LITERARY DEVICES

 Literary devices are narrative

techniques that add texture, energy, and
excitement to the narrative, grip the
reader’s imagination and convey
information.
SIMILE
 Simile is a figure of speech involving the comparison
of one thing with another thing of a different kind,
used to make a description more emphatic or vivid.
 Examples:
 as brave as a lion
 crazy like a fox
METHAPHOR
 Metaphor is a figure of speech in which a word or
phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is
not literary applicable.
 Examples:
 My brother is the black sheep of the family.
 He is a shining star.
PERSONIFICATION
 Personification is the attribution of a personal nature
or human characteristics to something nonhuman, or
the representation of an abstract quality in human form.
 Examples:
 Lightning danced across the sky.
 The wind howled in the night.
HYPERBOLE
 Hyperbole is an exaggerated statement or claim
not meant to be taken literally.
 Examples:
 I’ve told you to clean your room a million times!
 This bag weighs a ton.
OXYMORON
 Oxymoron is a figure of speech containing words that seem to
contradict each other. It’s often referred to as a contradiction in
terms.
 Examples:

 cruel kindness
 living death
 beautiful disaster
IRONY
 Irony is the expression of one’s meaning by using language that
normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or
emphatic effect.
 Examples:

 A fire station burns down.

 A marriage counselor files for a divorce.
 The police station gets robbed.
PERSONIFICATION
 Personification gives a thing, an idea or an animal
human quality.
 For example:
 The flowers are dancing beside the lake.
 Have you seen my new car? She is a real beauty!
ALLEGORY
 Allegory is a literary technique in which an abstract idea is given a
form of characters, actions or events.
 For example:

 “Animal Farm”, written by George Orwell, is an example allegory

using the actions of animals on a farm to represent the overthrow of the
last of the Russian Tsar Nicholas II and the Communist Revolution of
Russia before WW II.  In addition, the actions of the animals on the
farm are used to expose the greed and corruption of the Revolution.
ALLUSION
 Allusion is a figure of speech that refers to a well-
known story, event, person, or object in order to
make a comparison in the readers' minds.
 “Careful, now. You don’t want to go opening
Pandora’s Box.”
 “Don’t act like a Romeo in front of her.” 
SYMBOLISM
 Symbolism is a literary device that uses symbols, be they words, people, marks, locations, or abstract
ideas to represent something beyond the literal meaning.

 •The Little Prince represents innocence, ignorance, purity, and stupidity. When the Prince goes to visit
the people on the planets, he cannot understand them and thinks that they are very bizarre. He wonders
why the Businessman counts the stars because he doesn't do anything with them except "possess" them.

“All the world's a stage,

And all the men and women merely players;

They have their exits and their entrances;

And one man in his time plays many parts.”(He takes the big picture - the world - and symbolizes it on a
smaller scale - the stage. Meanwhile, the "players" are a symbol for the people of the world. We're all a part
of the stage and we each have our part.)
The following lines are extracted from the “Story of Keesh”. Analyze
and identify the literary devices used.

 ____________________1. “The anger boiled a white heat”.

  

 ____________________2. And the next year, 'a new sun returns', so it might be warm again (new beginning)

  

 ____________________3. A child talking like a grown man! 'Keesh' picked up a 'thin piece of whalebone'. The ends were
pointed and sharp as a knife.

  

 ____________________4. Naah! Naah!” the hunters cried. “Ohhh!” Klosh-kwan said “Ahh!” Each said something in his own
way. When the meat gets inside the bear, the meat gets warm, and the bone goes snap!

  

 ____________________5. He hunts with evil spirits,” said one. “Maybe his father's spirit hunts with him,” said another.