Definitions
This gives readers hints about what will happen later in the story.
What is foreshadow?
Alliteration
A series of words or phrases that all (or almost all) start with the same sound.
"From forth the fatal loins of these two foes..."
What is alliteration?
An object, idea, character, action, etc., is compared to another thing using the words "as" or "like."
What is a simile?
The tree branches grabbed at my coat and roots reached up to trip me.
What is personification?
When a word or phrase is written multiple times, usually for emphasis.
What is repetition?
Hyperbole
An exaggerated statement that's not meant to be taken literally by the reader. It is often used for comedic effect and/or emphasis.
The air smelled salty, reminding me that the ocean was nearby.
What is Imagery?
The conch shell in Lord of the Flies represents civilized behavior.
What is symbolism?
I'm so hungry, I could eat a horse.
What is hyperbole?
The use of a physical object, person, or situation in a written work to represent something else—typically a broader message or deeper meaning.
What is a symbol or symbolism?
Allusion
When an author makes an indirect reference to a figure, place, event, or idea originating from outside the text.
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream . . . I have a dream that one day in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
What is Anaphora?
I'm sorry but there is no longer a need for your skills. You're being let go.
When an author inserts a famous quotation, poem, song, or other short passage or text at the beginning of a larger text (e.g., a book or chapter).
What is epigraph?
When of the sentence are grammatically the same, or are similar in construction.
What is parallelism?
Verbal irony
When someone says something but means the opposite (similar to sarcasm).
Deafening silence
What is Oxymoron?
When the audience is aware of the true intentions or outcomes, while the characters are not.
Dramatic irony
The audience knows that Juliet isn't really dead; but Romeo does not.
What is dramatic irony?
A type of juxtaposition where an author uses opposite words or ideas.
What is antithesis?
Malapropism
When an incorrect word is used in place of a similar word which typically results in a statement that is both nonsensical and humorous; as a result, this device is commonly used in comedic writing.
Try as I might, the kite did not fly.
What is assonance?
Repetition of the same consonant sound in rapid succession anywhere in the word or sentence.
What is consonance?
Epistrophe
Similar to anaphora, but in this case, the repeated word or phrase appears at the end of successive statements.