LITERARY

DEVICES
 Learning Objectives
Differentiate the different Work well in a team of small
01 literary devices. 03 group in answering a group
; quiz and practice teamwork.

Identify various literary

It is a tool used by writers to

IMAGERY FORESHADOWING FLASH BACKING

JUXTAPOSITION
CHEKHOV'S
FLASH FORWARD
GUN
 Allegory
An allegory is a device
where the meaning of a
greater, often abstract moral
or political concept is
conveyed with the aid of
more material objects or
ideas being used as an
example.
 Aphorism
Statement of truth or
opinion expressed in a
concise and witty
manner. The term is
often applied to
philosophical, moral,
and literary principles.
Cliffhanger
A plot device in which a
component of a story
ends unresolved, usually
in a suspenseful or
shocking way, in order to
compel audiences to turn
the page or return to the
story in the next
installment.
 Imagery
A literary device
used in poetry,
novels, and other
writing that uses
vivid description.
Foreshadowing
literary device in
which a writer gives
an advance hint of
what is to come
later in the story.
 Flashback
A device that moves
an audience from
the present moment
in a chronological
narrative to a scene
in the past.
Flash forward
A literary device in
which the plot skips
ahead in its
chronological
sequence in order to
reveal important
information.
Juxtaposition
Juxtaposition is a
literary technique
that places two
distinctly dissimilar
things side by side
to bring out their
differences.
Chekhov’s gun
Refers to any
seemingly
unimportant
element that
becomes
significant later on
in the story.
Figure of
Speech
 Alliteration
The repetition of an initial consonant
sound.
Ex:
Sally sells seashells.
Grass grows greener in the
graveyard.
 Allusion
The act of alluding to make indirect
reference.
Ex:
To my dog, our neighborhood park is
the Garden of Eden.
(alludes to the Christian Bible)
 Anaphora
The repetition of a word or sequence of
words at the beginning of successive
clauses, phrases, or sentences.
Ex:
I wish I may; I wish I might.
Give much, give often, give freely.
 Dysphemism
Refers to the use of a harsh, more
offensive word instead of one
considered less harsh.
Ex:
Snail mail for postal mail
Death stick for cigarette
 Euphemism
The substitution of an inoffensive term
for one considered offensively explicit.
Ex:
Well-off for rich
Going to the other side for death
Bun in the oven for pregnant
 Hyperbole
An extravagant statement; the use of
exaggerated terms for the purpose of
emphasis or heightened effect.
Ex.
The bag weighed a ton.
I've told you this 20,000 times.
I'm so hungry, I could eat a horse.
 Irony
The use of words to convey the
opposite of their literal meaning.
Ex:
His argument was as clear as mud
A pilot has a fear of heights.
 Metaphor
An implied comparison between two
unlike things that actually have
something important in common.
Ex:
You have ideas flowing one after
the other. Your mind is an ocean.
My mom has a heart of gold.
 Onomatopoeia
The use of words that imitate the sounds
associated with the objects or actions
they refer to.
Ex:
The “boom” of a firework exploding
The “ding dong” of a doorbell
 Oxymoron
A figure of speech in which incongruous or
contradictory terms appear side by side.
Ex:
False, truth - Friendly, fight
My sister and I had a friendly, fight.
The process of giving birth is painfully, beautiful.
 Personification
A figure of speech in which an inanimate
object or abstraction is endowed with
human qualities or abilities.
Ex:
“The sun smiled down on us.”
“The light danced on the surface of the
water.”
 Simile
A stated comparison (usually formed with
"like" or "as") between two fundamentally
dissimilar things that have certain qualities
in common.
Ex:
Swim like a fish
As black as coal
As light as a feather.
 Synecdoche
A figure of speech in which a part is used to
represent the whole
Ex:
A hundred head of cattle
(using the part head to refer to the whole animal)
The word "wheels" refers to a vehicle.
(Let's take my new wheels out for a spin.)
 Understatement
A figure of speech in which a writer or speaker
deliberately makes a situation seem less
important or serious than it is.
Ex:
A former Senator was found to have stolen
billions of pesos during his last term. In a recent
interview, he said “I may have picked up a few
coins here and there”.
Group

Quiz
"Polly Pocket picked a
purple plant"
An extreme exaggeration
is called a _______?
 The giving of human-like
traits to inanimate objects
is _______?
 A literary device where
we learn what will happen
in the future.
When a word’s vocalization imitates a
natural sound, as can be heard in the
words , buzz, and pop, what do we
call that device?
He conducts his class like hitler.
 It is a descriptive language used to
create a picture in the readers head
 A literary device in which the plot
skips ahead in its chronological
sequence in order to reveal important
information.
You see your baby sister picking up a
china plate. "Don't touch that," you
say, "I don't want it to break." As you
take it away from her, you drop the
plate and it shatters.
Thank
you!