LITERARY

DEVICES
Allegory
• George Orwell’s Animal Farm, an
allegory about the Russian Revolution
of 1917, is one of the most famous
allegories ever written;
• a more modern example is the
animated film Zootopia, an allegory
about the prejudices of modern society.
Allegory
Allegory
Alliteration

•Examples are Stan Lee’s iconic

comic book characters have
alliterative names: Peter
Parker, Matthew Murdock,
Reed Richards, and Bruce
Banner.
Alliteration
• Sick by Shel Silverstein

My hip hurts when I move my chin,

My belly button’s caving in,
My back is wrenched, my ankle’s
sprained,
My ‘pendix pains each time it rains.
Allusion
•Example: The title of Haruki
Murakami’s novel 1Q84 is itself an
allusion to George Orwell’s novel
1984. The Japanese word for the
number nine is pronounced the
same as the English letter Q.
Amplification
• A person who has good thoughts
cannot ever be ugly. You can have a
wonky nose and a crooked mouth and
a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if
you have good thoughts it will shine
out of your face like sunbeams and
you will always look lovely.” —Roald
Dahl, The Twits
Anagram
•In Silence of the Lambs, the
antagonist Hannibal Lector tried to
trick the FBI by naming the suspect
Louis Friend, which the protagonist
realized was an anagram for
“iron sulfide,” the technical term
for fool’s gold.
Anagram
Anthropomorphism
•While most fairy tales feature
animals that act like humans,
the Beauty and the Beast films
anthropomorphize household
objects: talking clocks, singing
teapots, and more.
Anthropomorphism
Antithesis
•“One small step for man,
one giant leap for
mankind.” —Neil
Armstrong
Chiasmus
• "Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let
us never fear to negotiate." –John F.
Kennedy
• "Who dotes, yet doubts; suspects, yet
strongly loves." -William Shakespeare
• "You forget what you want to remember,
and you remember what you want to
forget." -Cormac McCarthy
Colloquialism
• “Wicked” (Northeast U.S.) = “very” or
“really” (intensifier) Ex: “This soup is wicked
good!”
• Contractions like “ain’t,” “gonna,” and “y’all”
• Profanity that’s specific to a country or region:
“bloody” is profanity in the UK – but just an
adjective in the U.S.
Colloquialism
• Colloquial Phrases / Idioms:
• “Hard to swallow” = difficult to believe
• “Kick the bucket” = to die
• “Stir up a hornet’s nest” = provoke a strong negative
reaction
• “Up for grabs” = available to anyone
• “Head over heels” = in love
• “Elbow grease” = hard work
Colloquialism
• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (Southern U.S.
vernacular):

• “It’s not necessary to tell all you know. It’s not ladylike-in
the second place, folks don’t like to have somebody around
knowin’ more than they do. It aggravates ‘em. You’re not
gonna change any of them by talkin’ right, they’ve got to
want to learn themselves, and when they don’t want to
learn there’s nothing you can do but keep your mouth shut
or talk their language.”
Colloquialism
Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh (mimicking the lilt of the
Scottish accent):
“Thing is, as ye git aulder, this character-deficiency gig
becomes mair sapping. Thir wis a time ah used tae say tae
aw the teachers, bosses, dole punters, poll-tax guys,
magistrates, when they telt me ah was deficient:’Hi, cool it,
gadge, ah’m jist me, jist intae a different sort ay gig fae
youse but, ken?’ Now though, ah’ve goat tae concede thit
mibee they cats had it sussed. Ye take a healthier slapping
the aulder ye git. The blows hit hame mair. It’s like yon Mike
Tyson boy at the boxing, ken?”
Colloquialism
Circumlocution
• “The lady of the house” instead of using “my mother” or
“my wife”.
• “The city that never sleeps” instead of “Las Vegas”.
• “The land down under” instead of “Australia”.
• “The place where the sun rises” instead of “the east”.
• “The one who holds the scepter” instead of “the king”.
• “The land of opportunity” instead of “America”.
• “The big apple” instead of “New York City”.
Circumlocution
• This form of circumlocution is often used in situations where a
person doesn’t want to give a straight answer. It could be
embarrassing or incriminating. For example:
• “That’s a great question. I think it’s something we should all
consider more deeply” instead of saying “I don’t know”.
• “Mistakes were made” instead of saying “I made a
mistake”.
• “That’s an interesting topic, but have you considered…”
instead of answering a personal question.
• “I think we may have to disagree on that point” instead of
saying “you’re wrong”.
Circumlocution
• “What’s really important is that we focus on the future
and how we can improve society” instead of answering
a difficult question.
• “We’re going to be moving in a different direction”
instead of saying “we’re firing you”.
• “He passed away” instead of saying “he died”.
• “That’s certainly a unique perspective” instead of “I
don’t like your idea”.
• “I ran into some unexpected traffic” instead of “I’m
late”.
• “It slipped my mind” instead of “I forgot”.
Circumlocution
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
Circumlocution is used to elicit a sense of grandeur and mystery.
This is used in descriptions of characters, places, or events.

