Poetic Devices
Repetition of initial consonant sounds
Simile
a character who does not change
Static Character
A move in the narrative that returns to something that happened in the chronological past
Flashback
Language suited to or reflecting a place, often used in realist literature like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Dialect
Cacophony
When an idea or situation seems implausible, but is actually possible or true.
Paradox
The setting: time, place, as well as the opening establishment of preliminary conflict
Exposition
Referring in a text to a character or story outside it to enrich meaning
Allusion
the potential for multiple meanings, an either-or (or both) kind of reading that is uncertain
Ambiguity
appealing to one or more of the five senses
imagery
Situational, verbal --expecting one thing and getting another; sarcasm
Irony
a character who changes
Dynamic Character
A detour from the main topic or discussion
Digression
Verisimilitude
giving an inanimate object human traits or behaviors
personification
An elaborate, extended, or highly-detailed metaphor (twin compasses in John Donne's poem)
Conceit
a young narrator, or one with mental health issues or cognitive impairment may be one of these...
unreliable narrator
a flawed hero / protagonist that challenges norms and expectations
Antihero
A character designed to contrast with the protagonist in order to shed light on or reflect specific traits
Foil
when a part of something is used to refer to the whole, e.g. all hands on deck (sailors on a ship), nice wheels (car)
synechdoche
Using a closely associated object to stand for another, e.g. "the crown" issued a statement today.
Metonymy
when details in a narrative are related in a free-flowing, unorganized manner
stream of consciousness
when the audience or another character knows something another character does not
dramatic irony
a coming of age story, often with a loss of innocence or maturation
Bildungsroman