Literary Devices

Alliteration Definition: Alliteration describes a series of words in

quick succession that all start with the same letter or
sound. It lends a pleasing cadence to prose and poetry.

Example: “Sally sells seashells by the seashore”

Allusion Definition: An allusion is a passing or indirect descriptive
reference to something. It assumes the audience is aware
of the reference.

Example: “it’s his Achilles heel” (references greek

mythology)

Apostrophe Definition: when a character in a literary work speaks to

an object, an idea, or someone who doesn't exist as if it is
a living person; similar to personification

Example: “Car, please get me to work today.”

Archetype Definition: A universally recognized symbol which brings
familiarity and context to a story. May be a character,
setting, theme, or action.

Example: Superman falls under the “Hero Archetype”

Assonance Definition: a resemblance between the sounds of
words/syllables regarding either their vowels or their
consonants.

Example: penitence and reticence

Cacophony Definition: a mixture of harsh and discordant noises. Uses
several inharmonious sounds in a line/passage (uses
T,P,K)

Example: He grunted and in a gruff voice said, “Give me

that trash and I’ll throw it out!”

Colloquialism Definition: Use of informal words/phrases in writing or

speech
 Example: using “ain’t” and “gonna”
Consonance Definition: The repeating of a sound within a group of
words

Example: Mike likes his new bike.

Dramatic Irony Definition: When the audience is aware of a characters
actions or an event but the characters are not aware

Example: In Romeo and Juliet, the audience knows that

Juliet is only asleep, but Romeo does not know and kills
himself

Euphony Definition: Combining of words that sound pleasant

together (uses L,M,N,R)

Example: The end of Shakespeare's Sonnet 18, "So long

as men can breathe, or eyes can see, / So long lives this,
and this gives life to thee."

Hyperbole Definition: A statement that is highly exaggerated. It is

not meant to be taken literally.

Example: The popular phrase “I’m so hungry I could eat a

horse.” is an exaggeration of how hungry one is. They do
not literally want to eat a horse.

Iamb Definition: Unit of measurement in poetry where a short

syllable is followed by a long syllable.

Example: a-BOVE, at-TEMPT, in-LOVE. (Shakespeare

often wrote in iambic pentameter.)

Imagery Definition: Descriptive language that created an image in

the reader’s mind.

Example: the sky was a myriad of colours

In Medias Res Definition: Beginning a story in the midst of a crucial
situation or event.

Example: Hamlet begins after the death of Hamlet's

father.
Irony Definition: Can be verbal, situational, or dramatic. It
creates a contrast between expectations and reality.

Example: It is ironic that the robber's car crashed into a

police station.

Juxtaposition Definition: Two things being seen/close together with

contrasting effect

Example: Beggars can't be choosers

Metaphor Definition: comparing two things without using like or as
Example: raining cats and dogs
Meter (in poetry) Definition: basic rhythmic structure of a line within a
poem or poetic work

Example: shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Onomatopoeia Definition: words from a sound associated with what is
named

Example: Buzz, splash, boom

Oxymoron Definition: figure of speech which contradictory terms
appear in conjunction

Example: Bittersweet, Jumbo Shrimp

Paradox Definition: a statement that seems difficult to
comprehend due to opposite facts or characteristics

Example: “this is the beginning of the end”

Pathetic Fallacy Definition: a figure of speech that gives the natural world
human qualities and emotions.

Example: The wind whispered through the trees

Persona Definition: The way a person may present him/herself or
how they’re seen by others.

Example: A businessman or woman may want to seem

strong and successful to clients in order to make sales.
Personification Definition: giving an object or animal a human attribute
or characteristic to create imagery.

Example: “the stars winked in the night sky”

Pun Definition: a form of word play that may suggest two or
more of its meanings.

Example: you can tune a guitar but you can't tuna fish!
Repetition Definition: use of the same word or phrase over and over
again in a piece of writing or speech.

Example: “Over and over again”

Rhyme Definition: repetition of the same or similar sounds
occurring in two or more words

Example: “To one another! For the world, which seems

To lie before us like a land of dreams”

Simile Definition: The comparison of one thing with another

used to make a description more striking. Usually using
words such as “like” or “as”.

Example: “They are as innocent as an angel”

Symbol Definition: A material object used to represent a theme or
something with a deeper meaning.

Example: Bloody hands in the book Macbeth by William

Shakespeare, symbolizes the character’s guilt.

Tone Definition: The perspective or attitude the author adopts

relating to a specific character, towards the work’s central
theme or subject.

Example: “Anxious” “Nostalgic” “Excited”

Stanza Five:
Ah, love, let us be true
To one another! for the world, which seems
To lie before us like a land of dreams,
So various, so beautiful, so new,
Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,
Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;
And we are here as on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night.

Imagery: The imagery used in this line of the poem is the ‘darkling plain.’
The author uses the word ‘darkling’ so that the reader can imagine the sky
dimming and becoming darker on the plain.

Rhyme: “Seems”, “dreams” and “flight”, “night”, and “pain”, “plain” repeat in
similar sounding endings, therefore a rhyme.

Repetition: the words “so” and “nor” are used repeatedly within the stanza

Personification: the alarms are given the human trait of being confused

Simile: The world is compared to a land of dreams using like.