Lesson 3.

Techniques and Literary

Devices in Fiction

Creative Writing
General Academic Strand | Humanities and Social Sciences
Fiction writers, just
like poets, use
literary techniques
and devices to add
flavor to the story
they are creating.

2
They greatly affect the
plot structure, so
studying them gives
someone the opportunity
to find ways that will
make his or her story
interesting.

3
This lesson will enable
you to determine some of
the literary techniques
and devices you may use
in writing fiction.

4
Learning ● Identify the techniques and literary
Objectives devices used in sample literary texts.
● Analyze the techniques and literary
devices as applied in selected literary
texts.
● Write a sample fictional text using the
given techniques and literary devices.

5
 Finding the Perfect Figure
Let’s
Begin
A. Choose the letter of the phrase that completes
each number so that it makes use of the given
literary technique or device.
B. Answer the guide questions that follow.

6
 Finding the Perfect Figure
Let’s
Begin
1. Her eyes were as large and bright
___________________________. (simile)
a. as the moon
b. because of the moon

2. The sickly child looked out the window and saw

the reeds _______________________. (personification)
a. waving at him in unison
b. growing out of the ground
7
 Finding the Perfect Figure
Let’s
Begin 3. The lost and hungry people didn’t know what to do, so
they began to see the reliable man that led them as
_______________________. (allusion)
a. a strong leader
b. their Moses

4. The silence was broken only by the sound of the

grandfather clock _____________________. (onomatopoeia)
a. going tick-tock
b. chiming at midnight
8
 Finding the Perfect Figure
Let’s
Begin
5. She sells sea-shells ________________________________.
(alliteration)
a. as white as pearls
b. on the sea-shore

9
 1. Which of the sentences above contains a
Let’s figure of comparison? Explain.
Begin

10
 2. Which of the sentences above contains
Let’s figures of representation and reference?
Begin
Explain.

11
 3. Which of the sentences above contains
Let’s figures of sound? Explain.
Begin

12
 Literary Techniques and Devices in Fiction

A fiction writer may use an assortment of techniques and

devices to complete the text he or she is creating. Let us discuss
some of them. 13
 Literary Techniques and Devices in Fiction

Allusion
a literary device that utilizes mythological, literary,
historical, biblical, scientific, or political figures, events,
places, or objects to represent someone or something

14
Literary Techniques and Devices in Fiction

Diction
a literary device that is
concerned with the meticulous
selection of words and phrases
to convey a message.

15
 Literary Techniques and Devices in Fiction

Alliteration
a literary device in which the writer repeats the initial
sound or letter in a string of words in a statement or
phrase

16
 Literary Techniques and Devices in Fiction

Allegory
a literary device in which a story, or an element of a story,
is created to deliver a message about the issues and
occurrences of the real world; also known as extended
metaphor

17
 Literary Techniques and Devices in Fiction

Euphemism
a literary device in which a writer uses a word or a phrase
that acts as an alternative to another word or phrase that
is considered harsh, blunt, or taboo

18
 Literary Techniques and Devices in Fiction

Flashback

a literary device in which the writer

interrupts the chronological events
of a story by narrating some events
that happened prior to it

19
 Literary Techniques and Devices in Fiction

Foreshadowing
a literary device in which a hint about something that will
happen in the future is provided at an earlier point in the
narrative

20
Literary Techniques and Devices in Fiction

Imagery

a literary device that enables the

writer to paint a picture using
words; involves using a catalyst
to affect the readers’ senses,
emotions and feelings

21
 Literary Techniques and Devices in Fiction

Personification
a literary device that “endows animals, ideas, abstractions,
and inanimate objects with human form” (Harmon and
Holman 1996, 385)

22
 Literary Techniques and Devices in Fiction

Juxtaposition
a literary device in which the writer creates two elements
that have obvious differences and puts them side-by-side
in a story

23
 Literary Techniques and Devices in Fiction

Simile and Metaphor

The former is a figure of comparison that directly
expresses the similarity between two objects, while the
latter is a figure of comparison that declares that two
objects are identical.

24
 Literary Techniques and Devices in Fiction

Onomatopoeia

a literary device in which the

writer makes use of words that
are formed from the sounds
they represent in a text

25
Literary Techniques and Devices in Fiction

Symbolism
a literary device in which the writer
uses someone or something to
suggest an emblematic or abstract
meaning

26
Writing Symbols are universal. It means that their
Tip
meanings are common to people no matter
where they live. A writer may use his or her
knowledge of symbols to transmit an
abstraction to the readers. For example, we
know that colors might symbolize something.

27
Writing
Black is a symbol for death and chaos. White
Tip is a symbol for peace and goodness. These
shades of colors can be used to brand your
characters in the story you created. Have you
noticed that in a narrative, good people
always wear white, while bad people always
wear black?

28
 Literary Techniques and Devices in Fiction

Tone
a literary device inherent in a story; creates the
emotional climate that readers might feel as they indulge
themselves in the text

29
Wrap-
Up
● Every artist uses a variety of tools in creating his
or her masterpiece. A fiction writer, as an artist,
uses different kinds of literary techniques and
devices to complete the text he or she is
creating.

30
Wrap-
Up
● There are a lot of literary techniques and
devices a fiction writer may use. In this
lesson, we discussed fourteen of them. These
are allusion, diction, alliteration, allegory,
euphemism, flashback, foreshadowing,
imagery, personification, juxtaposition,
simile and metaphor, onomatopoeia,
symbolism, and tone.

31