Literary Devices
This device directly addresses an absent person, abstract idea, or inanimate object —
What is apostrophe?
A group of lines forming a unit within a poem — the poetic equivalent of a paragraph.
Stanza
This king of Thebes is determined to uncover the truth of his origins
Oedipus
This type of character undergoes a significant internal change over the course of a story — their beliefs, values, or personality shift because of what they experience.
Dynamic character
Repetition of vowel sounds within nearby words — "the rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain."
assonance
A writer deliberately downplays a serious situation — saying "just a scratch" after losing an arm.
Understatement
A fourteen-line poem with a prescribed rhyme scheme — Petrarchan and Shakespearean are the two main forms.
sonnet
This queen's calm unravels the moment she realizes the prophecy has already come true — and she acts before Oedipus does.
Jocasta
This character doesn't change. Their personality stays exactly the same from beginning to end, often serving a single defining trait or function.
Flat character
Repetition of consonant sounds within or at the end of nearby words, not just at the start.
consonance
A reference to a well-known text, historical event, or figure outside the work — calling someone "a modern Iago."
Allusion
Two consecutive rhyming lines of verse — often closes a Shakespearean sonnet.
couplet
This blind prophet sees everything the king cannot
Tiresias
This character exists to set the main story in motion — their action, arrival, or decision triggers the central conflict without necessarily being central themselves.
Catalyst character
A metrical foot of one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable — da-DUM.
iamb
A part stands in for the whole — "the White House announced" instead of "the president announced."
Synecdoche
Words that look like they rhyme due to shared spelling but actually sound different — "love" and "prove."
eye rhyme
This character walks the line between loyal brother-in-law and political rival — accused of conspiracy, he argues for reason over paranoia.
Creon
This character is deliberately contrasted with another to highlight qualities in both — their differences make each character's traits stand out more sharply
foil
Four iambic feet per line — da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM.
Iambic tetrameter
A play on words that exploits double meanings for comic or rhetorical effect.
Pun
Repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning of nearby words — "Peter Piper picked a peck."
alliteration
This collective voice of the play represents the moral and civic conscience of Thebes — they observe, question, and interpret events for the audience.
The Chorus
This character reflects the protagonist's own struggles, desires, or fears back at them — showing the main character who they could become or what they already are.
Mirror character
When a sentence runs past the end of a line into the next without punctuation, pulling the reader forward.
Enjambment