Lesson 3.

Techniques and Literary

Devices in Fiction

Creative Writing
General Academic Strand | Humanities and Social Sciences
 Learning
Competency
Identify the various elements, techniques, and
literary devices in various modes of fiction
(HUMSS_CW/MPig-i-11).

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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 fictional text using the given
techniques and literary devices.

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

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 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
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 Finding the Perfect Figure
Let’s
Begin 3. The lost and hungry people did not 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
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 Finding the Perfect Figure
Let’s
Begin
5. She sells sea-shells ________________________________.
(alliteration)
a. as white as pearls
b. on the sea-shore

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 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. 8
 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
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 Literary Techniques and Devices in Fiction

Allusion
● "Chocolate cake is my Achilles heel."
● "He's a cool guy, but he becomes a lovesick
Romeo every time he's around her."
● "We got a new Einstein in school today."
● "Why are you always such a Scrooge? It doesn't
cost much, and it'll be fun!"
● "She's a good swimmer, but she's no Ariel."
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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

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Literary Techniques and Devices in Fiction

Diction
- It means that it brings
these elements to life. It helps
the writer to become accurate,
precise, concrete, and
appropriate as he or she writes.

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 Literary Techniques and Devices in Fiction

Diction
“Look what Eddie gave me,” said Cindy, all friendly. She pulled a pink teddy bear out of
her purse and squeezed its belly. It sang “You Are My Sunshine” in a vibrating robot
voice.

“That’s nice,” said Jasmine, her voice so high that she sounded almost like the teddy bear.
Cindy smiled and walked off with Eddie, swinging her hips back and forth.

“I don’t have a teddy bear neither,” said Eddie’s friend Tre, putting an arm around
Jasmine. She pushed him off. Tre was the kind of boy my mother would have said to stay
away from, but she said to stay away from all men.

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 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

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 Literary Techniques and Devices in Fiction

Alliteration

- "But four hours later the fish was

still swimming steadily out to sea,
towing the skiff, and the old man was
still braced solidly with the line across
his back."
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 Literary Techniques and Devices in Fiction

Alliteration
-"Gee, Great Aunt Nellie, why aren't any
golden goldfinches going to the goodies?"
"Oh," said Aunt Nellie, "They thrive on thistle
and I thoroughly thought that I threw the
thistle out there."

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 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

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Check Your
Progress
Among the four literary techniques and
devices mentioned above (i.e., allusion,
diction, alliteration, and allegory), which do
you think will help you the most in
establishing a distinct voice and style in your
story?

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 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
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 Literary Techniques and Devices in Fiction

Euphemism

- “Don't ever call me mad, Mycroft.

I'm not mad. I'm just ... well, differently
moraled, that's all.”

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 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

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 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

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 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

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 Literary Techniques and Devices in Fiction

Foreshadowing

“From forth the fatal loins of these two foes

A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life;
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents’
strife.”
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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
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 Literary Techniques and Devices in Fiction

Imagery

- As they sat on the soft, sugary sand beach

waiting for the sunset, the sinking sun shimmered
on the water as the blue sky transformed into
various shades of purple and pink.

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 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)

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Check Your
Progress Among the five literary techniques and devices
mentioned above (i.e., euphemism, flashback,
foreshadowing, imagery, and personification),
which do you think will help you the most in
evoking emotion in readers?

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 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
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 Literary Techniques and Devices in Fiction

Juxtaposition

Two roads diverged in a wood, and

I— I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the
difference.
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 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.
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 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
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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
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Literary Techniques and Devices in Fiction

Symbolism
"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."
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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.

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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?

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 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

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 Literary Techniques and Devices in Fiction

Tone

"This was the last fish we were ever to see Paul

catch. My father and I talked about this moment
several times later, and whatever our other
feelings, we always felt it fitting that, when we saw
him catch his last fish, we never saw the fish but
only the artistry of the fisherman."
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Check Your Among the five literary techniques and devices
Progress
mentioned above (i.e., juxtaposition, simile and
metaphor, onomatopoeia, symbolism, tone),
which do you think will help you the most in
making a poetic impact in the story you are
creating?

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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.

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

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Bibliography
Harmon, William. and C. Hugh Holman. A Handbook to Literature. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1996.

MasterClass. “22 Essential Literary Devices and How to Use Them In Your Writing.” MasterClass. Accessed May 17,
2021. https://www.masterclass.com/articles/22-essential-literary-devices#quiz-0.

MasterClass. “Writing 101: What Is Flash Fiction? Learn How To Write Flash Fiction in 7 Steps.” MasterClass, May 15,
2019.
https://www.masterclass.com/articles/writing-101-what-is-flash-fiction-learn-how-to-write-flash-fiction-in-7-s
teps#3-characteristics-of-flash-fiction
.

Menoy, Jesus Z. Creative Writing. Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila: Books Atbp. Publishing Corp., 2016.

Venturino, Steven J. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism. New York, NY: Penguin Group, 2013.

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