself and still seems true somehow. Eg : I know that I
know nothing /Dark knows daylight
 Analogy : is a comparison between two things. Analogies function to describe
or explain one thing by examining its similarities with another.
Eg : As light as a feather.
 • Reference : is a direct mention of an event or place or person.
Eg : If you take his parking place, you can expect World War II all over again.
 Allusion : is an indirect reference to a famous historical or literary figure or
event. Eg : it wasn't raining when Noah built the ark.
 Pun : is a joke based on the interplay of homophones — words with the same
pronunciation but different meanings. Eg : A horse is a very stable.
 Symbolism : a figure of speech where an object, person, or situation has
another meaning other than its literal meaning.

•Structure : examines the structure of the text at different levels

•Paragraph structure: various paragraphs to treat different ideas,
comparison, contrast, parallelism…
•Sentence structure: long, short, grammatically correct sentences…
• Sound structure: characteristic of poetry but found in prose to attract the
reader’s attention to important aspects :
• Alliteration : is the repetition of consonants at the beginning of words
or stressed syllables.
Eg : Betty Botter bought some butter
• Assonance: the repetition of the sound of the vowel that continually
appears in the line of a verse or text.
Eg : The bright city lights during the night is a delightful sight

•Tone : is the reflection of the author’s attitude through his work (how the author
feels); happiness, sadness, detachment, anger, irritation, fear…
•Atmosphere : is the mood evoked by the work of art (background /how the author
makes the reader feel); mystery and darkness in Hamlet, gloom in “The fall of the
House of Usher”; humour in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.