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LITERARY DEVICES

LITERARY DEVICES

  • they make texts more interesting and more fun to read.
  • produces a special effect in writing.
  • to conveys information
  • to helps the reader understand the piece on a deeper level.

1. SIMILIE and 2. METAPHOR

Metaphor/Simile = Comparisons

A metaphor states that one thing is another thing.

Both metaphors and similes are often used in writing for clarity or emphasis.

A simile is when something is compared to another thing using the words "as" or "like."

Examples:

"She is as vicious as a lion."

"What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun."

Since this statement uses the word "as" to make a comparison between "she" and "a lion," it is a simile.

In this line from Romeo and Juliet, Romeo compares Juliet to the sun. However, because Romeo doesn’t use the words "as" or "like," it is not a simile—just a metaphor.

Metaphor

compares two things that share something in common but are unalike in all other respects.

It describes an object or action in a way that isn't literally true, but helps explain an idea or make a comparison.

"Life is like a box of chocolates"

"Life is a highway"

3.PERSONIFICATION

Personification

when a nonhuman figure or other abstract concept or element is given human-like qualities or characteristics.

It is used to help the reader create a clearer mental picture of the scene or object being described.

Examples:

"The wind moaned, beckoning me to come outside."

In this example, the wind—a nonhuman element—is being described as if it is human (it "moans" and "beckons").

4. Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia

a word that represents a sound and imitates the sound it stands for.

It is often used for dramatic, realistic, or poetic effect.

Examples:

Buzz, boom, chirp, creak, sizzle, zoom

5. Alliteration/Assonance

4. Alliteration/Assonance

Assonance is the repetition of a vowel sound or diphthong in non-rhyming words.

Alliteration is a series of words or phrases that all (or almost all) start with the same sound.

You’ll often come across alliteration in poetry, titles of books and poems (Jane Austen is a fan of this device, for example—just look at Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility), and tongue twisters.

Example:

"Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers." .

“You stand at the blackboard, daddy”

6. Rule of three and parallel structure

Parallel Structure and Rule of 3

Parallel structure is repetition of the same pattern of words or phrases within a sentence or passage to show that two or more ideas have the same level of importance.

"Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears;

I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him."

Hyperbole is an exaggerated statement that's not meant to be taken literally by the reader. It is often used for comedic effect and/or emphasis.

7. Hyperbole

Example:

EXAMPLE

"I’m so hungry I could eat a horse."

The speaker will not literally eat an entire horse (and most likely couldn’t), but this hyperbole emphasizes how starved the speaker feels.

8. Inverted Order/Short Sentence

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