For example, the wizard Gandalf is described as:

“He was tall, and his robes were long and of snowy white; but
his head was grey, and his face stern and old, wise and gentle. He
wore a tall pointed grey hat, a long grey cloak, and a silver scarf.
He had a long white beard and bushy eyebrows that stuck out
beyond the brim of his hat.”
Epigraph
The Godfather (By Mario Puzo)
“Behind every great fortune there is a
crime.”
Euphemism
Euphemisms like “passed away” and
“downsizing” are quite common in
everyday speech, but a good example in
literature comes from Harry Potter, where
the wizarding community refers to the
villain Voldemort as “He-Who-Must-Not-
Be-Named” in fear of invoking him.
Foreshadowing
In The Empire Strikes Back, Luke
Skywalker’s vision of himself wearing
Darth Vader’s mask foreshadows the
later revelation that Vader is in fact
Luke’s father.
Hyperbole

“I had to wait in the

station for ten days—an
eternity.” —Joseph
Conrad, Heart of
Darkness
Imagery
“The barn was very large. It was very old.
It smelled of hay and it smelled of manure.
It smelled of the perspiration of tired
horses and the wonderful sweet breath of
patient cows. It often had a sort of
peaceful smell­as though nothing bad
could happen ever again in the world.” —
E. B. White, Charlotte’s Web
Metaphor
Similar to an analogy, a
metaphor is a figure of speech
that compares two different
things to show their similarities
by insisting that they’re the
same.
Mood
In the horror novel Dracula by Bram
Stoker, the literary mood of vampires
is scary and ominous, but in the
comedic film What We Do In Shadows,
the literary mood of vampires is
friendly and light-hearted.
Motif
In Shakespeare’s Macbeth,
Lady Macbeth’s obsession with
washing her hands is a motif
that symbolizes her guilt.
Onomatopoeia
The word “buzz” as in “a
buzzing bee” is actually
pronounced like the noise a
bee makes.
Oxymoron
• Parting is such sweet sorrow.” — Clearly confused
William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet Genuine fake
Only choice Living history
Same difference Exact estimate
Friendly fire Quiet roar
Virtual reality Student teacher
Controlled chaos Passive aggressive
Freezer burn Smaller half
Silent scream Magical realism
Terribly good Loyal opponent
Wise fool Random Order
Close distance Live recording
Stiff drink Jumbo shrimp
Black light
Paradox
• I know only one thing, and that is I know
nothing.” —Socrates in Plato’s Apology
• less is more
• do the thing you think you cannot do
• the enemy of my enemy is my friend
• the beginning of the end
• if you don’t risk anything, you risk everything
• earn money by spending it
Paradox
• nobody can make you feel inferior without
your consent
• The Pen is Mightier Than the Sword
• the more you give, the more you get
• living in the present for the future
• the best way out is always through
• the louder you are, the less they hear
• impossible is not a word in my vocabulary
• the only constant is change
Personification

• The heart wants what it wants—or

else it does not care . . .” —Emily
Dickinson
• The story jumped off the page.
• The sun smiled down on us.
• Lightning danced across the sky.
Portmanteau
• Words like “blog” (web + log),
“paratrooper” (parachute + trooper),
“motel” (motor + hotel), and “telethon”
(telephone + marathon) are all
portmanteaus in common English.
Puns
• Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a
banana.” —Groucho Marx
• I like archery, but it’s hard to see the point.
• It’s easy to like musicians because they are
very upbeat.
• If you stand by the window, I’ll help you out.
• The population of Ireland is always Dublin.
• It’s difficult for crabs to share because they
are shellfish.
Satire
• The works of Jonathan Swift (Gulliver’s
Travels) and Mark Twain (The Adventures
of Huckleberry Finn) are well known for
being satirical. A more modern example
is the TV show South Park, which often
satirizes society by addressing current
events.
Simile

• “Time has not stood still. It has

washed over me, washed me away,
as if I’m nothing more than a woman
of sand, left by a careless child too
near the water.” —Margaret Atwood,
The Handmaid’s Tale
Symbolism
• In J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy (and
The Hobbit), it is said the ring of Sauron symbolizes
evil, corruption, and greed, which everyday
people, symbolized by Frodo, must strive to resist.
• The letter ‘A’ in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel
Hawthorne, which symbolizes adultery, shame,
and redemption.
• The mockingbird in To Kill a Mockingbird by
Harper Lee, which symbolizes innocence,
harmlessness, and beauty.
Tone

•Told in the first person, J. D.

Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye uses
the angsty and sardonic tone of its
teenage protagonist to depict the
character’s mindset, including
slang and curse words.