Sound & Style
Comic books and animated movies flash words like THWIP!, POW!, and BANG! to mimic actual noises.
Onomatopea
Katy Perry’s lyric, "Baby, you're a firework," is an example of this direct comparison device.
Metaphor
The entire structured chain of events in Romeo and Juliet, beginning with the street fight and ending with the tragic deaths of the lovers.
Plot
In The Lion King, Simba is the rightful heir fighting to save the Pride Lands, while his power-hungry uncle Scar schemes with hyenas to steal the throne. These two characters fill these opposing roles.
Protagonist vs. Antagonist
In The Wizard of Oz, the dusty, gray, flat prairie of Kansas, which sharply contrasts with the vibrant, colorful Munchkin Country.
Setting
Descriptions emphasizing Mount Doom's "stifling heat," "stink of sulfur," and "blinding orange lava rivers" use this sensory device.
Imagery
In The Avengers, Iron Man describes his team's power to Loki by saying, "We’re not a team... We’re a chemical mixture that makes chaos." Later, Bruce Banner says they are "like a time bomb." Banner's phrase is an example of this device.
Simile
In Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, early warnings about fixed "canon events" hint that Miles will soon have to fight to break them.
Foreshadowing
In Inside Out 2, viewers experience the story entirely through the mind of Riley, hearing her inner thoughts and seeing the world through her specific visual perspective. This narrative choice refers to this concept.
Point of View
In The Giving Tree, Shel Silverstein's universal message about the nature of unconditional love, sacrifice, and the impact of selfishness.
Theme
Commercials describing a burger with a "sizzling hot patty, crisp lettuce, and a toasted, buttery bun" rely on this sensory tool.
Imagery
In Shrek, Shrek explaining his emotional complexity by telling Donkey, "Ogres are onions."
Metaphor
In Ratatouille, when Anton Ego tastes Remy's dish, the scene suddenly cuts to a memory of Ego eating his mother's food as a little boy
Flashback
In Harry Potter, the young wizard Harry trying to save the magical world versus the dark wizard Voldemort who tries to conquer it.
Protagonist vs Antagonist
In Monsters, Inc., the giant, terrifying monsters are actually completely petrified of tiny human children, creating a sharp twist between what we expect monsters to be like versus what reality is inside the factory. This discrepancy is an example of this.
Irony
When Taylor Swift sings, "You were Romeo, you were throwing pebbles," she uses this device to reference Shakespeare without retelling the whole play.
Allusion
In Cars, Lightning McQueen and Mater talking, scheming, and feeling human emotions is a movie-long example of this.
Personification
In Inside Out 2, Joy struggling internally against Anxiety for control over Riley's sense of self.
Conflict
In Charlotte's Web, the unseen speaker who stands outside the story and tells the reader exactly what Wilbur, Charlotte, and Fern are doing.
Narrator
In Cinderella, the glass slipper, which acts as a physical representation of her true identity, purity, and destined transformation.
Symbolism
Calling a friend a "Grinch" when they are in a bad mood during the holidays is an everyday example of this device.
Allusion
Bruno Mars singing, "I'd catch a grenade for ya / Throw my hand on a blade for ya."
Hyperbole
In Disney's Frozen, Hans casually singing "I've been searching for my own place" hints at his hidden villainous plot to take over the kingdom
Foreshadowing
In Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Greg Heffley telling his middle school struggles directly to the reader using first-person words like "I," "me," and "my."
Point of View
In Shrek, an incredibly hideous monster who goes on a quest and ends up happily marrying a princess who is just as ugly and gross as he is.
Irony